10 months and now he wants nighttime feedings???!!

[Sopamanda]

DS has slept through the night (and we're talking about 6:30-6:30) from 3 months on. Several weeks ago he started waking about 5 and crying and fussing until I fed him. This progressed and continued every night until now he's doing this at 3 or 4 am. He cut his first tooth and I thought that would be it, but it's continued (that was about a week and a half ago. The tooth didn't seem to bother him otherwise (no gnawing or fussing otherwise).

I have tried to ignore him to see if he settles down; he doesn't. He's a breastfed baby and drains me during these am feedings). I tried to pull him off before he was finished (to decrease the milk he got to try to wean him) last night and he screamed bloody murder. No foolin' this hungry man.

He has taken formula as supplement when I haven't been able to produce enough and sucks it down just as well. :) Should I try this and decrease the amount of formula in his bottle?

Thoughts?
Thanks
Amanda

[MonicaH]

I feel your pain. My DD is almost 11 months old. She slept through the night from about 3 months till 8 months, then it's been teething/schedule disruptions/developmental milestones one after the other to mess up her sleep. It's kind of up and down. She'll sleep well for a week and then poorly for a week or two.

I do think she's hungry sometimes because she's so distracted during the day that she doesn't eat well and has to make up for it at night. Also I'm a WOHM and I think she misses me :), and sometimes it seems that she is waking up scared that we're not there so needs to be comforted with nursing. I'm pretty much resigning myself to riding it out with her. People on this board keep saying that babies will eventually learn to sleep through the night and I just keep trying to believe it.

As far as suggestions, see if your DH can comfort him by rocking him? I'm sure that if you go to pick him up nursing will be the only thing that will calm him. I wouldn't assume that just because he keeps sucking, that you don't have enough milk; he may just be doing it for comfort. Babies go through so much emotional and intellectual development at this age that they probably need a little extra comforting. My DD will not let me pull her off before she's good and ready though, so I do understand that part of it.

Hang in there!

Monica