Habit or hunger?

[Jasquers]

My DS is just over 4 months old.
Every night, give or take a few minutes, he is awake at 1015pm then 215am. He does feed at these times-I have tried settling without but this does not work. It feels like he is waking out of habit given the almost exact times he wakes.
Any opinions?

[buckyou]

He's still very little. My daughter is nearly 2 and only just started sleeping through at 2! I'd leave him for a bit and then maybe try and get him to drop the later feed. You could try just giving him water, but think he might be a bit young for that?

[ifyouthinkiwillsleepyoudream]

Hi @Jasquers I have exactly the same question! DS is 4 months and gets a feed before we go to bed at 10-11pm and then wakes up for another some time between 2.30-4.40am. I have been wondering if he really needs that middle of the night feed... he is still young so have been hesitating to do anything too drastic about it.
Have you tried settling at all without feed, to see how he would react, how soon he will fall asleep etc?

[ifyouthinkiwillsleepyoudream]

@Jasquers doh sorry. You obviously already said you did

[Jasquers]

Ive never had to think about waking him for a dream feed as he does that himself! Just concerned that he never has a long stretch of sleep. Once in a while he will put himself back to sleep without a feed but wakes an hour or so later. He can self soothe really well-at nap times and bedtime-so I know that's not the issue.

[Timetogrowup2016]

This is fantastic sleep for a four month old honestly his hungry . Fred him

[Timetogrowup2016]

Feed

[FATEdestiny]

You're over thinking it op. Two feeds in 12 hours, and one of those before you go to bed, is fantastic sleep at 4 months old.

Adjusting your expectations is the best thing; to know that your baby sleeps well, not badly. But there are of course ways you can encourage more sleep:

• have an in-cot settling method that doesn't require you to pick baby up out of the cot
  
• try to resettle for a few minutes before feeding in the night
  
• aim to get baby to go to sleep at bedtime in the cot
  
• feeding more frequently during the day, less time between feeds, is a way to calorie load through the day so fewer calories are needed at night.
  

But all of these are not Magic Wand Answers. They won't necessarily make for a quick-fix solution. Longer term though, they are great ways to encourage more sleep.

[Jasquers]

We are co-sleeping at the moment as he has had a cold and seemed unhappy in his cot (even in the same room!). If it was random times, and a longer stretch than around 3 hours after bedtime I would be more convinced it was hunger. He is 17lbs so I was hoping he might do at least a long stretch first thing. He is breastfed so hard to know how much he is getting in the day. I offer frequently.

[FurryElephant]

My breastfed 4 month old is barely going 2 hours overnight at the moment without a feed so I'd guess he was hungry!

[teaandbiscuitsforme]

Unfortunately babies very rarely do what we would hope for. He's sleeping for chunks of 4 hours which is great for a BF baby. He'll be hungry overnight for a good while yet so feed him and get both of you back to sleep!

[Timetogrowup2016]

Weight has no bearing on sleeping longer .
3 hour stretches is very very normal at that age and also very good

[JennyOnAPlate]

It's perfectly normal and usual for a four month old to feed a couple of times in the night. Some people are lucky and have babies that don't, but plenty more do.

[Sparrowlegs248]

4 hrs is a long stretch though esp if breast fed. The regularity of it would make me think it's hunger, a certain amount if milk will keep him satisfied for a certain amount of time.

Ds1 was waking to feed every 2-3 hrs at 6 months.

Ds2 wakes at regular times already at 7 weeks.

[Heirhelp]

My formula feed nearly 11 months has at least 1 feed but sometimes 2 feeds a night.

4 months olds are suppose to feed at night.

[LillianFullStop]

At 4 months I'd say this is actually hunger! My DD is 5 months and still has 2 feeds a night.