But is it really that uncommon for babies to still wake in the night at 7 months?
I've been given lots of advice, everyone from my real life and online friends (who's advice is always appreciated), to my hairdresser, beautician, shop assistants, the ladies at the post office, childless men (always my fave!) and complete strangers.
Most of the advice we've happily ignored - like starting solids early (this has been suggested to me by at least a dozen people starting when he was only 4 weeks old), supplementing his night feeds with formula (I have no problems with formula, Max drank it from 5 months but a lack of milk is not the problem) adding a few drops of rum to a bottle for him, and ignoring him outright when he cries during the night.
Some of it we've tried - waking him up to feed at 10pm before I go to bed, giving him solids at 6 months, moving him into his own room (which we did a couple of days ago) and picking him up when he cries, hugging him and then putting him back down.
It doesn't matter what we do he still wakes up in the night and wants to be fed.
The thing is, I'm totally ok with it. Sure I complain sometimes, especially after a night where he's decided to feed five times, but generally I don't mind.
I love breastfeeding Lincoln and those night feeds are so special to me. It's just me and him. During those feeds I am the only thing in the entire world that matters to him. And there is something so amazingly wonderful about that.
So next time someone asks me if he's sleeping through yet, I'm not going to let them offer me any more advice. I'll let them know that he doesn't sleep through the night, but that I don't mind at all. I'm sure he'll do it when he's ready.
xx Tamsyn
