How can I get my BF baby to sleep through the night?

[FuntoLearn]

Hi all,

I would be very grateful for some advice.

My DS is 5 months old and is Breast fed. He also is happy to take EBF and FF from a bottle.

He settles to bed at around 7pm and I give him a dream feed at 11pm ish. However at night even if his last feed is FF/EBF/BF he wakes up at 2.30, 5.30 for food. SOmetimes its every hour.....

I have tried to cuddle him, give him a dummy (reluctantly) to get him off to sleep (and not feed) as I think this may have become a bit of a habit with him - but he just wants the milk.

Just stopping the 2.30am feed would be fantastic!!!

He is feeding fine during the day.

IMO he is probably hungry - wait until you are giving him food and then try.

I waited until around 7 months with both of mine when they were eating enough and bf enough still during the day and I knew it wasnt hunger - then you can try any of the normal sleeping methods.

This advice might go a little against the grain, and I'm not sure everyone would agree with it, but it worked for me. My DC3 was not a great sleeper in comparison to my first two who both slept through quite early without me doing much about it. By the time he was 3 months old I was on my knees with exhaustion and slipping into PND, I realised that I had to start getting some sleep or our family was going to fall apart.

I simply stopped the feeds (he was feeding at approx 1.30 am and 5.00am). First I stopped the 1.30am feed, I cuddled and held him and rocked him but didn't put him on the breast. He cried and cried and it was awful but after about an hour of crying he fell asleep on my chest through sheer exhaustion and frustration and I fed him when he woke (around 5.00am). The next night was similar but the crying didn't go on so long. The 3rd night I was able to settle him back to sleep v easily at 1.30am and by the 4th night I didn't need to do anything, he woke at 1.30 as usual, fussed and stirred a bit and then went back to sleep, I didn't even have to get out of bed. I then did the same with the 5.00am feed, it wasn't so bad with this one - first night about 30 mins of crying in may arms before he fell back to sleep for an hour and I fed him at 6.30 second night I didn't even get him out of the cot, patted and stroked him a bit and he dropped back off again and after a night or two I didn't have to do anything he stirred a tiny bit but then resettled.

So in the space of about a week the night feeds were gone and he slept through. Initially he would occasionally stir a bit at the old feed times but nothing major - i.e. it would wake me but not so I needed to get up - just a few mins of low level fussing before he dropped off again and soon even that disappeared. To be honest it was only really those first two nights that were bad. He became ravenously hungry during the day after that and I had to fit in an extra feed or two during the day but that was fine with me.

Sounds like hunger to me if it's 3 to 3 1/2 hour spurts. Like Domestic, I wouldn't try and do anything about that yet. You may well find that, once he's established on solids, he naturally goes longer at night.

What I did, FWIW, is try not to feed if I was 100% sure it wasn't hunger. I knew DD wasn't hungry if she'd only eaten an hour or so previously (experimented by feeding, and she'd only take a few comfort sucks). Some people feel fine about continuing to feed solely for the comfort, and I certainly don't have an issue with that after bumps and bruises in the day (DD now 9 months and into everything), or when ill or teething, but I was on my knees with exhaustion with ourly waking at night. I needed to make sure that a feed wasn't the only way DD could go back to sleep. The gentlest thing is to try and build up an array of sleep associations, such as being rocked, cuddled, patted, etc.

A couple of suggestions. How do naps go? Does he always feed to sleep? If so, have you tried taking him out in the pram or car?

Have you tried sending your partner in (if you have one) at times when you are sure it's not hunger (an hour after a wake and a big feed might be a good example)?

I second the above. Mine started sleeping through the week we started the baby rice. Kept the dream feed up for a while after that.

Thanks for this.

I think he is a hungry baby. My DD (age 6 now) was also, but then I got her into a routine early on as she was FF from 6 weeks.

I have tried the "Baby Whisperer" technique of EASY (Eat Activity Sleep Youtime) with the You bit being a bit of a joke .

Generally he will feed and then sleep, but sometimes its feed / activity / sleep.
Always at night its feed / sleep.

DH and I are sleeping apart for the time being (he works Full Time and I work part time) and he does the morning school run so we are both alert and awake at the right times. We are both fine about this by the way(!)

I am trying to build up a routine as I am working 21 hours a week now.

Funtolearn

that sounds like my ds' routine. he is 8 months now and has been having baby poridge for breakfast and a spoonfeed for dinner plus fruit and snacks in between during the day and now will sleep from 7 pm until 5.30ish.

although your baby is a little bit young yet for that amount of food. bear with it and it will get better when he is more established on solids.

It is utterly normal. Especially at 5 months when they're going through major developmental changes, growth spurts and are reliant on milk to fill their (still small) tummies. Night feeds are very important in maintaining supply and signalling a baby's needs.

I always found the easiest thing to do was not to try and change dd's needs but to adapt my own. I slept when I could, fed lying down and knew that it would pass eventually.