Feeding routine

[MrsCobes44]

Hello all

I am just after a bit of advice regarding my DS feeding pattern. He is 9 weeks old and formula fed. He tends to go about 3.5 hours between each feed in the day time. However the feeds are not at set times, it all depends what time he wakes up. So for example, he woke at 5.45 this morning and had a feed then and will prob feed again (3.5 to 4oz at each feed) about 9.15, 12.45, 4.15 etc. However my question is, do any of you do 'top up' feeds before bedtime? As on some occasions, his late afternoon feed could be as late as 5.30pm but then I would be giving him another feed about 7pm before bedtime? I've tried this on a couple of occasions and he seemed to be a bit windy and unsettled so just wondered if this was a coincidence or whether I am 'force feeding' him as such and he doesn't need that feed at 7pm? But it would then mean it is a long wait from the last 5.30pm to his dream feed at 11pm?

Sorry for the long post! Any feedback would be appreciated.

I think most people would definitely give their baby a feed at bedtime, regardless of what time the afternoon feed was. I certainly did.

Just make sure you take his cue as to when to pull the bottle away and don't try to make him finish it if he's had enough.

I always gave my DD a feed at bedtime, and this would very often mean two feeds less than a couple of hours apart (sometimes just over an hour..!). I was initially surprised, but she always took the majority of that feed regardless of time of the one before, then would sleep a reasonably long stretch before the next one. I think they tank up for their sleep with that one, so I would offer it if I were you.
Even now she is eating solid food, she has her tea around 5 then is happy to drink a bottle of milk around 6.15 before being put down for bed.

DD (16 weeks) takes non routine following to the extreme but I would try to feed her before bedtime.

When bedtime is however can vary by an hour or so but as soon as I notice her getting sleepy then yes I offer another feed.

More often than not she will take a little feed but not much.

But, that said, when her reflux was less controlled then I wouldn't have offered a feed if she had fed it refused a feed recently because it would have put her in pain or discomfort.

Hello,

I FF my DS from 2 weeks old. The advice I received was to 'feed on demand' which is what you're doing and sounds great.

But when my DS was about 10 weeks old I also noticed the problem you're having....if you feed on demand, how can you possibly time the day so that your baby falls on needing a bottle at around 7pm, or whenever he will be tired for bedtime?

After a few frustrating nights, this is what I did:

• continued feeding on demand from wake-up and throughout the day. It doesn't matter if the bottles are at different times every day, you will notice over the coming couple of months that a distinct pattern emerges as your baby gets older and starts to have bigger bottles, at longer intervals. Go with the flow for a few months and watch the pattern emerge only to go totally tits up when you wean him!

• keep an eye on the clock as the evening approaches. If your baby has a bottle at 2pm for example, he will probably end up needing one at around 5pm. As you say, this isn't ideal for a 7pm bedtime. If this happens, try giving him a very small bottle to stake the edge off his hunger at 5pm (say 2oz). And then he should be hungry again for a larger bottle at 7 ish for 'bedtime'.

• Some days, due to the irregularity of the feed patterns at this young age, you might not need to do this: he might feed at 1pm, 4pm and 7.30pm. If it naturally falls like this, don't change it: just feed normal sized bottles at each feed.

• I noticed that after a week or two of doing this, DS settled into more of a predictable pattern of daytime feeds anyway, which meant he seemed to start naturally needing a bottle at bedtime anyway. So I stopped doin this little manipulation.

Maybe give it a try see what happend? Hth.

ps - just to be clear, i never let DS scream with hunger between 5pm and bedtime!I gave him enough milk to take the edge off and satisfy his hunger, but not enough to stuff him so full he wouldn't feed at bedtime. He was always happy enough with the small bottle and played/napped etc until his bedtime bottle.

Hi. This thread has really helped me...I had got it into my head that I did not want my 12 week old to associate bedtime with feeding (falling asleep whilst feeding) because I thought he should slowly be learning to self sooth & I am trying to establish some kind of routine, bath etc but I wasn't feeding him at bedtime. I feel silly & cruel now - do I feed him again at the end of our routine & try & stop just before he falls asleep & then lay him down? Thanks.

Hi Clarina.

I think generally it's thought that the ideal bedtime senario is to feed last thing, then get him in to his cot while he's almost, but not quite asleep.

So if he tends to pass out on the bottle quickly whip him in to his cot as soon as he's finished.

Thank you, will give it a go tonight!

mine would nearly always fall asleep on her bedtime bottle when little. If she did this I would gently rouse her (tickle her feet, blow on her nose, stroke her palms) till she woke slightly and then I would put her down awake.

I had the same problem until I changed up my routine to Feed play then sleep, so he never technically gets a feed right before he sleeps. As long as he's eaten by 5/6 then he has a good hour of play and gets put down to bed. He gets woken for a feed around 10/11pm and then put down for the night. If that doesn't work for you then just ensure you look for his cues that he's had enough with that bedtime feed. It helps to prepare a smaller bottle so you're not tempted to make him finish it! At 9 weeks his stomach is still small so shouldn't need two big bottles so close together (saying that, I've just watched ds drain 12oz in 2 hours, got to love those growth spurts!),