The Problem:
Charlie would wake up at least once per night usually between the hours of 2am and 5am. He would be screaming and desperate for a bottle. We would change his diaper as he would chug down 7 ounces and drift off to dreamland once we set him in his bed. He would then continue to sleep until 7 or 8, or sometimes 9!
The History:
Charlie had been sleeping through some long stretches, I dare say through the night, starting around 4 months and was doing great until he hit six months. I read in books that his new found mobility was cause for frequent wakings. I found this true as we would wake up after rolling on his stomach and forget to get onto his back, then, a couple months later he would stand up in his exhausted state and forget how to get back down and be comfortable.
When he was around 8 months Charlie was sleeping in our room for a period of time. We knew he should be able to go all night without drinking a bottle. When he woke up in the night and was stuck standing we would just put him back down and give him his binky and blanket. He would only sleep for an hour at most when I did this, and after him waking up 3+ times, I finally gave him the bottle. I was exhausted and Max had to work in the morning so this is just what I did. He started waking up less when we fed him at night so we just adjusted to a middle of the night feeding.
We arrived back in Oregon and Max started taking his baby night shift again. We rotate nights but I took on the full responsibility while in California so Max could get the rest he needed for work. Max did not want this nightly feeding to continue because it really was/is exhausting. He encouraged me to pick up some books from the library. I finally browsed the baby sections and found tons of baby sleep books. I grabbed one I had never heard of before. The book gave an example of a baby that was exactly like Charlie's situation so we decided to try the same plan that the example baby did.
The Plan:
Every other night, when Charlie woke up for his feeding we would decrease his feeding by an ounce. We started at 7 ounces so the next two nights we would give him 6 ounces and so on until he got to 2 ounces, then we could just skip the feeding altogether and hope that his body would not be depending on this middle-of-the-night meal. If he woke up a second time before 7am we would not feed him. I really worried that he would scream and scream because he was hungry, I knew he would not starve but still, I'm a mom and I want my baby's needs to be met.
The Results/Miracle
After two nights of drinking 6 ounces, (and still sleeping the rest of the night) he started sleeping through the entire night. This was completely unexpected. I was mentally preparing myself for hours of hungry screaming. He had only slept through the night 2-3 times in the last 5ish months. This was outrageous. We started the plan on October 12th and it was supposed to at least take ten days for his body to get used to less food during the night and more during the day but since October 14th he has only awoken during the night once. (actually it was twice in one night) He had already been doing so well that I didn't feed him the two ounces that were scheduled for that night.
Moral of the story: We had a miracle, or maybe we should have tried this earlier.
