Hello All! I am at my wits end right now. My wonderful husband is out of town for the week and I am home with our son who is 10 months old. About a week ago he started getting up in the middle of the night (he usually sleeps 8p-6a straight through. We would feed him a bottle (6-8oz) and he would go back to sleep for 1-2 hours. This was leading me to believe that he was hungry. We are not having too much luck with solid foods at this time. Its been a very slow process. Called the ped and they suggested adding a snack before bed. This has been difficult to do since we get up from nap around 3p and have a snack, then dinner at 6p and bed by 8p. If I try to keep him up any longer he is absolutely miserable and still gets up at the crack of dawn! With giving him this snack (usually yogurt) he is not drinking his night bottle, which in turn is causing him to get up at 4am! So...my question is this, has anyone else experienced this issue with sleep patterns, eating habits and trying to fit it all in? At this point we are eating constantly in the afternoon. And in the first year shouldn't most of their nutrition come from formula or breat milk? I have added a bottle with the pm snack after nap so I thought it would be enough. He could also be teething, but his gums do not look irritated. He currently has 5 teeth! Any advice would be greatly appreciated since today has been probably the worst day of motherhood for me!
The other thing to consider is that at that age they start developing new skills rapidly and that always disrupted my babies' sleep patterns. At first it can be unclear, but before too long, you might notice that he's really working on a new skill. Sometimes they become so set on it that it causes them to wake up and just not have time to sleep until they master the new skill.
We had alot of trouble with my son and eating too. It sounds to me like you are doing the right things. You are in contact with the Dr, you have tried snacking, (by the way, my son always liked the Yo baby yogurts and they are made with whole milk, I think the extra fat there helps). Hopefully things will even out for you soon. Maybe he misses his daddy (I am sure you do). I think if you were to give him the Yo baby and tried the milk, even if he did not drink all of the milk, the yo baby has the fat and calcium he needs. My son wanted to do nothing but nurse all night and he still likes a snack at bed time. I am sure you must be frustrated and it is double hard when your husband is away and you have no one their for support. And when they wont sleep on top of it! It makes you exhasted! Do you have any family in the area? Maybe someone could come and stay with you for a night or two? I often call upon my mom when my husband is away and it helps us both. She feels like she is needed and helping out and I have some extra hands in the house to clean and cook and take care of the kids. Best of luck to you and hang in there!
I think at around that age, probably 2 full bottles per day is enough--8 oz. each. He's eating other foods so he's most likely getting his nutrients there as well. I would give him O. in the morning AFTER or with cereal, egg, whatever he eats for breakfast. You could also skip the morning bottle and give him a nice bottle before his afternoon nap. How long is his nap? You might want to try putting him down or waking him up a little earlier. Also, O. bottle with a little cereal or crackers, fruit, etc. before bed. If you are home, why not try feeding him his dinner a little earlier and down-sizing the "snack" after the nap to some water and two saltine crackers or 10 goldfish or the like? I remember it being unrealistic for my son to have 3 meals, his bottles, and two snacks per day--it was just too much food. I was like "where, exactly are the kids who allegedly eat like this??!!" Don't stress over the "set" feedings. He'll let you know when he's hungry. If he's eating lunch at noon, 6:00 is probably too long for him to wait for dinner but the snack should be minimal.
If he eats dinner earlier, he'll be more likely to have a better snack/bottle before bed and he'll sleep better. Good luck to you! (Hang in there, my dh is out of town also --for the next 9 days -- and it does STINK!)
When he wakes at 4, if you ignore him, does he go back to sleep eventually? My son went through a night waking phase at that age where he'd wake around 4 and talk to himself for an hour or hour and a half, and then if ignored (but only if ignored--absolutely no parental attention), go back to sleep until a decent hour. It could just be a developmental spurt causing night waking.
C. you sound like a great mom! What I would try to do is move his nap back a bit. Maybe get up at 2PM and have a snack. Dinner at 5 then snack at 7 with something very light (maybe a handful of cheerios or some cut up fruit). I would also recommend putting a small amount of rice cereal in his night time bottle to make it a little more filling. Not alot of cereal - enough for it to still be bottle fed. Just thicken it up a little and that may make him feel more full. Hope this helps!!
Hi C.
At 10 months 16 to 24 ounces is usually the recommended amount of formula to meet their daily needs. Ask your pediatrician for a specific recommendation for your son based on his height/weight. Then go from there. My daughter would get a bottle with breakfast, lunch and before bed at that age. 6oz each bottle, the rest was meals and snacks. It sounds to me though like he is eating plenty during the day. The waking at night may very well be related to his age and developmental milestones. There is a lot to see and do in his world and he wants to be part of it at all times. My solution would be to check and make sure he is physically ok and then say night night, back to bed and go. I know some people find that harsh, but he is learning that you come and get him when he cries so he will only continue as long as you keep going to him. You could go in after 10 minutes, verbally soothe him, then leave, go again in 15 minutes, verbally soothe him, etc. Don't pick him up. My kids were a bit younger when we used this method and it only took a few nights, and each night was a shorter stint. Just my advice, I hope you can take advantage of nap times for yourself too until he's sleeping well again.
