5 month old - waking for feeds in the night - advice please!

[wickedfairy]

DS2 is 5 months and ebf - he was previously sleeping from ~11pm - 5am but for the past few weeks has been waking up every 2.5 - 3 hours for feeds. He feeds quickly and then goes back to sleep. I am knackered and I also have an older 2 children. DS1 slept through early and DD didn't sleep through until 9.5 months, I can't remember how often she woke though.

DH has suggested giving him a bottle of formula at night - I am not opposed to this idea, but was wondering whether we should hod off a little longer. He has one bottle of formula a week (I had to go back to work and DD would take no milk from a bottle ever, so nursery was a struggle). The one bottle is purely to keep him used to drinking from a bottle, for when I need to return to work.

So, do you think this night waking is a growth spurt? Or was his previous period of "sleeping through" a phase? Should I just continue as we are until 6 months when we start to wean and maybe introduce formula then?

You'd think I would know the answers or at least how to proceed aster 2 children already, but I don't!! Any advice is much appreciated! TIA

How do you know he is waking up for feeds and not simply waking up? If he feeds quickly, perhaps it's not a hunger waking and he could be settled in some other way? Perhaps your DH could give it a go, because if baby smells the milk, he may decide he wants some.

That's what babies do.
He's tiny. He needs feeding little and often.

There is a 4 month sleep regression, so maybe that came a bit later.
Besides my daughter is now 14 month and only down to one wake up a night...

Formula making them sleep is a myth...

True Noble. He is still in our room, so when he wakes I get him up fairly quickly and he latches on quickly. Maybe I should leave him longer to see if he self settles....

Moondog, you are right of course! I think we got a bit over excited when he started sleeping really well and now he seems to have regressed. He probably hasn't and its just the general ebb and flow of things....

Yes, if he's been like this a few weeks and is five months then I'd say it was the four month regression. Baby books lead you to believe that sleep is a linear progression (and somehow that's what sticks even when you have older children ) but actually it's an ebb and flow.

My 5 month old does the same thing and I feed her right away be becuasse she's a quick feeder and I just want to get back to sleep. I've wondered about leaving her to start crying/self settle but I never do as then I'd be there next to her stressing and would wake DH up.
I think they are still quite little and the end of night wakings must be in site now! Who knows! Not much help sorry but you're not alone!

Thanks for all the advice! Will just muster on through in the hope he starts sleeping longer soon!

This is what they do leading up to weaning. Dd1 drove me mad at 5.5 months waking constantly. HV told me to do nothing until weaning established. At 7 months she was back to sleeping through.
Dd2 is 5 months now and waking constantly....

What moondog said.

I agree with piemother

I'm having exactly the same thing with dd at the moment. She's 5 and a half months and EBF. She was sleeping 4 or 5 hour stretches but for the last couple of weeks has been up every two hours. Saw HV yesterday who said there's a massive growth spurt at 5 months and it should settle down in a few days. She said as long as baby is putting on weight still that it's not a sign they need weaning early.

At 4am though after countless wakings I was beginning to question my decisions, then I remembered that this too shall pass......