Going longer between feeds

[KatiePul]

Anyone got any advice on how to make my 7 week old go longer between feeds. He generally takes about 4oz out of a 5oz bottle so its not that he's still hungry. Its especially at night, we really want him to go longer at night.

How long does he sleep for?

he's wanting to feed every 2 hours and will usually take about 15 mins to feed, he will then go straight back to sleep.

If he is taking 4oz every 2 hours through the night then that sounds like more than enough milk. Is there anything else waking him up eg, too hot, too cold, dirty nappy? Sorry I'm sure you have thought of all those. I can't advise really, except that he will probably settle down soon and sleep for longer.

Well you wanting him to go longer at night doesn't necessarily mean that he's ready to go longer sadly.

He's a very small boy with a tiny stomach. It's better to respond to his needs and trust him to know what he needs. By all means try the nappy, warm, comfy etc routes to see if it's anything like that, maybe a dummy if it's just sucking he wants but if he asks for food, at 7 weeks, he probably needs food.

Although it feels like it, it doesn't last forever.

Hi try & burp him half way through bottle - he might take more if got some wind up. Also change nappy after feeding if sleepy - will wake him up a bit & then offer bottle again before putting him back down for sleep

We had exctly the same problem, my son was going 3 hours between feeds in the day then only 2.5 at night. The following things really helped me:
-we've gone back to swaddling
-I make sure he's fed every three hours during the day and the he has an extra feed before his bath - feed at 6pm, bath at 7pm
-I wake him up to feed himat 10.30pm.

After a week of doing this he's now gong 4.5-5 hours for first part of night then 3 hours after next feed.

I hope this helps

Babies wake frequently in the night as a defense mechanism against SIDs. Forcing a child to sleep through before they're ready is not a good idea. I'd take it as it comes, baby will settle down to a more manageable pattern in his own time.