Frequent Nursing

It's totally normal. My solution was to co-sleep so I didn't have to wake up all the way, just roll over and hike up my shirt :)
You can certainly work on a schedule if you want, but if you are feeding on demand and don't mind, there is nothing wrong with that.

My answer is its as normal as you let it be. What I mean by this is, you could begin to stretch her, for sure, to go 3-4 hours between nursings at this point, and conceivably, she should sleep through the night.
With that said, if you nurse on demand, then this is perfectly normal. My 6 month old is the exact same way, and he doesn't sleep through the night either. We just nurse when he seems to need it, and he is up a couple times a night to nurse as well. Not ideal, but it doesn't last forever.
If you are wanting to change your current situation, you could try adding baby cereal or food in the afternoons, or before bed to see if that fills her up more. You could also have your husband hold her at that 2-hr mark, and steer clear of her so she doesn't see you until about 2.5-3 hrs. She CAN physically go longer than 2 hours. It will just take some adjustments over about the course of a week to see a change.
Good luck!

Are you feeding her foods? Every two hours is beyond the call. She is probably using you as a pacifier. Every 4 should be fine at night. Is she growing well? Trying to drink from a sippy cup? Ask your doc if you have concerns about her growth, otherwise, decide on your method of sleep training and stick with it.

Yes, this is how it went with my daughter, too. And breast milk is so perfect for the human infant body, that they process it very quickly (unlike formula) and thus need to be fed more frequently, including during the evening/night hours. Have you introduced solids yet?

It's not unheard of, by any means, but it's not necessary either. You are allowing your baby to dictate when she nurses, whether it's for hunger or comfort. Many parents believe that's the way to go and there is nothing wrong with it.

For me, when my kids started eating solids around six months old, I got them nursing on more of a set schedule as well. A typical day went something like this:

7 a.m. - wake up and nurse
8 a.m. - breakfast (solids)
10 a.m. - nurse & nap
12 p.m. - lunch (sometimes skipped)
2 p.m. - nurse & nap
4 p.m. - some days nursed after nap, some days didn't
6 p.m. - dinner
8 p.m. - nurse & bed

So we nursed 4 - 5 times per day. My daughter still woke at night till almost a year and nursed, but my son slept through the night starting at 4 months. He was much bigger than she was.

It is normal but only if you let it be. By 5 weeks, babies should have one 5 hour stretch, and then nurs every 3 hours. By 4 months, they should nurse every 4 hours, even during the day. By 6 months, they should easily sleep one 6-8 hour stretch. Every baby is different but this is what most are physically able to do, if we let them.

My first daughter nursed every 1-5-2 hours until I night weaned her at 10 months. My son slept 7.5 hours at 5 weeks, and did 10 by 6 months. I had learned to let him resettle, with my daughter I just picked her up immediately.

My 1 month old is starting to do 5 hour blocks off and on.

You need to stretch the length between nursing. This forces them to eat more at each feeding. If your daughter has a feeding that doesn't last long, you could also wean her from that feeding. So if she nurses 7 minutes, do 6 for three days, thn 5, etc. Usually they then just stop waking.

There is so much going on at 7 months. Teething, hitting milestones, growth spurts, tummies adjusting to solids and so on.
It is 100% normal for a 7 month old to nurse every 2 hours at night and during the day at that age. Every baby is different. I had one that never slept after he was born but was the first to sleep like a log at an early age. I had one that slept decently all along. I have one that slept so well as a newborn we were terrified something was wrong with her and didn't go through her not sleeping phase until she was a little older.
All of these your baby "should be" this or that is not very accurate. Not all babies are the same and not all of them go through the same exact things at the same time. There is a huge range of "normal". What your daughter is doing sounds completely normal to me!
I love this article written by Dr. Sears about infant sleep.
http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/sleep-problems/8-infant-...

My son did that, too, and I am friends with a lot of breastfeeding moms whose babies are also the same way. It is totally normal as breastmilk digests so quickly and completely. Breastmilk provides more calories and fat than most solids so I wouldn't reduce breastfeeding in order to increase solids. My son naturally began sleeping longer stretches at night. Now at 11 months he wakes once or twice.

I think it's pretty normal, especially if you are working (she may be reverse cycling). It depends on the baby. A lot of babies do nurse through the night longer than some of their formula fed counterparts, but I also have friends whose first kid was a great sleeper and #2, not as much. I know you are probably tired, so try to nap when you can and know that this phase will pass. 6 and 9 months are growth spurts so it may be part of that, too.

I agree with Penny. When mine was up and wanting to nurse multiple times in the night I had husband get up and walk with her. She just wanted the comfort not the food. So I agree that while it may be normal, it may not be tolerable. If you resent it, change it.

It's a habit now, mom. She doesn't need to nurse every two hours in the middle of the night like she did as a newborn. I have a feeling that she's using you to snack on, like 5 minute sessions. Regardless, you need to stop doing the night time thing and night wean her.

If she is eating any food now, that will help. Give her cereal at night before her last nursing session. Put her down still groggily awake - not asleep. Let her go to sleep without you holding her. In two hours when she wakes up, let her fuss for a bit, and then go in and sit in the floor beside the crib, and touch her leg. She'll stand up, but stay in the floor and eventually she'll lay down to be closer to your hand. Don't talk to her, don't pick her up. You are having to teach her that the night bar is closed and that you aren't going to give in. Instead, give her a little more food during the day to make up for it.

In the coming months, teach her to drink from a cup. If you pump, put breastmilk in a cup for her. Other watered down juices are good too. At a year, work on her drinking regular milk in a cup. You might warm it up some because she isn't going to be used to drinking cold milk.

If you want to sleep some at night, mom, then do this. Just know that you cannot be wishy-washy. Either do it, or don't do it. Anything in between will just make you absolutely miserable. If you give in and pick her up and feed her, she will know that all she has to do is scream for it. If you don't give in at all, she will stop waking up eventually because there will be nothing to wake up for.

Good luck,
Dawn

Totally normal. And every child is different.

Have you started any solids yet? I found that one of my kids started sleeping better around 9 months when he really started liking oatmeal before bed - I gave him a big bowl of oatmeal made with breastmilk and he would sleep a little longer right after that. At 7 months, you might just be getting to the point where you can introduce cereal, and maybe get one slightly longer stretch of sleep.

My second child had reflux, and breastmilk is a natural antiacid that made his tummy feel better. So he nursed every 2-3 hours until he outgrew the reflux after age 1. So if you have a reflux baby - it could be a while.

My boys didn't sleep through the night until they were weaned, but I know plenty that slept through earlier than that.

A.:

Welcome to mamapedia!!!

Congratulations on your baby girl!!

Every baby is different - breast or bottle fed! My daughter slept through the night at 8 weeks and was bottle fed. My oldest son was exclusively breast fed for the first six months of his life and slept the night through at 6 weeks. My youngest son slept through the night at one year...

If you pump - you can see the "fat content" in your milk. If it's heavier in fat, she might sleep longer - but that can't always be the case...sorry!!

It's normal. Some kids won't sleep through the night until they are a year...I know the NORM is 6 to 8 weeks - to get a good, solid 6 hours sleep...but with my three, each was different!

good luck!

Google Ferber sleep method. Also try "sleep training".

And congrats on your first! :)

Welcome to mamapedia