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Original poster

FF 3 month old unable to go more than 4 hours between feeds at night - normal??

112 replies

BotBotticelli · 07/11/2015 20:28

Ds2 is 3 months old today.

He is still feeding very frequently at night (for a FF baby, I know Some BF babies feed more than this).

He has 7oz bottles at:

7pm
10pm ("dream feed" although he often wakes and cries for it)
2/2.30am - wakes and cries for it
8am
12 noon
4pm

My first baby (also FF) had dropped the middle of the night feed by 10 weeks so I this is all new to me!

It's annoying that he can clearly go for 6 hours without a bottle (he has his 2am feed and then is not bothered until 8am, despite being unsettled and windy from 5am - goes back to sleep if we co-sleep - and then up for the day around 0630).

I would rather he didn't feed at 2am (obvs!) and actually woke up hungry at 6am!

Is there anything I can do to encourage him to change his feed pattern towards this??

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Rhealey1 · 07/11/2015 22:58

Hi, my little girl (9 weeks) is the same but recently I have put her in comfort milk because it's thicker and Is supposed to settle them more ( so far so good) and have you tried giving your baby Boiled water during the night instead of a feed I found with my baby she was waking up every three hours just out of routine and she was not always hungry enough to drink a full bottle, if you give them boiled water a few times they eventually think what is the point of waking up

thatstoast · 07/11/2015 23:06

I think that's good at 3 months, especially if he settles quickly after the feed. DS was FF but definitely not sleeping through at 3m.

PeppasNanna · 07/11/2015 23:09

Totally normal!

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dementedpixie · 07/11/2015 23:11

Totally normal as he is only having 1 night feed which is fab

dementedpixie · 07/11/2015 23:11

Would he take feeds 3 hourly in the day

polkadotdelight · 07/11/2015 23:13

Thats brilliant, completely normal.

MrsBungle · 07/11/2015 23:15

Totally normal

Pipestheghost · 07/11/2015 23:18

Have you tried the formula for hungrier babies?

dementedpixie · 07/11/2015 23:20

He doesn't need hungry milk yet

dementedpixie · 07/11/2015 23:21

And a 3 month old doesn't need water rather than a feed either

Whatthefreakinwhatnow · 07/11/2015 23:23

My DD is almost 6 months old and still feeds 2 hourly daytime and has 1 or 2 feeds overnight. it's very normal for babies to need to feed overnight for the first year or so, so completely normal!

4 hourly gaps are big as it is, I really wouldn't want my DD to go longer tha that tbh

PeppasNanna · 07/11/2015 23:26

At 6 months i would expect a baby to go longer then every 2 hours during the day especially if ff. Even a bf baby can manage about 3 hours ish...occasionally!

ConsciousPilot · 07/11/2015 23:29

Do not give more than 2ozs at 2am!

Whatthefreakinwhatnow · 07/11/2015 23:33

it doesn't bother me to be honest. she does little and often and is following her centile perfectly.

cruikshank · 07/11/2015 23:34

Why not? What is so magic about 2 am for a baby who still is trying to figure out where the womb has gone that they'll be happy with 2 oz? Feed your baby what he asks for. At this age, and for a long time afterwards, what he wants is the same as what he needs. They aren't toying with you, or being naughty, or falling into bad routines or whatever - they are creatures with primal uncomplicated needs and you have to meet them.

floooOoooatyfloooOooo · 07/11/2015 23:38

Sounds completely normal to me!

Eminado · 07/11/2015 23:41

Today 23:29 ConsciousPilot

Do not give more than 2ozs at 2am

?
I don't understand this advice. The baby is very young - give him as much as he needs or wants!

WorldsBiggestGrotbag · 07/11/2015 23:46

Sounds fine to me. Perfectly normal for FF babies to still need night feeds.

LucyBabs · 07/11/2015 23:58

cruik
I'm not sure anyone has suggested the baby is naughty or acting out.

I know for myself, my first dd was a dream. Then ds was born and fed every 2hours (for an hour!) Until he was 5months old! I just wanted a baby that fed every 4 hours and slept well.
I don't think anyone is being unreasonable to want this?!

Bunbaker · 07/11/2015 23:59

Normal. Don't give boiled water.

ConsciousPilot · 08/11/2015 00:01

Babies do not need 28 oz of milk between 7pm and 8am!

LucyBabs · 08/11/2015 00:04

What do you suggest conscious that the op refuse to feed her baby?!

ConsciousPilot · 08/11/2015 00:07

Nope. 7oz at pm, wake the baby at 11pm and give it 7oz and then wake it at 7am for the day (another 7oz). If baby wakes at 2am it is not out of hunger and he ought to be offered 2oz. This way he will learn to cut out the 2am feed altogether.

This works.

ConsciousPilot · 08/11/2015 00:08

*Should read 7oz at 7pm...

Eminado · 08/11/2015 00:10

Conscious - what? Are you the voice of all babies now? You don't know if he finishes all the bottles or not. This is a 3 MONTH old. I am sure that his mother, who presumably knows him better than you do Hmm, will adjust the bottle sizes as he establishes a more regular routine.

Cant believe you are telling some to set a random, arbitrary feed limit for a 12wk old!