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

[BotBotticelli]

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??

Mine were breastfed, neither had feeds regularly overnight after 3 months old. Last feed at 11pm, next feed at 7/8am. They were fed on demand during the day ie 7/8am-11pm which was roughly every 2hrs, sometimes 90mins.
So me I would rather feed them often throughout the day so they don't need feeds overnight

A baby only being fed every 4hrs during the day is of course going to want feeds overnight. Op I would offer feeds every 2 hrs during the day, then see if they still want feeds between 10/11pm and 6am. 7/8 hrs should be ok without if they are being fed every 2hrs in the day. So feed 6am-8am-10am-12pm-2pm-4pm-6pm-8pm-10pm. 9feeds in 24hrs is fine

Oh and in what I suggest it would be offering 5oz every 2 hrs during day, which would be 45oz across 9 feeds

Ah I'm sure OP wasn't expecting this to turn into such mayhem when she posted!
As I'm sure you can see from many varied responses, all babies are different and some do wake more often than your DC currently do.
I believe demand feeding is still the current NHS recommended method, whether formula or breast feeding. You sound like you're doing a great job.

Art how do you persuade your baby to take more milk during the day? Genuine question. DD is 18 weeks and if she doesn't want milk then she won't have milk. Short of letting her cry with hunger at night so she feeds more in the day, what would you suggest I do?

Wowzers! Seems like I inadvertently stirred up a bit of a shit storm!

Thank you very much to everyone who has replied and for the many different ideas/points of view expressed.

It's reassuring to know that having a big bottle in the middle of the night is not unusual.

I was interested to hear conscious's suggestions - but don't worry anybody I am not going to be witholding milk from my baby if he is hungry!

I have bottle fed both my sons on demand (I actually cannot imagine how to do it otherwise...my sons are both very wilful babies and would not be "put" onto a schedule! The 'routine' I outlined in my OP is just the natural rough daily pattern which has emerged with my son, as I have been following his cues and feeding him when he cries for it, over the last 13 weeks.)

BUT I will say there may be something in conscious's idea of offering a smaller bottle of milk at 2am when he wakes....I might try this over the next few nights. The reasons being:

• as I mentioned in my OP he currently does NOT seem to want a bottle on waking for the day at 6/7am. He quite often doesn't feed until 0830am or even 9! He is quite content to sit in his bouncy chair whilst I fix breakfast for his big brother. I wonder if offering him a smaller bottle in the middle of the night (say 3-4oz to soothe him back off to sleep) might mean he wakes up more hungry in the morning? And then over the next few weeks perhaps this 2am bottle will then naturally phase itself out??

• additionally, I am not really convinced Ds is hungry when he wakes at 2am. Yes he is crying, but it is more of a pickling sort of cry, as opposed to a full on hungry yell, iyswim? I wonder if he might not necessarily be hungry, but just want some comfort/a cuddle/to know I am nearby? ....to this end I might try re-settling ds with his dummy and a bit of shhhhh-patting tonight when he wakes up.

• obviously if it works, great. But if he does not settle with his dummy and some comfort, I will then have k assume he is in fact hungry, and give the little greedy guts his 7oz bottle!

Sound sensible??

Oh and for the record he is a big boy: 9lb 6oz at birth and almost 15lb now at 13 weeks old. He is 91st centile for length, weight and head circumference. A big lad all over!

That's a great idea, OP. And yes to a baby who feeds poorly at 7am having fed too much in the night. This is the whole point of structuring feeds so that a baby's nutritional needs are met during the day and he is not seeking food at night.

It works, OP and I wish you well.

My DD (6mo) has recently dropped her 3am feed. While she was still feeding at night, she was not at all interested in milk when she woke up at 6/7am. But now she has stopped waking for food at night, she smashes through a 7oz bottles when she wakes up in the morning.
I was always under the impression that night weaning isn't recommended until after 6 months (ie offering water instead of milk, diluting milk, offering less milk etc) ?? Could be wrong.
3 months is still very young. I know night feeding can be a pain in the arse when you're knackered, but go with it All babies stop on their own eventually

Hi OP

My DS (4.5mo) was taking 2 night feeds until recently, but not really eating much at 7am as he'd had a big feed at 1/2am and then at 4/5am. I slowly cut back the amount in the 4/5am bottle over a week and it seemed to work. He's moved to one night feed at 3/4am and then is really hungry when he wakes for his 7am feed.

Hope you find something that works for you

Laughing at give baby 2oz at 2am. He'll be awake again in no time!! Op my DS is 4 weeks and I offer him 5 7p bottles 3 hourly (ish) between 6.30am and 6.30pm. This seems to get him to sleep 7-4am, has a 2-4oz feed and then sleeps till 6.30. If he wakes earlier I just feed him what he wants though- he'll get there just feed on demand

Um, the OPs baby is two months older than yours. I think you'll find you will also be looking for advice when that time comes.

I meant four months.

I still don't think op is after advice to not feed her hungry baby at night though