Should I be in more of a feeding routine?

[ct148]

Not sure whether to post here or in 'Sleep'!

DS (nearly 4 months) is a pretty terrible sleeper and so we are co-sleeping for now. He wakes up 40 mins after being put down to sleep at 7pm, and very regularly throughout the night.

He is a bit of a snacker, and doesnt tend to feed for very long at any one time. I've never put him on any kind of feeding schedule.

Basically, I'm wondering whether its usually better to feed and attempt to 'tank him up' so feed whenever I can and hope he will be full by bedtime...or whether I'd be better attempting to go longer between feeds so he takes in more and gets used to waiting longer between feeds?

Just trying to rule out reasons as to why he might be waking after one sleep cycle, and so regularly all night.

Thanks!

Are you BF? It's always best done on demand because then your DS can get exactly what he needs and your supply can adjust to his needs. What your describing sounds like the 4 month sleep regression- very common, completely normal and it does go away!

I'm in a similar spot! Agree with EauRouge but I would watch out for hunger signals and feed as soon as you see them. Also my baby takes loads more when I feed her in the bedroom with low lighting, than in the living room or when out or about. So I'm trying this to see if it helps. I wouldn't space feeds in the day myself, apart from anything else it would be more work to distract and I'm knackered! Good luck, it's horrible.

If you can fit more feeds in during the day it might help. Generally babies who snack like this have a reason for it and it's the best thing for them - if not you...

Trying to get as many daytime calories in as possible, and encouraging evening cluster feeding might make a difference to his night time routine. However it's likely that he's just one of those babies who likes to know that you are there and therefore will need your closeness to allow him to go back to sleep.

How are you coping with it? It can be really tough but it sounds like you're managing well - from what I can read in a post!

Maybe try and keep him with you in the evening until you go to bed, and encourage regular feeding throughout by keeping him close to the breast. It might help if you've got a baby who will doze and feed happily through the evening. Then perhaps when you go to bed he will settle into a period of deep sleep for a few hours at least