12 weeks and still feeding every 3 hours!

[srv]

Our son is 12 weeks old and is a really easy, lovely baby. He doesn't cry often, he's happy and smiley and when he settles down for the night at around 7 o'clock he sleeps really well... apart from waking up every three hours to feed for half an hour - just like he did when he was first born. He's never slept for more than four hours at once. I've tried making sure he feeds really really well at 10pm but it doesn't make any difference - he still wakes up at one and then again at four. On one hand I realise we're really lucky and don't want to push my luck. On the other hand I haven't had more than four hours sleep at once for three months now and the prospect of him sleeping through feels a long long way away at the moment!

Any ideas on how to encourage him to sleep through the night?

Thanks

srv

PS I am breast feeding him and don't really want to introduce formula.

TBH, it sounds like you're both doing really well and I'm not sure there is anything to fix. I know you would like more sleep, but your ds has other ideas and needs your milk

You could try and cluster feed from late afternoon to bedtime. That may make a difference.

FWIW, ds never showed any signs of dropping feeds, he just done it.

Oh, and you don't have to introduce formula. It is more than likely that it won't make any difference anyway.

I think (sorry) that this is normal and fine and actually pretty good for his age. From my experience anyway and from other parents I know.

I so, so remember feeling as you do when ds was exactly this age!

But my ds was formula fed and that made no difference so I certainly wouldn't suggest introducing it anyway. It took a good while yet before my ds went longer; he was six months I think.

His feeds were about 7pm, 11pm, 3am, 6am....so I guess you'd say that was one less night waking than you're getting. I sympathise, getting up twice a night is grim. But I think as he gets bigger of course he WILL go a little longer between feeds and then you might find that it's worth doing that 10pm feed at 11pm so that you might get only one real night waking....

Sounds quite normal to me, but if you are really struggling with the lack of sleep you could try doing

"dream feeds" from Secrets of the Baby Whisperer.

I think they are discussed a bit on this old MN thread...

here

I loved the book actually - well worth picking up a copy if you can - although I appreciate that different techniques appeal to and work for different people...

Best of luck

This is from a news website, but sums up the theory:

Another idea advocated by Baby Whisperer is what they call a "dream feed."

"And we call it the dream feed because you don't actually wake the baby, Blau said. "You basically take the baby out of the crib and give it a breast or bottle and don't even change it unless it's really soiled and then put them back to sleep."

Some people might argue this is more convenient for parents than it is for the baby. That allowing the baby to sleep through the night maybe doesn't benefit the baby.

"Sleeping through the night is a misnomer," Blau said. "Babies ? you are lucky if they sleep five or six hours. It's not sleeping through the night. It's for the baby because the baby then gets on the same schedule as the parent and everyone is less stressed out. And, let's face it, a mother or father who is not tired is going to be a better mother or father."

Thanks for the replies. Glad this is normal - I only thought it was strange because everyone talks about how babies tend to sleep through from about now! As long this is nothing strange and doesn't mean he'll never sleep properly I don't really mind. In a strange way I quite like it (well, most of the time!!)

Thanks again

srv

Perfectly normal, ds1 is 15 months and still feeds every 3-4 hours although can go longer if we are out ect....

Message withdrawn

Sounds normal to me also. Also, you can't compare them. I have three children and breast fed all. They all fed differently.

It may be worth posting this on the breastfeeding thread.

Is the 10pm feed a dreamfeed - i.e. does your baby wake for a feed or do you wake him to feed him in the hope of getting him to sleep through? If it's the latter, I have found that both of mine were actually worse if I gave them a dreamfeed at 10 or 11. If I left them to it, they would sleep from 7 until about 1am at the very least. Not much help in terms of you getting a good night's kip, but if you can get to bed early enough, you might grab a few hours.

srv to me that sounds quite normal, ds2 fed like that until 5 mths then he started popping in the odd 5 hr stretch at night.
He is 11 mths now and still takes 6-7 feeds in 24 hrs, but now usually sleeps 7-11-4-7 sometimes sleeping through the 11pm and waking at 3 instead then thru til 7am.

Both mine had at least one night feed until about 5m. I think by the time ds2 slept through I was so knackered and used to it that I latched him on in my sleep! Ds1 would dream feed, ds2 would wake up and go bezerk cos he was tired so end up no one got any sleep.

DS, now almost 24 weeks, still wakes regularly through the night. A three hour stretch of sleep is a rare luxury.

I have no handy hints, but just wanted to say that I feel your pain.

Apparently it will pass at some point...

[/zombie]