6 month old sleeping in 4-5 hour blocks at night

Hi,

I have a lovely 6 month old breastfed baby who hasn't slept through yet. Well actually I had a few lucky nights when she was about 12 weeks and she slept 8 hours. Other than that she now has a routine where she goes to bed around 7pm dreamfeeds at 11pm and again at around 3-4am then wakes about 7am. It is not as though I have to resettle her as she squarks I feed and put her back to bed. Just wondering if anyone else has had the same thing or can make suggestions to try get her sleep in bigger blocks. Oh and we are just starting solids, I plan to breast feed for another 4 months until I go back to work.

I could have written this thread myself lol apart from that I have a DS not DD so I will be watching for sure to see what anyone suggets!!! My DS usually wakes twice a night though.... and wont settle unless he is BF back to sleep. I don't understand this as I have never fed him back to sleep during the day since he was a newborn.
Anyway rambling now must be bedtime. But will be watching lol.

Just a thought... have you thought about maybe giving up the 11pm dream feed, maybe if she does stir during that time try just giving her a sip of water and settle again without feeding. My 5 month old goes to bed at 6pm and has one feed at around 3-4am and up for the day at 6:30.

That's about all I can suggest, just to try settling her back to sleep without feeding, but obviously if she wakes up hungry, then there's no point in trying to keep her from feeding. It is quite normal though at this age to still have night feeds, and some babies just take longer to give it up, but it can also become just a habit of waking during the night if they are fed every time they wake if they are not really that hungry. If that makes sense smile

yeah i was wondering when is "normal" for her to go without they feeds. I have heard of trying water but I was unsure at what stage I should do that. Beach mummy I know what you mean Zara hardly ever falls asleep on boob but she wakes briefly or maybe just crys I attach her and then she drifts back to sleep and sucks for night feeds, so I don't really class that as falling asleep on boob cause she was never really awake to fall asleep..... get my drift hope that all makes sense.

I think I am just starting to compare her to other babies mostly formula feed and they all like to tell me to just swap her to formula. I am sure there is another answer if not nevermind I am on maternity leave so not like I have to get up and work next day - they are only babies for a short time.

I think in terms of whats normal, every bub is different. I think that FF babies sleep through is a myth. Maybe in the early days as formula is harder to digest so the baby stays full for longer but at this age generally excessive night waking is more of a habit I think than a need. Thats what plunket told me when I called them last week anyway, DS was waking about 4 times per night then so I was pretty much at my wits end lol.

Anyway, the nurse recommended to leave him for a little bit longer before going in to get him and half the time he will settle himself back to sleep in a couple of minutes. So we are down to 2 from 4 so thats progress lol.
She also said that perhaps he had a reliance on drinking to sleep but like I said I'm not so sure about that as he settles in his cot perfectly when I put him down initially.
Does your baby use a dummy? DS does and that was another reason she said he was waking.

So what I have been told is throw away the dummy and use control crying methods. But obviously haven't done this apart from leaving him a few minutes longer when he wakes lol so perhaps I only have myself to blame but I think DS is still too young to be left to cry smile

yeah i don't realy want to do controlled crying i think i will try the water option when she reaches 9months. offering only water at night isn't nearly as good as waking for milk.

yeah i don't realy want to do controlled crying i think i will try the water option when she reaches 9months. offering only water at night isn't nearly as good as waking for milk.