Can anyone advise about cutting down night feeds/starting weaning?

[NorkyButNice]

DS2 is nearly 5 months and 21lbs (he was 11lb 3oz at birth so obviously always going to be on the big side!).

He's been on hungry baby formula since I stopped BF, and eats about 8oz every 3 hours during the day. He has a feed at about 7.30 in the evening, then wakes up at about 12 and 4 for further feeds if we don't dream-feed him just before we go to bed (about 10.30), in which case he wakes again at around 3.

Is this normal for his age (ie there's no way I should be expecting him to sleep through!) or does anyone have any cunning plans for getting him to go longer between feeds?

Is it time to introduce solids?

My 4 month old is only 13lbs, but does similar - feed at 6.30, dreamfeed at 10.30, then wakes at 3am and 5am. Of my friends with 4-5 month olds (ff and bf) none sleep 7-7 but a couple do 10.30pm-5am/6am (although one wakes every 2 hours!).

I'm trying to drop the 3am feed at the moment by having DP try to settle him without milk. Last night we were all up for an hour and a half, he finally went back to sleep at 4.30am, and then was up at 5am for a feed.

Does he show any signs of readiness for solids?

Think all babies are so different on when they start sleeping through but my story is really similar to yours in so much as birth weight, BF for a while then on hungry baby formula.

DD would have dream feed at 11pm then after a few weeks she dropped her 1am feed but was still waking up at 5am for a feed.

Took advice from others on MN...

1. Assured myself that she genuinely didn't need the 5am feed because she wasn't taking much of her 7.30am feed.

1. So night by night reduced the quantity of milk given to her at 5am, so went from 7oz down to 6.5oz down to 6oz etc etc until she was on 1oz then the next night....she just didn't wake up until 7.30am!

That was at 3.5 months and a month on she still goes through from 11pm feed until anywhere between 6.45-8am most nights. A couple of times she's woken up in the night and not self settled so I've gone in, picked up and put down or changed her nappy as that can get very wet, but I've not gone back to giving her a bottle at that time.

Thanks for the replies!

It's a good point actually - he generally won't eat in the morning until gone 9 so I ought to be able to tweak his feeding times during the night.

I just don't want to end up in the same position as with DS1 - he was still feeding twice during the night at 18 months, and even now wakes up and needs settling during the night (he's 3).

Signs of readiness for weaning -he can almost sit up but not properly. He gets very excited when he sees anyone eating, but otherwise I've no idea. We weaned DS1 at 4 months (paediatrician advice in the US where he was born) but I was hoping to go to 6 months with DS2 as it's easier!

Norky I just remembered something else...you know at the last feed of the night (11pm in my case) I actually don't dreamfeed that one, I wake DD up! Sounds totally insane but it's a Tracey Hogg method and you just need to gently wake them up, all they need to do is open their eyes for a couple of secs and this apparently 'resets' their sleep cycle.

DD now wakes up as soon as she hears the light switch go on (low dimmer not bright light!) and wakes up, has her feed, nappy change and then goes straight back down.

I was so nervous about doing it on the first night but now I daren't try not waking her up IYSWIM!