Increasing gap between feeds overnight

[ebfwtf]

Hi,
I am looking for some advice on increasing the amount of night feeds I'm doing for my 15 week EBF baby. Previously I was feeding her every time she woke up (oops) as I mistakenly thought she was hungry. She then started waking up every 45 mins a couple of weeks ago and that point my husband took over resettling her unless she seemed genuinely hungry. However now she's gone back to only waking up every 3 hours like clockwork, and so I am feeding her on every wake again.
I love feeding her and I'm happy to keep doing it but I'd love to be able to increase it to 5 hours so I could get a good stint of sleep .. even 4 would be a treat! Has anyone found any useful tips for increasing the sleeping time between feeds? She does fall asleep on the breast but normally after 15 mins which is her normal day time feed length too.
Thank you!

Hi OP, have you tried doing a dream feed? This is something I’ve been trying with my almost 6mo and not 100% success rate but when it does work it is helpful.

For example without the dream feed she would regularly wake around 11:30pm. I’d be in a position where I’d be tired around 10pm, but struggle to get to sleep because I knew she’d be waking soon anyway. So I’ve started picking her up sleepy for a feed around 10pm, and she then sleeps until 1am.

I’m not sure if that’s directly relevant to your question but I’ve found it enables me to to sleep better because if she goes for the dream feed, I can be fairly confident she’ll be asleep for a few hours so it’s easier for me to relax and fall asleep. So even if it doesn’t reduce the number of feeds overall, it aligns them better with my sleep if that makes sense?

@Fairylightsxxx yes getting back to sleep after a feed is a big issue for me - it reminds me of the feeling of trying to sleep when you have an early flight the next morning so I will definitely try this, thank you!

I think 3 hourly feeds is pretty normal for a 15 week old - they are still pretty small.

Agree that 3 hour wake ups are pretty good and totally normal. If you want to extend night time gaps between feeds I'd concentrate on what feeds you do in the day.

What time are you getting her fed and up and ready for the day?

@CadyEastman Fair enough, I think I need to stop listening to my NCT friends who all say their babies are sleeping through 😂
We were starting the day quite late but since I've been stricter with myself about getting up and started by 7 she's really improved her night sleep. She's not napping v well at the moment (she's started doing cat naps of 30 mins max, occasionally doing 1 hr sleeps if she's on me and I do no move a single muscle).

Definitely stop listening to people telling you their LO is sleeping through. They may be but it's been proven that many parents lie about baby sleep.

Definitely get her fed and changed and outside at around 7. This will let her know that nighttime is over and give her a nice blast if daylight, which is also been proven to help with nighttime sleep.

How often are you offering feeds in the day? When my DD started plateauing with her weight at the same age I started offering every two hours and she started sleeping better at night.

Have you read the No Cry Nap Solution? That might help you out a bit too

@CadyEastman god that's interesting, if anything I'm more likely to exaggerate how often my little one is waking up for a bit of sympathy and "well ill take her for an hour while you go lie down" offers 😂

She feeds very regularly in the day - it feels like she's constantly on the breast but I've been using huckleberry to track it and she does about every 1.5 hrs. Sometimes a lot more during growth spurt weeks, occasionally less if she does long naps. She's a hungry girl! Takes after her mum.

I'll have a look at the nap method too, thanks for your help!

God whose baby sleeps through at 15 weeks, mine started sleeping through at 1 and 2 😂😂😂 your baby sounds like they're doing just fine op

There are babies that sleep through at 15 weeks but they’re rare. Totally normal to wake, totally normal and sensible to feed at every wake too. My 16 month old still wakes and I’ve only recently stopped breastfeeding her at every wake. Your baby is being a normal baby, breastfeeding is generally a quick and easy way to get a baby back to sleep, and it helps you get back to sleep quicker too due to hormones you produce when breastfeeding at night. 30 minute naps are also totally appropriate for this age baby.

3 hourly is completely normal and I would go as far as saying quite good. My very strong experience is to go with it with such a young baby and NEVER look at the clock.Most babies just gradually lengthen the gaps , with a few set backs, and if they don't you can intervene when they are older.

I know, I found it totally bizarre that so many parents lie too. I always used to think that you get some way or the other and my sleep adverse baby is the most lovely and gentle adult now