Night BF 5mo, how long for and how often?

[twinkleymum]

My 5mo still does not sleep through the night I can end up feeding to sleep about 5/6 times. I'm not sure if its because she wants a cuddle or if she is really hungry. She seems to fall asleep and not take much milk from me. I have been giving her formula on the second waking now and this does mean she will sleep a bit longer so only end up doing 3 feeds. Is this normal? All friends babies seem to be sleeping through the night.

I worry that my supply is decreasing and that cutting back on night feeds and using formula will make it worse. Day feeds seem very quick these days and sometimes she cries after as if still hungry. I wonder if she's not getting enough calories during the day so wakes frequently at night. I wonder if maybe I should give her formula at night in order to stop her waking for cuddles, if I send my DH in she has a meltdown.

I'm very confused any adive or experiences gratefully received...

The phrase 'all my friends' babies are sleeping through' is the bit you need to think about. this is almost certainly not true. My 8 mo is not and many, many other peoples babies do not sleep through without a BF until 1 year, 2 years or beyond. Formula is unlikely to make much difference.

When you say 5/6 times, what actual times are these?

See I only consider it 'not' sleeping through the night if the period between 12-6 is broken. I think as a parent you're very lucky if you get longer but with a newish baby many of us have to adjust our expectations. Most adults sleep in 1.5 hour sleep cycles so you can usually just about cope with 2 x 3 hour periods of sleep. So that way, if you can get the night feeds down to one between 12-6 (preferably at 3am!) you might be able to cope better.

So my DS3, 'cluster feeds' between 6.30 roughly when he goes to bed and about 9.30 (so he's probably feeding 2-3 times then). then he often has another feed at 11ish, another one at 3-4ish and then wakes for another feed at 6ish. That's about 5-6 feeds, but maybe you mean something different? If he dropped the 3am feed and kept all the others, I would consider that sleeping through the night.

What sort of pattern is there for your little one?

the other thing to say is whether you're always offering the second side with these night feeds, or does she just fall asleep on the first side?

Moving over can sometimes wake them up a bit again and they'll suck for longer cos the milk flow is faster again. This can help get a bit more into them and space the feeds out a bit.

The other thing to try, if she's following a cluster feeding pattern that's at an awkward time is to try and shift it earlier. so if she cluster feeds between 10-1, perhaps start picking her up for a feed at 9 to start the process earlier? And then see if you can keep shifting it back a little every day?

My DD will feed at 7 'bedtime', then last night at 9.30, 12 and 4, this is a good night where I've used formula at 12. A non-formula night will be 9.30, 10.30, 12.30, 2.30 and 4.30 not as exact as this but there abouts.

Do you really think they would lie about night sleeping? Why do people do this I just tell it like it is?

no not lie, people just have different i nterpretations about what it means.

so tthe feed you need to drop is the 2.30 one...

how about seeing if you can feed at 7, 8,30, 9.30 and then a fully awake both sides feed about 12 and see what happens?

Yes I always offer both sides even if she falls asleep on the first side. I will try the cluster feeding you suggested.

I dont really mind if its 'normal' just other peope make me feel inadequate as they give me the impression that its not. I do get tired though but thats life isn't it.

btw supply is often lower in the evening so she may need all those feeds. you could always take her to bed with you a well if that helps?

just post on here asking how many babies sleep through and whether formula makes a difference and it will make you feel better!

I feel better already, thank you I'll try the cluster feeding. I've never been brave enough to wake her to feed in case she doesn't go back to sleep, but I'll try as I've got nothing to lose, other than another night, lol. Thanks for your advice.

you might not even have to wake her for some of them, just gently latch her on

Have you tried expressing? I try and express about 10pm and then again first thing in the morning. When combined this makes about 4-5 oz which dh then gives that night at 10pmish. This usually helps ds to sleep through from 11 till about 2.30/3am
I've also found that by doing this he feeds much more effectively during that middle of the night feed than he does during the day, and will then sleep through till 5.30/6am and occasionally even nearer 7am!
It's really helped with my sleep. A friend of mine was advised to offer cooled boiled water initially, as it might be due to thirst or wanting a cuddle rather than hunger, as you mention yourself. She tried this and it seemed to work for her. After a few days of this, her lo would only start to wake in the night when genuinely hungry.

My bf 11mo does not sleep through but she's getting closer. At 5 months she still fed every couple of hours at night. It's extremely common as you are finding out here and they are often making up for not feeding so much in the day (too much to see and do).

Please don't feel like you're alone, you're probably quite representative of the majority in my experience. It gets so much better so quickly. Now dd is crawling/walking and eating lots she's so exhausted she sleeps very well.

Feel free to come on over to the "sleep" section. DS 5 months used to sleep 2 times for 4 hours and about two weeks ago started to wake up at least every 2h. A typical night is 6:30, 7:30, 11pm, 1:30am, 3am (awake for an hour), 5am, 6am. I was never as knackered as I am now and find it very hard to cope on pieces of sleep less than 2h, especially since I had to return to work. I sense that for my DS it is more a sleep and less a hunger issue, although I agree that he eats less during the day due to a number of facts. Sorry, no advice, just sharing....