5 Month old reduced day feeds - rarely wakes at night

[MumDesign910]

Hello, my 5 Month old (22 weeks) has been having reduced feeds for a while - sometimes only taking 2/3oz at some feeds and will occasionally finish a 6/7oz after seemingly running off nothing through the day. He's seemingly not increased his intake as he grows despite still growing - he was last weighed in at 8.6kg/18lb15oz, which is following his growth curve despite the reduced intake, but guidelines say he should be drinking anywhere from 36-43oz a day - we're lucky if we can get him to 25-30oz.

2 of his 6 feeds a day are both dream feeds at night which he'll drink 7oz at 11.30/12 then we'll give him up to 5oz at 4am to get his oz total up. But he is asleep for both of these feeds. He's a very happy smiley baby, making plenty of wet nappies, less so of the poopy ones but he is never really upset. I just don't know if the dream feed at night is the answer but it is keeping his milk total up - has anyone else found their little one doing something similar?

He is out first, so we have no real experience with how babies can just, well "baby"!

It's good that he's happy and smiley. Hungry babies can be very quiet and sleepy.

I guess that if he's happy and smiley you aren't getting any colic/reflux type symptoms?

Sounds like you're doing all the right things if he is gaining weight well! I'm onto my second baby now and she has around 32oz a day at 4.5 months, but thinking back to my first I think she averaged 26-28oz a day for her whole first year despite gaining weight well. If you're following his cues and feeding him when he's hungry, or at appropriate intervals if he doesn't seem particularly hungry, I think you're doing all you can. They do have growth spurts where they suddenly want loads, and then periods where they're not that hungry, totally normal. I think 5 months is prime time for them getting distracted during feeds as well.

If you felt like it you could play around with removing one of the dream feeds to see if he'll take more during the day. Nothing wrong with a dream feed but in the long run it might help you get a bit more sleep if you can transfer a feed to the daytime. My first had a dream feed at 1030pm until she was 6 months and when I took it away it was clear she didn't need it, she instantly started taking more at each daytime bottle which was obviously more convenient for me, and for her as her sleep was uninterrupted. My current baby is a different kettle of fish though, have just removed her dream feed as it was causing more nighttime waking, it's all trial and error I think! Sounds like you're doing a great job.

Hi PinkMimosa! No colic/reflux symptoms, he had an episode at around 3 months which we thought might have been silent reflux but he seemed to grow out of it fairly quickly and has kept his milk down since. I think because he's so happy I try to worry less but after every 2/3oz bottle I go back to worrying that he's just not getting enough when he's awake and aware of how much he drinks.

Hi cinnamonbiscuit! That is reassuring to hear your first still kept on track at 26-28oz a day. I think my little man hasn't upped his total much from 3 months, just the odd mid 30oz's then back down to normal the next day so hopefully him being happy means he might be doing the same!

I think dropping the dream feed might be the next call then, Dad is less keen to drop a night feed (he does do the first one) because of the daily total before the night comes when we can essentially top him up, but I guess it's worth the trail and error at this point to see if we can up his day feeds.

I hope your little one gets into a good night time routine for you soon!

How did you get one with this?

My little one is 5 months on Friday and was averaging 40oz a day, but since Thursday last week, we are getting between 25-35oz. Some feeds he point blank refuses, others he will down 8.5oz not a problem. We thought initially it was the heat that was bothering him but it seems to be getting worse as it's cooler not better. Also not sure if it's teething but his gums don't look red/swollen.

Please tell me it gets better?!