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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??

OP posts:
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ConsciousPilot · 08/11/2015 00:45

I have reported you, Teambacon, for your troll accusation.

It isn't overfeeding a baby to structure his feeds so that his nutritional needs are met during the day. Nobody is forcing a baby to feed here. The timetable suggested above does not demonstrate - anywhere - forcefeeding.

nolongerwaitingfornumber2 · 08/11/2015 00:46

Bot, you need a trip to Mugabe Nights over on the post natal boards. We all have 9-14 week olds and the one thing I have learnt is none of them sleep either the same as each other or themselves the night before!

SurlyCue · 08/11/2015 00:49

It isn't overfeeding a baby to structure his feeds so that his nutritional needs are met during the day. Nobody is forcing a baby to feed here.

So how exactly are you getting those 7oz in during the day if the baby will take no more than 7oz at a time?

Interested in this thread?

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0-3 months old 3-6 months old Babies & sleep Families
ConsciousPilot · 08/11/2015 00:49

Surly, I have no idea what you're talking about with the 1oz. Where is this 'missing' feed? I'm on my fourth baby here (he is 18wks old) and my advice to the OP is just that. She can completely ignore me and that is fine, but like all mum's who seek to get their babies to sleep longer stretches, she will come to the point where she has to think about structuring feeds and nap times (sleep begets sleep).

12 wks is not a tiny baby - if is a good age to seek to reduce unnecessary night feeds, and as the OP is asking for help in doing just that I am happy to offer my own experiences and advice.

TeamBacon · 08/11/2015 00:50

Haha, ok.

LucyBabs · 08/11/2015 00:51

Wow! Have you actually ever fed a baby conscious you can neither deny nor force a baby to feed!
I'm quite alarmed at your views!
Babies have no fuckn idea about schedules or routines. I wish my dc had, then maybe I would have less eye bags Hmm

TeamBacon · 08/11/2015 00:52

You are trolling. Whether you are a troll is up to MN. BUT your posts are offensive, antagonistic, and give terrible advice

5madthings · 08/11/2015 00:52

team my dd never took more than 4oz of milk at once ever, she just wouldn't. She had formula in the night until 9mths Ish I think, hard to remember tbh. My boys were all guzzlers, but two of them breastfed in the night for a long time, I just Co slept so it didn't wake me!

Ds4 stopped night feeds at about 4-5mths? And ds1 at about 8mths, all five of them have been different. I expect baby number six will be different again.

TeamBacon · 08/11/2015 00:53

And in a separate message...

Your posts are offensive, antagonistic and terrible, false advice.

ConsciousPilot · 08/11/2015 00:54

Dream/late feed: lots of babies will begin to refuse this feed but then start waking at that horrible hour at 5am. My second baby did this so I just re-introduced the dream feed to encourage her to sleep closer to 6/7am.

SurlyCue · 08/11/2015 00:55

Surly, I have no idea what you're talking about with the 1oz. Where is this 'missing' feed?

The baby currently feeds at 2am. You are proposing to drop that feed.
However this feed currently makes up the baby's required nutritional intake.
You say as long as baby is getting his nutritional intake during the day then wont feed at night.
So you must find space during the day for the 2am feed. (7oz)
You suggested giving an 8oz bottle at 10pm.
That is only 1 extra ounce.
There are still another 6oz from the 2am feed that need to be fitted in somewhere.
Where are you going to fit them in?
Or are you just planning on dropping the 2am feed and only adding 1oz to the 10pm feed thereby not meeting the baby's nutritional needs?

TeamBacon · 08/11/2015 00:56

5mad. I know what you mean. My first took tiny feeds, many many times a day. My second took HUGE feeds from day one (both EBF). First on crap routine that nearly broke me, second was every 3 hours during the day, then just one night feed. An absolute dream. He dropped the night feed at about 6 months, by himself. Both demand fed. Babies just do what they do, and the path to madness lies in trying to change that.

ConsciousPilot · 08/11/2015 00:59

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ConsciousPilot · 08/11/2015 01:01

Surly, look at the suggested timetable of feeds again: 2am does not feature.

TeamBacon · 08/11/2015 01:05

I just fed on demand , and thanks for the insinuation that I'm crazy or mental. For someone that struggled with PND, that's pretty offensive.

Thank fuck you won't be engaging with me any more.

SurlyCue · 08/11/2015 01:11

Surly, look at the suggested timetable of feeds again: 2am does not feature.

You arent great at maths are you? The 2am feed that you are suggesting is dropped needs to be replaced. Where you are putting it? How are you fitting those lost 7oz into the daytime feeds?

LittleBearPad · 08/11/2015 01:14

OP it's totally normal. Demand feeding is best for your baby's future health so don't try to force a pattern or toy may cause more hassle.

SurlyCue · 08/11/2015 01:14

7am, 11am, 2.15/2.30pm, 5pm, 6/6.15, 10/10.30pm.

According to your suggested routine this baby will be feeding at intervals of
4 hours
5.5 hours
2.5 hours
1 hour
4 hours
Then 8.5 hours!
Confused

LucyBabs · 08/11/2015 01:15

The only one coming across as "mental" is you conscious

Jeez we all parent differently but when it comes to feeding surely we all know, feed when baby seems hungry, not when it fits our schedule!
I've been through the ringer when my ds now 4 was a baby. I had PND and honestly some days didn't want to wake up but I still ff on demand

ConsciousPilot · 08/11/2015 01:16

The 2am feed is not a nutritional need if the daytime feeds are being structured.

LittleBearPad · 08/11/2015 01:18

If you've cracked this structured feeding Conscious shouldn't you be asleep, otherwise what was the point?

ConsciousPilot · 08/11/2015 01:19

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ConsciousPilot · 08/11/2015 01:23

I last fed my 18 wk-old at 11pm and am doing some writing in between mumsnetting Smile I shan't see him again until 7 but I have a very busy day tomorrow.

Eminado · 08/11/2015 01:23

Concious
"Playing the PND card"

That is a totally unacceptable thing to say to anyone. I do not agree with your feeding advice admittedly but you are way out of line with that statement.

If you have had it yourself why would you say that to anyone?

LucyBabs · 08/11/2015 01:25

Aren't you wonderful conscious you should write a book! All these parents not doing it the right way Hmm

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