Hello!

Over the last month my 6 month old has started waking 4~5 times a night, every time wanting to feed. His feeds during the day haven’t changed, he’s breast fed, but now is demanding multiple night feeds. We try settling him and putting him back in his cot, but he just screams until he has a feed then falls straight back to sleep. I have a 4 yr old as well so the lack of sleep I’m getting is making things hard. Can anyone offer suggestions or ideas on how to help, please.


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  • Sounds like a growth spurt !
    This article may be reassuring to you


  • If your baby is going to sleep during feeding it may be wise for baby to not be too warm. That is what a relative of mine was told. We had to make sure of that when we babysat when she bottle-fed. Ohterwise she was having several short feeds but also not having proper sleeps during the day too. She also demanded more feeds during teething and the warmer weather. Sometimes she seemed as though she just wanted a drink in the warmer weather. If her Dad was on afternoon shift in the warm weather if she stirred as he walked in he would give her a prepared bottle of boiled water at room temperature. She usually drank that and went back to sleep.


  • My daughter did the same thing periodically when she was smaller. It could be that your little boy may be teething or going through a milestone (like learning to roll or crawl) which is affecting his sleeping habits. I would try to persevere and hope it improves over the next couple of weeks.


  • Try a dream feed? Introduce more solids or larger / extra milk feeds!


  • We are going through the same with my nearly 8 month old, we have 4 weeks of this. We hadn’t been doing night feeds for a while but now when he has been waking up, I gave him a little feed and he would go back to sleep, the extra feeding could be due to a growth spurt? I thought it was teething but no teeth have come through.
    Is your little one on solids yet? I could be something he is eating that his upsetting his tummy a bit.
    Hopefully things will improve for you soon.


  • I don’t have a solution for you, but my baby started to do the same in last week or two. She’s 8 month old, breastfed and was sleeping through the night (10-12 hrs) from 6 weeks until 4.5 month, then started waking 1-2 per night and wanting to feed. Last week or two she’s up 3-4 times and wants to feed. I am hoping it’s just a stage and will be over soon.


  • maybe buy a swaddle for him. Maybe he just wants comfort and not necessarily a feed


  • He could be teething or going through a leap (wonder weeks). does he have a big feed during the night or just a quick one and then falls asleep on the boob? He may need a bigger meal before his bedtime to get him through the night.


  • I found when my son did this it was due to pain from teething and the feeding was to comfort him. Check to see if there are any teeth coming through, if it is after the feed before bed give a bit of baby panadol or baby nurofen, just until the teeth come through. I also made sure his dummy was in close reach. Also could try bonjela but my son would not let me get the stuff near him, instead I gave him a happy baby teething dummy (see the picture)


  • Could be a growth spurt or developmental phase ie he could be about to do something like sit up unsupported (for example). I told a midwife my daughter woke every 3 to 4 hrs for months and months and she said this was normal. She also recommend to seek help before it was bad asmit takes time to get tresillian assistance. A friend used a sleep consultant but these little people change all the time! If he is not feeding and falling asleep on the boob, it sounds like he is using you as a dummy. Some people say put a cold clothmon their forehead to keep them awake during the feed or you could try a dummy


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