My 4 month baby is not interested in her milk by day, yet has begun to wake at night again |
Amelia weighs 15lbs 7oz and has been following the 3-4 month routine. A week ago she began to take less milk at 2.15pm (when she is bottle fed), stopping after 3.5 or 4ozs. Even if I wait 20 minutes she will not take any more milk and push the bottle away. I expressed milk at 11am a couple of days ago (when I normally breast feed) and found I only had 4ozs of milk. I am worried that she is not getting enough milk by day which is causing her to wake in the night between 3-5am. I do not feed her in the night if she wakes, but she still doesn’t seem hungry at 7am. She is never really hungry at 7am even when she hasn’t woken early. She is usually happy to chat for 1/2 hourr until I get her. Should I be weaning her? What do I do about her decreased milk intake at 11am and 2.15pm? |
| There could be several reasons why Amelia has started to wake in the night. It might not only be her apparent disinterest in her milk by day. Check she is not waking through being cold. Also, at this age many babies still have quite a pronounced Moro reflex. They still need to be tucked in well, even if using a sleeping bag which should be of the lowest tog rating (0.5 tog) and securing a thin cotton sheet with two rolled up towels either side between the cot mattress and the spars of the cot. To eliminate the possibility of hunger in the night and also to help her intake over 24hrs, consider giving her a bottle of expressed milk or formula at 10pm. Keep her awake for at least an hour at this time to help her sleep nearer to 7am. Once she has begun to sleep through regularly, then you can begin to cut her time awake back to 30 minutes. She is still quite young to be weaned yet, especially as the present guidelines suggest waiting until nearer 6mths. If you do decide to start soon, check with your health visitor first. Try beginning her afternoon feed at 2.30 and see if she is hungrier by then. As this is her only bottle feed of the day, she may well be distracted from feeding, wanting to look around. Keep her in a quiet room and see if she is then more willing to take a little more feed. The amount of milk you expressed is probably not a true indication of how much milk she is taking at 11am, as a baby is more effective at emptying a breast than a pump, especially if you only express when you are unavailable to feed her. |