4. Mo feeds twice at night help I need some sleep!

[saturdaymorningyawn]

My DS is 4mo and is FF. He has 5oz 3 hourly throughout the day. I can't seem to stretch this out or increase the amount as he is sick quite a bit after most feeds. Overnight he will go about 4 hours before needing a feed. Does anybody have any suggestions even if I can narrow it down to 1 feed a night my sanity would be saved! Tempted to start weaning but would this help? Thank you.

I understand how you feel as DD was feeding every 2 hours for 8 months!

is there anyone else who can share the feeding?

Entirely normal for a 4 month old. In my experience babies drop feeds when they are ready and there is little that you can do to manipulate this.

Do you have a DP who could help with one of the night feeds so you can get an 8 hour stretch?

This probably isn't what you want to hear but my first thought was 'only twice a night! lucky thing'. Both of mine fed at least 2hrly until they were about 9 months. So did most other babies of my acquaintance.

However, that doesn't change the fact that you're tired right now. Weaning v unlikely to help as he wouldn't be getting many calories from solids in the initial stages. I would offer more milk and ride it out. 4 months is prime time for growth and development spurt, which means messed up sleep for a while, I'm afraid. If he's waking from hunger, milk will fill him up much more effectively than solids.

My 7 month old is still on 2 feeds. We got her down to one for a while but then there was a cold and teething.

Got down to one by:

• gradual retreat to help her learn to resettle without feeding to sleep
• we wouldn't feed before 3am or 7am. This took a few really shit nights but did take hold more or less.

Then it has crept back up to a 2am and 5 am.

I would resist too much wrestling with it though as you have teething and the fun rolling over game to come. Both of these can disrupt whatever you get to.

Sorry to sound glum but have been awake since 3.30 with baby wanting to feed after 1.5 hrs. Did i mention she's 7 month?

Google four month sleep regression!

Four month old feeding twice at night fine, and normal. Weaning wouldn't make the slightest bit of difference.

Have you seen someone about him throwing up frequently?

I really struggled at 4months with ds and started weaning early, but he was feeding 3 times a night and I spent a few weeks trying to cut down on the night feeds first. Weaning didn't make any difference, he didn't drop the night feeds till 7months.
All you can do is try to get as much milk in him before 10pm as possible. Before and after bath then 10pm dream feed.

As poster above says it may be an idea to go to the docs about the vomiting. It may be reflux but also if he is actually heaving that can be caused by tongue tie. I don't know how bad it is but if it's reflux and baby' s happy I wouldn't medicate unless absolutely necessary. Gaviscon' s vile and makes them constipated.

From your post I am guessing you are limiting his milk to 5oz 3 hourly because he is sick? From my experience I'm not convinced that taking less in one go makes them less sick. In fact seemingly Dd2 was less sick if I let her get properly hungry then took 8oz than if she was topped up with less before tummy was ready.

I think that feeding on demand avoids a lot of problems and allows baby to set their own rhythm. At 4 months both of mine only had 1 night feed which I would have thought normal.

Thank you all for your replies. It makes me feel better that it is 'normal' for him to be feeding this often overnight. And in a way that makes me feel much better! My DP work's 7-7 mon-fri so doesn't do the night feeds in the week but helps out at the weekend if he hears him cry. I'm usually up before him as I've found if I can get in quickly and pat and sooth him he'll go back to sleep, very irritating when he should be doing it but that's another thread!!

I went to GP about his vomiting and she gave gaviscon but it made him horrendously constipated so I stopped it. The vomiting doesn't seem to be painful for him so figured I'd preserver without the gaviscon. He demand feeds it's just that he goes 3 hourly and no more. I've found that if he goes longer he'll vomit even more as he'll be so hungry and scream beforehand.

Thank you all for your replies happy new year!!!

Try waking and feeding him before you go to bed ( say 11pm dreamfeed)
Then if he's going 4hrs he should just wak around 3am, then the next time around 7am. Does that work for you? It should give you at least 7hr sleep

My DD is 14 months and still having one feed around 11:30 ( before I go to bed) and another one around 5:00 in the morning. She will not go back to sleep otherwise. I think it is because they're growing soooo fast, they need food all the time. But babies are different.

Thanks forever I'm going to try a dreamfeed tonight. I know it's not bad 2 wakes for feeds but it's the waking inbetween and my friends who tell me their babies sleep through the night and have done since 12 weeks!! So now I'm not so worried as it sounds like a lit if you have it do much worse.

I'm envious - both my DCs were having at least four feeds a night at 4m.

Why not try comfort milk? Or go back to GP because there are more options including other medication and hypo allergenic formula. I'd try the latter first. It's a bit rank but you gradually mix it in so they get used to the taste.