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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

5 month feeding every 1-2 hours at night, is this a very bad habit??

4 replies

Addictedtohotbaths · 24/10/2014 08:51

Until 4 months dd was sleeping brilliantly and feeding once or twice in the night which was easy, but for the past month she has been waking up to hourly and the longest she sleeps is 3hrs one stretch. Some nights like last she woke very hour and had a bf for most of those wakes. She seems hungry as she does feed but sometimes I think it's just comfort. She won't take a dummy or a bottle... Am I creating a terrible feed to sleep habit, should I limit feeds in the night? She has about 5 feeds in the day but is distractible. No solids but now I'm starting to think I should start her sooner. I'm so tired and going back to work soon... This isn't my first but I didn't ever know what I was doing with ds I just bumbled along and ended up doing cc aged 1 for terrible sleep problems, I don't want that again. We co sleep which helps slightly, would she wake less in her own room now? Any advice gratefully received thanks!

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misshoohaa · 25/10/2014 01:37

Sounds like my DD. Currently on feed number 4 at 1:40 am. It really is
relentless.

Apparently it's the 4 month sleep regression....... I have no advice, just sympathy. Early weaning may be worthwhile but I did it with my DS, and it made nought difference, in fact I think was just a pain in the bum
as added more work with no obvious benefit. I'm considering introducing a formula feed of an evening so DH can help out a bit......

TychosNose · 26/10/2014 11:26

Do you think she's not having full feeds in the day? You could try feeding her in a quiet, darkened room to limit distractions.

I'm not sure early weaning ever really helps with night waking. May even make it worse due to digestive discomfort.

Sorry no more advice. Both mine were/are terrible sleepers. Rubbish isn't it?

Justgotosleepnow · 26/10/2014 11:54

Sorry to say this is normal. Mine was the same at 4mo. And giving food won't make them sleep longer.

If the baby is waking and needs bf for food or comfort, I see this as baby needs food or comfort. Rather than a habit. A habit is an adult thing where we consciously do a (usually bad) thing repeatedly.
But a little baby is just needing their needs met. And those needs at 4mo are food & comfort.

If you withhold the food/ comfort I'm guessing baby is going to be pretty unhappy about it- ie screaming. And they won't stop, they are programmed to communicate their needs.

So co sleeping, feed back to sleep, and having the lowest impact on you is the best for baby.
Don't do what I did- put her back in her cot each time. Ie getting up every 2 hrs. Needless to say I collapsed after 10 awful weeks. And I was putting her back in coz everyone I knew pressurised me into cot is best. Hmm
But then we coslept and it was all a lot better.

Hope you manage ok

Addictedtohotbaths · 27/10/2014 21:51

Thank you for the replies, it looks like there is no magic answer and I will just have to go with it for now. I'm so tired I feel foggy. I have tried to feed in the dark quiet etc in the daytime but with a toddler about its difficult.

Just knowing I'm not the only one with crap sleepers helps a tiny bit!

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