Bottle trouble/Sleeping like a baby

[youngmum]

hi all,

I have an 8 and a half month old son who is a big boy for his age. Meaning size not weight. His weight for his length is 100% fine as he's a lot longer for his age. However he still expects to get 6 bottles a day as well as 3 to 4 meals of solids. I've tried cutting him down on the amount of milk but he just become really grumpy. i tried givin him water instead but he doesn't like water and i don't want to be giving him that much juice in a day.
Can anyone give me some advice?

Also bedtimes a nightmare. My little boy will sleep like an angel throughout the day. sleep through anything, including dogs barking, tele, hoovering etc, but when it comes to night time the least wee thing wakes him up. And another problem that i have is for the first 2-3 hours after he goes to bed he wakes up looking for either a cuddle or a bottle at least 4 times. After that he normally sleeps great sometimes till 10 in the mornin, but i don't know how to get him out of this routine of getting up for attension. I don't have it in me to just let him cry(as i've been advised). I won't let my child feel abandoned. wot can i do?

[banana]

Hi youngmum.

You wont have seen me on here yet as i havnt been around but first of all HELLO and I hope you are feeling well.

I just wanted to pick up on your last comment about leaving your little boy to cry. I had the same reservations as you wwhen my health visitor advised me to try controlled crying but in the end i resorted to it as I was feeling so drained of having no control over my life and being fully at the command of an 8 month old baby.

yes it was very hard at first when i left isabelle in her cot to cry, but each night got that bit easier and last night she actually went own into her cot wide awake and fell asleep on her own - not one little moan out of her. We only started the controlled crying 3 weeks ago and we have come so far in such a short space of time. You do not have to feel guilty about using the controlled crying method. You say you want him out of the routine of crying/getting up just for attention - by always letting him have his own way you are letting him think that he is in control.
You may still feel strongly about controlled crying but if you can find it in you to try the honestly you will be doing yourself a favour. As long as your baby is safe in his cot then what harm can he come to?
Finally - you would NOT be a bad mother for using controlled crying!!!! I dont consider myself to be and feel no guilt that my daughter can now go to sleep on her own at a resonable time and sleep through the night.

Also - has your H.V expressed concern over his food/milk intake? I personally think that if he wants to be fed then feed him but im no expert, if he is thriving then what you are doing must be the right thing - so well done you!

With regard to juice, I had a similar problem with Izzy, she woudnt take water, so what i bought was Boots organic powder to mix with water ( straberry and vanilla flavour ) as its less full in flavour than juice and better for them and eventually i stopped adding the powder and now she drinks water brilliantly.

Anyway let me know how things go and hope everything gets better for you.

Take care

Lana x

[emilyalwaysblue]

Have you tried looking at the baby whisper book, she has some excellent methods for sleeping and feeding etc that dont include controlled crying. I found the book to be amazing and it really helped, just an idea
EmilyAlwaysBlue x

[janewright]

hi. ive had some simular probs as you, but kind of reversed. my 7 week old will take sometimes up to 6ozs of milk every 2-3 hours during the day, but sleep long at night. i asked my HV about it and she said the theory is that hes eating often in the day to store up for the night, because at night he will sleep for 6 hours, then want some 3 hours later and is then back into his day routine. i know what ya mean about deep sleeping baby, brandon can sleep through a numatic drill!!!
is there any way you can keep him awake during the day so he sleeps at night?
maybe youve just got a nocturnal one, or maybe hes just a day eater.

as for the attention bit, my baby will sometimes ball the place down, but then when hes picked up he will shutup, put him down, he'll scream again, ya get the picture. but if you always pick them up they will get use to it and you will have a very clingy little boy who will always expect it. leaving him to cry is good, its what babies do and it does them good. dont let it feel like your abandoning him, thats how it felt for me at first when i left brandon to cry, but now its ok. like i said, itll do him good.

hope this is some help, and i hope you are feeling ok. if ever you need to talk, dont hesitate to get in touch with me.
take care
jane
x

[cazfletcher]

have u tried leaving your baby in the cot when he cries, and just hold his hand or rub his tummy, "its ok mummys here". that worked for getting my son to sleep alone in his cot. get into a routine if you can, my sons 16 months now so he takes himself off for a nap in the afternoon and wakes up in time for tea. when i was struggling at 9 months i got him into this routine and it worked within a week:

8am 6oz bottle
9.30am breakfast
11am snack/drink
1pm dinner
3pm nap
4.30pm snack/drink
6pm tea
8pm9oz bottle
8.15pm bath
8.25pm story/song
8.30pm start cd of kids songs on low volume , lights out

now he has the same routine but without the bottles, and watches the cbeebies bedtime hour after tea so he knows its time to start winding down ready for his bath.
if you find his naps going on too long in the day, wake him up after say an hour and a half, and make a fuss of him, do something really nice together, soon he will just sleep for that set time, and be in a good mood too!

dont worry about water, it clicks eventually. like lana says, dilute his drinks til its only water in there, or try like i did with volvic touch of fruit sugar free mineral water.