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Old October 26th 06, 09:17 PM posted to misc.kids.breastfeeding
stasya
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Posts: 38
Default am I doing something wrong?


determined wrote:
Emily is now nearly 11 months old. She eats like a champ all day, likes
everything we give her. She's still small for her age, but we don't really
even think about that anymore, since she is growing well.

Here's the problem. For about a month now, she is waking up as often as she
did as a newborn. She is eating around 18 ounces during the night. This is
in addition to the 20 or so ounces she is drinking during the day, plus all
the foods she is eating. I am exhausted! Is this a growth spurt, or what?
She also cut her first tooth about a week ago, so I wondered if that has
something to do with the frequent waking at night.

And at one point her sleeping routine was like clockwork - she fell asleep
at 8pm, had her normal wakings about every 3 hrs, sometimes every 4 hrs, and
got up at around 7am. Then she would nap from about 11am to 1pm every day.
Now, She may fall asleep at 8pm, or maybe not until 9pm. Then she might
only sleep for an hour, then she wakes and wants to play. Or she absolutely
can't stand being in her crib alone (it's at the foot of our bed), so we put
her in bed with us. She rests much better, but still wakes frequently
through the night.

The pediatrician said basically that it is our fault - that we have
reinforced her waking up at night by feeding her... I felt like she was
hungry and I didn't want to withhold food. But at this point we are so
deliriously tired, I don't know what to do.

Any ideas?
Betsy


I have nothing but sympathy for you! I know what you mean, silly babies
waking up in the middle of the night, and lots! My dd is a month
younger than yours and she is waking up 3or 4 times a night. I *know*
it's because she expects to be fed, and is, because I'm too sleepy to
say no. I know I've read places where you can decrease the amount of
formula in her bottle (or dilute it if you're still using bm in a
bottle) until you've got nothing but water in it. Then apparently the
baby will have her hunger cues scaled back accordingly and won't wake
for bottles of water. I've not tried this though. At the moment, with
my baby, the only time I nurse her anymore is at night, and I know my
milk supply is about to tank. So I'm thinking, if I don't give her a
bottle ever at night, the decreasing milk supply I have for her will
also decrease her appetite at night until both give it up.

Wish me luck! LOL

Good luck with yours,

Stasya