The first night, I fed him around 10 p.m. as usual, so was dumbfounded when he started wailing around 4 a.m. I blamed it on a growth spurt and fed him. Over the course of the next several weeks, he began to wake earlier and earlier until we were back to feeding him every three-four hours.
We tried letting him cry in hopes that he’d put himself back to sleep. We tried giving him a pacifier. Diaper changes. Taking his temperature. Admittedly, acetaminophen at times ““ surely it was the teething. Tummy massages ““ it must be tummy troubles from starting solids. Daylight savings time (run to make homemade black-out curtains). Pajamas that were warmer. Pajamas that were cooler. Keeping him up later. Putting him to bed earlier. All to no avail. No longer running on newborn adrenaline, I was at my breaking point.
At his six-month checkup, we brought the issue to our doctor who assured us that, given his feeding schedule and weight, he was more than capable of sleeping through the night. After running through his bedtime routine, the doctor confirmed we were safe from the usual culprits ““ we don’t feed him to sleep, he sleeps in his own room, we put him to bed while he’s still awake, etc.
Grasping at what could have changed, our doctor suggested that we drop the dream feed.