Sleeping through the night - feeds?

[ecxo]

I’m currently feeding my LO 8 times in a 24 hour period (mostly because she will rarely take more than 60ml at a time) but obviously this means getting a bottle made every 3 hours every day or more if she’s still hungry, but I was wondering at which point do they start to sleep through the night without having to have a bottle every 3 hours? I assume it’s once she starts drinking more during the day and doesn’t wake up for a feed?

Depends on the kid. There is a point in time at which they're technically capable of making it through the night without feeding but baby's don't read the rulebook and you may end up with a hungry unhappy baby if you try to take it as written that by X age they won't be hungry at night anymore. I'd follow baby's cues.

My LO is 11 months and only rarely sleeps though, normally wakes once for a feed.

For us sleep only improved when we sleep trained at 6 months. 4 to 6 months was the worst.

Just to say, mine also rarely sleeps through but by ten months was down to a single wake up. We never sleep trained.

My son slept through from 8 weeks before that it was one bottle at about 2am. At 8 weeks he had his last bottle at about 6pm then the next when he woke about 6am or so then the rest in the day

My LO is the 11 weeks and started sleeping through the night about 11 days ago! He used to feed every 3 hours day and night but now sleeps 8pm-6am and is back to 2 - 2.5 hours ish during the day between feeds .

My little girl was down to 1 bottle a night at about 6 months. We couldn't drop that last one until about 10 months.

Two years later, still not sleeping through...

My baby fed every 3 hours to start with day and night but from 9 weeks slept 12-14 hours overnight

My 9 month old has slept through twice, usually wakes for 1 feed and that's only been in the last few weeks, before that was every 4 hours without fail overnight

My DS didn't sleep through reliably until about 10 months. But those early new born feeds do slow down around 2-3 months, and I found around 5/6 months the stretches got longer. He was only on 1 feed between 7pm-7am from 6 months until sleeping through.

Ah okay, she's 5 weeks and at the moment I feed her at 1, 4, 7 and 10 in the 24 hour period. However obviously she sometimes gets more if she's showing me she's hungry and this schedule isn't strict as she gets hungry earlier or she's in such a deep sleep she won't even sleep feed, but I'm just never sure if I should always wake her for her 4am or 7am feed if she's asleep and not stirring (rarely happens) but then I worry about her discomfort with her nappy, these answers have been very helpful, thanks everyone!

@hodgepodge21 that's mad that he sleeps for 12 hours without a feed! Sounds like he's doing brilliant! Is he super hungry by his next feed after that sleep or just as normal? And how much do you feed him after that sleep?

I should also mention I always make up 4oz bottles and she rarely finishes them. She'll averagely take 2oz but sometimes a bit more but more often than not only 60ml.

How old is LO? I think new research shows their brain stem doesn’t connect with parts of the brain in the same way until roughly 3-6 months of age. They cannot develop a proper circadian rhythm until it does. Usually, by 6 months sleep improves due to weaning. It isn’t foolproof by any means, but that’s normal - all adults wake at night sometimes too! - and each baby is different.

My 14 month has only (hopefully!) dropped his overnight bottle in this last week. I think all this thread proves is that every baby is different. It’s hard but you have to just go with the flow. It’s easier once you accept there’s nothing you can do but wait it out because it doesn’t last forever x

X post! 5 weeks is tiny, it’s very normal to wake often at that age. If she doesn’t wake, don’t wake her (can differ for breastfed). There’ll always be exception, but babies aren’t wired to sleep through until much later, so take those as exceptions. More babies wake until 3-6 months, some later. Don’t worry re her nappy either. If she’s sleeping, let her sleep.

Mine is 6 weeks and mix fed. She goes just over 3 hours at night between feeds which I think is wonderful because I get 6 hours sleep a night. My first born woke hourly at least for months it was hell.

Mine is 16 weeks and only occasionally wakes for a bottle in the night, he might stir and have to be settled with the dummy but doesn't always want a feed. It's usually around the same time too, between 3-4am. He has been doing this since about 5 weeks.

Brilliant. This has helped a lot everyone! I'll just continue to do what I'm doing but now I know not to wake her if she's in deep sleep for a feed! Just didn't know if it would cause her to be starving later if I skipped one of her feeds! I'm very much an over-thinker and feel so all over the place being a new mum and all!

Hi OP, congratulations on your new baby! I would think that 4 x 60ml is not dry much milk for a 5 week old, I'm pretty sure the recommendation is 7-800 ml a day but I could be wrong. Does anyone else know? I EBF at that stage so was feeding probably 15-20 times a day, 4 sounds quite low but I didn't bottle feed til later (no judgment btw!!)

It will cause her to be hungry later, so she will drink more milk, which then means that she will be able to go longer until her next feed!
Don’t worry, she will let you know if she is hungry or uncomfortable.

@turnthebiglightoff Hi, no of course! I panic and worry it's not enough but she won't finish more than 60ml at a time. I make up 120ml and she just won't finish it!

@turnthebiglightoff OP said she was feeding 8 x in 24 hours so I think she was just pointing out the 4 night feeds.

If she has regained birth weight and is gaining more weight and has wet and dirty nappies regularly then you dont need to wake for feeds overnight

I wouldnt be waking her at all.

@dementedpixie yeah she has 8 bottles in a 24 hour period and sometimes more if she's hungry! So far she's been gaining weight and she regularly has wet nappies. She only has dirty nappies like once every two days really which is another thing I worried about! In terms of waking LO up at all for a feed does this include during the day you wouldn't wake her up? I'm not sure only because of how little she eats - I don't really have to wake her up tbf as she seems to always wake up stirring due to hunger or discomfort but I'm not sure. Still learning as I go! @RainbowFlowers