Hi. My DS is 5 months. Prior to the dreaded 4 month sleep regression he used to have a dream feed around 10/11pm and then wake around 4/5am for another feed. Since coming out the other end of the 4 month sleep regression we seem to have lost all sense of consistency. I still give him his dream feed around the same time but he can now wake at anytime from 2am. He's still only waking the once though.
But my question is how can I be sure he's waking from hunger? Before i feed him I check all other possibilities, especially if it's an earlier wake; such as can he just be resettled, teeth, nappy etc. unusually though I have to take him out of his cot and eventually end up feeding as the tears escalate. BUT. When he first wakes he often doesnt show sign of hunger. For example, different sounding cry, crying stops and starts, doesn't suck on finger. I'm also struggling to tell when feeding turns into suckling, but it definately does and at the point I realise I have to take him off. Sometimes by then he's asleep, sometimes awake but drowsy.
Also he's started to wake up at about 6am. He's still tired and grumpy so not interested in toys, but can't be resettled without a battle, but also not showing signs of hunger. But in the end I again end up feeding and 80% of the time he drops back off, either during or straight after feed.
Am I comfort feeding my ds back to sleep?
Also Dh fed ds breastmilk via the bottle last night, as a rest to see if he'd take it (never done bottle night feed before). By the time he'd warmed the bottle ds has fallen asleep on him. He gave him the bottle anyway but he only had about 4 1/2 - 5 oz....which seemed low to me, making me think he's really not waking because he's hungry.