I feel horrible for doing this...

[thegauntlet]

Ok; backround is that DD is 16 weeks and she is a little and often eater. We are trying to cure this in the day as hopefully this will solve the night problems. Currently she wakes every 3 hours or less at night, going to bed at 730-getting up at 730. I have always fed her at each one; but last night i just cuddled her at 3.30 as I had fed her at 130 and know she can go 4 hours in the day. I gave her a dummy and held it in for 10 minutes. She wasn't happy but eventually dropped off. SHe then woke an hour later.

So.... am I awful for withholding the feed? I feel bad this morning; that it was purely selfish. I think she catches up on food in the night as she doesnt feed for very long in the day. Incidentally she doesnt sleep for long stretches either. Usually 40 mins 9ish and then an hour 1130ish with another hour in the afternoon.

What might help??? I will try anything ( co-sleeping was an utter nightmare- we tried for 1 week- she woke upp more and my dh woke up too ( he otherwise doesnt stop snoring!!)

[tiredpooky]

personally i would feed her, i was still feeding (BF) DD 1-2hourly round the clock at 5m, i dont know why i didnt die
we coslept and sometimes it was hard , me with aching joints and light sleep but it was better than the alternative for me
DH was in spare room for a year other than weekends , he came in with earplugs
good luck, it really wont last long in the grand scheme of things

[TrinityTheLonelyBrokenRhino]

just feed her
it wont last forever

unless you have agecko who still feeds at least three times a night and she is 3 and a half

[ConnorTraceptive]

Given her age I would just feed her.

[TrinityTheLonelyBrokenRhino]

she isnt a 'little and often eater' she is just a small baby

dont label her as it will make you think there is a problem that you need to solve when there isn't

[cyteen]

Just feed her :) It sounds like she needs the milk - my DS was ravenous at that age and went through a colossal growth/development spurt.

Like tiredpooky, I was feeding 2hrly round the clock at that age. DS was also a crap sleeper during the day. BUT you may be glad to know that once he turned 1 he suddenly started taking long naps and sleeping through the night.

She'll learn to sleep longer as she grows bigger and more independent. IT WILL PASS :)

[AngelDog]

There is a very common growth / developmental spurt around that age. See here and here.

Personally I'd just feed her too. DS wasn't sleeping for more than a couple of hours at a time then (although he had been before the 4 month regression, and was afterwards).

[midnightexpress]

I'd just feed her too. DS2 was a nightmare (we co-slept for quite a while as I found I got back to sleep more easily) but was feeding as often or more often than your dd for ages.

The bad news: he was a rubbish sleeper until he was nearly 2.

The good news: he is now nearly 4 and is a great sleeper (and has been for nearly 2 years. Down at 7.30ish, up at 7.30ish, never wakes up unless he's ill, easy to get back down if he does wake.

So, I think you should probably just go with the flow for now.

[Igglybuff]

If you're going to use a dummy to stop her asking for a feed, you may as well just feed her surely?

Babies have little tummies hence feeding frequently.

Can you have her cot next to your bed so you dont have to go far when she wakes?

[ConnorTraceptive]

Also if you are trying to stop her feeding little and often during the day I would imagine that she is MORE likely to wake up for a feed at night.

[thehairybabysmum]

I would probably feed her in the night, but with my 2 i always did 3 hourly feeds in day, or offered milk 3 hourly so they would (hopefully) go that tiny bit longer at night.

So the 4 hr stretch that you say she can do in the day, i basically wouldn't let that happen in the day IYSWIM.

Obviousloy you cant make her feed in the day if she dosnt actually want it but i would offer, i would even wake them for this in the day time.

It seemed to work as a general rule that they diddo the longest stretches at night.