My 11-month-old is still waking in the night for milk, but eats well by day
Oliver, 11mths and weighing 24lbs never seems to be full. He is waking in the night starving, demanding a full milk feed before he will settle again.
At night he sleeps in a room blackened with blinds and curtains. He wears a sleeping bag. He is in a good routine by day, settling himself for each nap and going down with a couple of minutes protest at 7pm.
At night I am trying to use controlled crying, waiting 40 minutes before going in. Both my husband and I are sleep deprived which affects our work and his crying is beginning to disturb my other children.
At night he wakes between midnight and 4am and once he has fed, settles well again until 6-6.30am when he is absolutely starving again. I know it is hunger waking him, as he is desperate for food in the morning and not going off his meals at all, despite feeding in the night. This has been going on for about a month.
I cook all his meals, following the recipes exactly in the weaning book. I have read in one of the books about a carbohydrate/protein imbalance but as I follow your recipes exactly, this surely isn’t his problem. He was weaned at 5mths. I breast fed until 6 months and then gave him soya formula as he is lactose intolerant.
He needs as many as 6 mini rusks/ rice cakes before or during his meal as well as eating a savoury and yoghurt.
At 6.30am he takes 6oz soya milk in a cup followed by breakfast at 7.30 which is 1 weetabix with one mashed banana, soya yoghurt, rusk/rice cake with soya butter. He drinks water form a cup.
To get him to lunch Oliver has 2-3 rice cakes/ rusks and 1-2 ozs water. At 12 noon he has a 9-12 month meat recipe. If it states 4-6 portions, I divide it into 4 portions and he always finishes one. Then he has a banana and raisins.
Oliver sleeps well at lunchtime but wakes ravenous for his milk at 2.30pm. He takes 6oz soya from a cup. He starts screaming from hunger by 4pm when I give him rusks and rice cakes to get him to a 5pm tea.
Tea will be a 9-12 month vegetarian recipe, again Oliver eats one full portion. He has 2 slices of bread with soya butter and the crusts removed. This is followed by a yoghurt. He has water to drink at tea, followed by an 8oz soya bottle before bed.
When he wakes in the night he takes a 8oz soya bottle. He will take this in about 6mins, and takes even less time to drink from a cup. When he has finished he protests loudly.
Apart from this hunger he is a happy, contented boy.
Oliver obviously has a very good appetite and at his weight will need a little larger portion size. The ones stated in the weaning book are given as a guide, all babies having slightly different appetites and needs.
When Oliver has his drink of water at 10am offer him some fruit such as apple or pear with his rice cake/rusk. For a change give him carrot sticks with a dip such as hummous or avocado. As he has a healthy appetite this won’t take the edge of his appetite for lunch and will encourage him to enjoy a wider range of healthy food.
At lunch increase his portion a little, especially the protein, to help fill him up.
Again in the afternoon offer Oliver some fruit with his rusk/rice cake. He should be able to enjoy eating an apple or pear cut into slices and peeled.
For tea, give Oliver another slightly bigger portion using the vegetable pasta bakes, soups thickened with plenty of lentils, pasta or beans and other vegetarian suggestions such as beans and mashed potato, which are filling. Use toast as something he can dip into the food, or toasted strips of pitta bread.
Give Oliver plenty of finger food, including lightly steamed vegetables as well as bread to encourage him to feed himself. At this age babies are beginning to become very aware of all the different colours and textures of food. Getting him involved in feeding himself may be messy but is an important part of his development. By the time he is a year old he will ready to join in with family meals and will be able to eat much the same things as everyone else. Have a look in some of the excellent recipe books available for children on the market to find meals you can all enjoy.
It is good that Oliver has been weaned onto a cup well and there is not much you can do about slowing down how quickly he drinks that. When he has a bottle at 6.45pm give him a smaller teat size, no 2 or even 1 which should be harder for him to drink from and so take longer. This should have the effect of him feeling more satisfied at the end rather than upset. Using a slower flow hole should help you begin to wean him off needing so much milk to settle at night, but he does need to have his food increased by day to satisfy his appetite.