Baby Wakes up to Eat at Night

If you're breastfeeding, which is best for the 1st year, then breast milk digests much faster than formula, so the baby gets hungry more often (every 1 1/2 to 2 hours.) Even if you're feeding formula, you baby is very young still (5 months,) so it is very normal for the baby not to be sleeping through the night. Every baby is different. She may start sleeping through the night, then start waking up again because she is teething. You can't spoil a baby that small. If she is hungry, feed her. Next month, you might start introducing solid foods (baby jars of baby food) and that might help keep her fuller longer. Don't put rice cereal in bottles. Only feed it with a spoon. Talk to your doctor before you start solid foods.
A really good book to buy is What To Expect The First Year. It has just about every question a parent could ask in it, and the answer. The questions are age appropriate for every month of the baby's 1st year.

Hello M., All babies are different.. My first and only daughter who was born on Sept 24, 2007 would wake me up during the night every 2 to 3 hours untill she was 8 months old. Now at the age of one she falls asleep at 8 p.m. and wakes me up any where between 3 am and 5 am for a bottle and will fall back asleep untill 6 0r 7 if I am lucky. i don't think there is anything wrong with your daughter waking up in the middle of the night, as she gets older she will start sleeping through the night. Honeslty I never thought my daughter would but she did..just hang in there..
J.

First off, please stop comparing your baby to your friends babies. Secondly, your baby is only 5 months old and it is normal for her to wake up and want to eat. I am not a believer in forcing a child to sleep through the night especially at such a young age. She will get there when she gets there.
Many people said to me...add rice cereal to her bottle....that didn't work...my daughter still woke up because that was normal for her. She is 13 months old and still wakes up 1 time a night but this is different she wants to be cuddled.
GL

Your friends are lying to ya. My daughter is 13mos. and still takes a bottle at night a few times a week. Some babies can sleep for 8-10 hour stretches, but thats the exception to the rule. At barely 5-6months, yeah, your daughter will still most likely wake up to eat. Talk to your peds, but she'll eventually grow out of this and really sleep all night.

Hey M.,

How old is your baby? A newborn/infant's eating pattern will vary from child to child. My daughter woke at least once a night for about 8 months. Are you breast feeding? That may have something to do with it.

Rule #1: Take friends' and family's advice with a grain of salt. Love 'em and leave their advice, for the most part.
Some great resources for you:
http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/parenting/smart_love....
http://www.babycenter.com/
http://www.awareparenting.com

J. Smithson
Loving Hands Learn 'n' Play
http://www.lhlearnandplay.com

It sounds pretty normal to me since your daughter is only five months old. I wouldn't compare your child with others since everyone is so different and unique. My second woke up one to two times a night until he turned ten months old while my other friend's son started sleeping through the night (7PM-7AM) when he was seven months old. Although, my friend started feeding her son formula when he turned six months old so I'm not sure if that had anything to do with it. Is your daughter breastfeeding or on formula? Maybe you could try to start night weaning her first wake up? I started night weaning my son's first wake up at around six months and then later weaned the second.

Your child is only 5 months old. Don't expect too much too soon. She may not sleep through the night for a long time. My son woke up for a bottle until he was 9 months old. Your daughter is doing normal for her age.

As others have said every baby is different. It worries me when a young child doesn't wake to eat at night. If a child is formula feed they will sleep longer. A breastfed baby wakes every 2-3 hours to nurse. My 17mo nurses 3-4 times at night and I'm not concerned. I would recommend you buy a book called Natural Baby and Childcare by Dr. Feder. You can go to her website www.drfeder.com for more info. I wish I knew of this book with my first baby.

One thing I learned was the "sleeping through the night" means 5 hours. Not from 7 pm to 7 am. Very, very few babies younger than one do this. And if someone tells you their child is, I would dig more to find out the details. Very likely is not that way. This time will fly by faster then you could imagine. Enjoy it while it last, believe it or not. Best luck!

At that age my daughter would wake up to nurse at least once but she was up and had breakfast around 6-7 in the morning. All babies are different,my friends would tell me several things, some helpful some not because they are all truly different with different patterns and everything else, it is not abnormal for you daughter to wake up to eat. Good luck!

Dear M.,

She is just 5 months old now, and maybe she still needs the food. How much does she weigh?
Does the doctor say that she is just the right weight when you go for a check up? My gr grandchild was underweight, so we fed her until the cows came home, and she is still thin, now 5 years old. So I guess that is normal for her.

But, remember, their brains are still developing, and it is crucial for them to have the right amount of nutrients to keep it growing and maturing. My daughter was not fed enough when she was a baby - with a pre adoption care giver - and the doctor warned me about keeping up the night time feeding until she was 10 months old. Now, she does have a deficiency in using mathematics, telling time, and some other things, so I would suggest that you keep on feeding her for a while, just cut down a little bit and see what she does. Never mind what the other babies do. They have different DNA and are completely different people.

O.K.? C. N.

I don't know what your exact situation is, but if you are presently giving your LO a pacifier, Try this:
Take it away at night. If she can only fall asleep with it, let her but take it away before you go to bed.

This worked for me and my daughter. My daughter began sleeping through the night at 3 month, but by 4 months she was waking at least once, sometimes as many as 3 times a night. I started getting desperate, trying a few things like dressing her more warmly, dressing her less warmly, doing massage before bed, you name it, I tried it. Then I noticed that she was able to put the pacifier in her mouth herself. I figured out that she'd wake up during the night, fumble with the pacifier just long enough to wake herself up so she couldn't get back to sleep without assistance.

Since I figured that out, I've had a good night's rest every night. Good luck.

Don't base your child on your friends children. Every baby is different. My daughter didn't sleep 10 hrs straight until she was 7 months old. Even now at 10 1/2 months she sleeps from 8pm to 6am, nurses & goes back to sleep until 8am. Just trust that you're giving your baby what she needs. She'll get there, don't worry & don't push her to do something she's just not ready for. Speak to her doctor & take that advice.