How many hours between feedings?
rosy003
Posts: 251 Member
My 4 months old is waking up at 10, 12, 2 and 4 during the night to eat. He is nursing for at least 10 minutes each time. I haven't had proper sleep in nearly 4 weeks and I'm losing my mind. How often during the day do I feed a 4 month old who is ebf? I read a sleep book that recommended stretching it to every four hours, but I feel like he is making up for it at night. Any advice is welcomed! I have tried other things (rather than nursing) in the night and nothing else works. I know he can fall asleep on his own b/c we put him down awake for all naps and bedtime with no issues.
0
Replies
-
In the additional month of wisdom I have over you (sarcasm), I've decided to try to stop figuring it out and scheduling feedings. I pretty much feed on demand... It tends to work out to every 2-3 hours, sometimes a little longer. We had rough nights around four months for two weeks or so, probably due to sleep regressions and/or a growth spurt plus rolling over (new skills generally lead to more waking). Some say stretch out your feedings so they get used to longer stretches between feedings during the day and at night, but some say feed frequently during the day so they get it in during the day and sleep more at night. It seems you can't win!
My 5.5-month-old still wakes 2-3x a night, and last night I dream fed him around 9:30. He woke me up at 11, 12:30, 2:30, 4:30, 5:15, and then got up for the day at 6:30. He's learning to sit up, though (with his hands supporting him), and yesterday was the first day he did it without flopping forward. So that may have something to do with it, but it might just be a fluke. Even when he was sleeping he was super restless, so who knows.
I found the link below yesterday and thought it was interesting and insightful. I'm inspired to feed more often during the day because it's not much of an inconvenience to do so to see if it helps him sleep longer at night. On the rare occasion he'll have four hours between wake-ups, but it's generally 2-3. I wonder if he is keeping up the daytime spacing of eating every 2-3 hours out of habit, so I think when he gets to six months we might start some sleep training.
http://www.thealphaparent.com/2013/01/timeline-of-baby-and-toddler-sleep.html?m=1
Hopefully that's helpful! I wish I had more answers for you, but then I'd be getting sleep at night, too. Just know that you're not alone!
Edited for typo0 -
I fed on demand with both of my kids and both of them had their own pattern. My son was(still is) the slowest eater ever, but he would go longer between feeding. My girl is quick and strong, but gets hungry more frequently. Unfortunately sleep deprivation is part of being a new moms. Waking up at night come and goes. Right now, you baby may goes through a growth sprout, may started teething or who now why. If she is BF for 10 minutes she is hungry for sure and it is not just for comfort. Both of my babies slept through the night between 2 and 5 months of age, but when the teething started and screwed up the entire sleeping pattern. Now my baby is 10 months old ,and I still have to wake up and BF her a few times at night. But again it comes and goes. 2 weeks ago everything was great, but now here are again I walk like a zombie and the sleep deprivation is killing me. .0
-
I don't have a daytime schedule, and feed on demand whenever he seems hungry. That has always been about every 3 hours though. The only thing that ever helped us get more sleep was night-weaning. We didn't do that until he was 8 months old though. But it worked. The logic (and I'm pretty sure most people say they have to be about 6 months to start it) is that if they wake up in the middle of the night and don't get to nurse (offer them every other kind of comfort), they will start putting themselves back to sleep because it's not "worth it" for them to wake up. My pediatrician actually started encouraging us to do this with our son when he was 3 months old. I was dead set against it...until he turned 8 months and I couldn't take waking up multiple times at night any more! The book that we used, that I found EXTREMELY helpful was Kim West's Good Night, Sleep Tight. I highly recommend it.0
-
My 5 month old is going 4-5 hours between during the day, but at night most nights is a lot like yours. Instead of trying to figure out the spacing of feedings during the day, what seems to help the most with mine is good, consistent naps. He is working on falling asleep on his own and the days he mostly calms himself to sleep during the day are the nights he sleeps the longest. Good luck - each time you figure something out, they hit a new phase!0
-
I think night-weaning works great for older baby and/or if the waking up is really for comfort and not actual real hunger. We did night-weaning with baby #1 around 1 yrs of age, and it worked wonders. However I do not think a EBF 4 months old who is not even eating solid should be night-weaned yet.The only thing that ever helped us get more sleep was night-weaning. We didn't do that until he was 8 months old though.
Since it did work great with baby #1, my husband is really pushing the night weaning with our baby #2. who is 10.5 months old. The problem is that she self weaned from day-time breastfeeding between 8-9 months , and if I wean for night time, that will quickly will end the entire BF, which I do not want.0 -
I'm on baby #5, have never used formula and I would increase feeds during the day as much as possible. Failing that, presuming he is older than 16 weeks and if you are sure it's a hunger issue I would probably start solids, either baby rice with breastmilk or fruit puree with breastmilk. I know we are advised to wait until 6 months, but not all kids are the same and some are definitely ready earlier. If increasing daytime feeds doesn't work after a couple of weeks and you're still not getting any sleep, then I would start feeding him up with solids.0
-
Have you heard of the 4 month wakeful period / 4 month sleep regression? Might be something to think about:
http://kellymom.com/parenting/nighttime/4mo-sleep/
My son went through it, and it ended thankfully, but man was I tired!0
