Too long without food???

[inga]

Hi there. My 6m old has a 0200am feed(9oz) and then a measly 2-3oz at 0730am and then doesn't have breakfast until about 1000am because he naps for about an hour and a half. Does anyone else's baby feed like this? I'm worried that he's so hungry he loses his apetite. He's never been a big eater.

[SoupDragon]

I think when my DS2 was 6 months old he fed at about 9pm, maybe had 1 feed in the night (he was sleeping through by 7 months according to his red book) fed at 7am and then had breakfast at 10am. I can't help with the quantities as he was breastfed - seemed to have a good feed.

As a general rule of thuimb, if your DS is bright eyed, alert and putting on weight steadily (no necessarily piling it on) then I'd say he's probably OK. If he was really hungry at 7:30am, he'd drink more I think.

HTH

[Ghosty]

inga - if my ds had had a full bottle at 2 am he would not have been hungry in the morning - especially at 6 months. Could you try cutting down the amount of milk he as at that time?

[ionesmum]

Inga, I had the same problem with my dd in that she was having a massive bottle at around midnight and then I'd have to wake her for her next feed at 10 or even 11 the next morning. I'd been giving dd a small bottle with her evening meal, which then meant she was getting hungry later. I stopped this and now give dd a big bottle between 8 and 9, around 2 hrs after her dinner, and that satisfies her until morning, when she wakes for a big bottle at around 9 with her solids an hour later.

[inga]

Thanks all. Ghosty, now that he's only waking once a night for a feed (has been for months now) I'm supposed to start Gina Ford's suggestion of slowly diluting the milk and eventually letting him cry it out til morning. Hopefully then like Ionesmum's babe he will wake as normal at 7am to a big bottle and then food at 10am! His last bottle is at around 6pm, two and a half hours after his dinner. He goes to sleep at 7pm so I don't have a chance to feed him after that.
Has anyone tried this diluting the feed business?

[Ghosty]

I wouldn't dilute the milk Inga. I never liked the idea as I thought that replacing milk with the same amount of water was a waste of time. I just reduced the size of the bottle by an ounce every couple of days. I used to wake DS at 11pm and give him his bottle, then he would go through to 7am. By the time he was only taking 2 or 3 oz at 11pm I got brave and stopped waking him up. It worked and he slept through. He was about 5 months then.

[Ghosty]

BTW - I was a GF fanatic!

[ionesmum]

I'm with Ghosty. I've never diluted milk or offered water. The first time dd had a big bottle at 9 I was convinced that she'd wake, but she didn't! I did though - I was still awake at four wondering what had happened and convinced at any moment she'd be yelling for a huge feed!

[inga]

Ghosty, I'm petrified of waking him at 11pm-give me courage! Although it does sound like a better idea than diluting-I didn't really like/buy the idea either-sounds a bit cruel anyway (a big softie?).
Ionesmum, did you wake her at 9pm for the feed or was she still awake?
Does it sound like I'm a bit paranoid about the whole sleep issue???

[ionesmum]

Inga, dd was awake. I've never woken dd for a night feed, only when she's slept in too late. She now has her last bottle and goes down around 8.30.

You don't sound paranoid at all!