To think more feeds in the day equals longer sleep in night

[Peppery123]

Just wondering if there is a link baby having enough formula/feeds in the day to sleeping through the night? I keep reading conflicting information.
Reason I ask first two dc slept through the night pretty quick. Dd1- from 8 weeks
Dd2- 12-13 weeks
All good weights and had lots of bottles through the day.
Now with dd3 she is 16 weeks. Hardly finishes her bottles. I would say on average shes taking 4oz per feed! Whihc is nowhere near reccomended amount as shes only having 5-6 feeds. Some feeds only 3oz. She hardly ever finishes her 5oz bottles. And shes waking up in the night but sometimes refuses milk so thats why im so confused?
Her last weight was 12lb 11oz which I think is on the low side.
Just really struggling with the night feeds atm becausw due back to work month 5 so hoping by then she would be in a more settled routine but doesnt look promising:(

No - sorry I don't agree. Sleep is development and not really linked to feeding. Yes, they will wake to feed if hungry but sleeping for long stretches isn't what babies are generally designed to do. They are primitive neurologically and wake frequently for survival.

No, feed during the day makes no difference. My fourth baby is my worst sleeper and they’ve been treated the same but, as MrsP says, it developmental.

It can mean that BUT only if your baby is waking at night due to hunger. Not so much if waking for comforting, colic, dirty nappy etc.

My first was textbook and and soon as we had maxed up his daytime feeds, including a dream feed he reliably slept through the night (from 10 weeks).

Second was a different kettle of fish. I stopped feeding her at night between 3-4 months. She was definitely getting enough in the day but she used to wake for cuddles though mainly because she ha d lost her dummy (suckaholic). We decided to go cold turkey with the dummy at 7 months when we were on leave over Christmas but as if my magic she suddenly developed an ability to replug the dummy herself. She has always been the worse sleeper though - even at 6 she will wake occasionally with nightmares, feeling scared, too hot, too cold, favourite toy fallen out of bed ... Eldest has always been dead to the world once asleep.

Babies don’t only wake up because they’re hungry. So no.

As I said on your other thread, no, sleep is developmental and personal to each child. Research shows no correlation between how a baby sleeps and how they feed. 16 weeks is also right in the 4 month sleep regression when it’s common for babies sleep to be more unsettled, though it doesn’t sound like this is new.

It’s very very normal for babies to wake in the night for the whole first 18 months, your previous two children are far more unusual for sleeping through early and that not changing. The first year is usually very up and down with sleep.

Not from my experience no.
But I did see a difference in regards to birth weights, my eldest was 5 lb3 and my fourth 5 lb 15 and both were terrible sleepers. The others were only a little heavier at 6,3 and 6,1 but both slept better. My youngest was just over 7 lb and is the best sleeper yet.

Up to age 1 imho developmental. Ds - slept through 7 til 7 from 16 weeks. DD still regularly woke at night until 8 or 9m, not always for a feed (she's just different to him).

After age 1 I think some babies will develop bad habits if you rush in to them at the slightest murmur, DD still stirs a couple of times most night and fussed for 20 or 30 seconds then goes back to sleep. We dont go in, some people would and I think that can sometimes lead to more wake ups.

Thanks everyone..im just feeling stressed with the night wake ups as it takes me ages to get back to sleep so im having about 4-5 hours. Also was discussing it with HV , this dd is definitely more of a snacker. Having feeds little and often (about 3 hours) but never finishes feeds. Doesnt seem hungry? Could weaning help?

@Sh05
Thats intersting but definitely doesnt work with mine as my first was the lowest weight(6.8lbs) ut the 3 n slept the best !
This dd was also born at 7.7lbs didnt gain weight though for a long time as I was breastfeeding. Only gained weight when starting formula

@NoIDontWatchLoveIsland
Were both bf or ff?
Shes still sleeping in our room, but we dont go to her jf she moans or coos. She usually gets up with forceful crying on the 3am feed so seems hungry definitely

I know this wasn't what you asked, but what teats are you using? My boy was barely getting 3oz into him when he was supposed to be drinking more and we ended up changing the teats. Switched the whole brand of bottles for him from Tommy tippee to mam and he was like a different child!

DD is two and can feed hourly all day plus all meals and snacks and still wake up every 1-2 hours she'll get there eventually...

It's really difficult isn't it. I remember with my DD who is nearly 5 now, I didn't sleep longer than two hours at a time until I weaned her off breast milk at 2.
After that 1st night of no breastmilk she slept 6 hours straight so for her it was more comfort than hunger.

Weve played around with the teats..she was on all of the X tomee tippee teats n then tried the no2s. Still the same she sometimes just reguses the bottle as well.

@Sh05

Sorry @DwangelaForever

Different.bottles may be worth trying

My 19lb 3 month old has about 40oz of formula a day and wakes up once through the night for the past two weeks but he's been on the same amount of milk since he was 6 weeks old so I think it's a developmental thing that he's started sleeping better.
They advise to speak to a health professional if you wean before 6 months, I m just going to up formula amount until then rather offer food with his big appetite I think.

But being hungry IS one reason why babies wake up, along with all the others. So, being well fed can erradicate that reason for babies over a certain age, who have big enough tums to not need food every 3 or 4 hours.

Beyond a certain age (not before 6 months and maybe later) it is possible for a baby to eat its needs for 24 hours between perhaps 7am and 11pm, and then later between 7am and 7pm. If they eat enough in those hours, they may still wake up for all the other reasons, but it won’t really be for genuine food needs, although they will probably want to be fed.

So boosting the food intake (milk and then later solids) can play a big role in babies sleeping longer. Those who eat little during the day will need to make up for it at night. Therefore, giving your baby opportunities to eat most or all of their daily needs in the daytime can help a lot. Other factors can cause waking too of course.

I believe it is , feed them in the day and they won't wake out of hunger at night . Both mine slept through at 12 weeks 7-7 .

My baby is 24 week now and feeds like yours. Well, a little less as she goes 4 hours between feeds of max 4oz. Been like that from birth. She had about 16-18oz in 24 hours.

She used to wake at 3am for a 2oz feed but has now stated sleeping though. I still try to dream feed/wake her to feed but she's having none of it.

No reason for it, just doesn't seem to like milk.

Started weaning her a few weeks ago as paediatrician said it's worth a go. She will eat a whole pouch worth (or equiv size of my food) of purée. It's like she's starving she wolfs it down. But she won't eat baby porridge or any food with formula.

He paltry intake of milk hasn't dropped yet as she's only having food once a day. Waiting to up it in two weeks when she's 6 months so I can try and get Greek yoghurt down her then as I know she will drink even less milk with two meals a day.

It's maddening! She just hates milk (and yes, we've tried many brands/bottles!)

Sorry posted too soon - so the solid meal is making her sleep through, but she's missing out on that 2oz of milk in the night. Which is a lot when she takes so little anyway.

@Fuckadoodledoooo
Wow this is very interesting as I also feel like my little one just doesn't like milk! Dh thinks im crazy when I say that and says its nature for them to have milk.
Sometimes she makes really disgusted faces when shes having it? Ive tried change formulas as well butbdont want to keep chopping n changing
I think may be i will try weaning. Can i ask how old yours was when you started? And what did you start her on?

Deffo try the mam with her xx

@Peppery123 I started at 5 months exactly. Just on a couple of spoons of baby porridge at a time. She was ok. She loves picking up and chomping on cucumber too. Obvs doesn't eat any, just gums it. So she's "ready" in the sense she can pick up and try to chew food.

We have tried veg purées over the past ten days. Just sweet potato and butternut squash. Omg, she can't get enough. My baby who I just didn't think was hungry as she's never drunk milk properly is like a thing possessed. As soon as she swallows it she's searching for the spoon again.

She's seen a paediatrician a few times as we suspected silent reflux. She's on gaviscon since ten weeks. The symptoms of acid reflux (the face pulling like she was in pain when spitting up hours after feeds etc) disappeared but she still didn't increase milk intake and hasn't done since (she's drank the same amount of milk done 3 weeks old).

Anyway, the doctor isn't greatly concerned as she was born on 9th centile but went up to 30th by ten weeks and has somehow stayed hovering round that. She doubled her birthweight (5lb 13oz) by 12 weeks

He just said some babies drink very little milk and prefer food and to give it a go when I felt comfortable (she was 4 months then, I waited another month). I trust him implicitly- he's seen all my children over 18 years, we use him rather than a GP.

But I just know she will drop the milk intake even more with more food. It's such a worry.