Any suggestions for getting baby through the night with out a feed.

[Lizbiz89]

My ds is nearly 4 months old and so far cannot get through the night without a feed. He's a very big baby (already in 9 month clothes) so it's been no surprise that he's a bigger eater. I'm currently bottle feeding as breastfeeding was extremely difficult for both of us due to his aggressive suction (again very hungry baby lol).

Just wondering if anyone has any tips for helping him get through the night a bit better. He's still currently waking 3-4am for his first feed. He's also already on 7 ounces bottle and he requires this every 3 hours. Any advice would be great.

Nope, but I can tell you that it is normal for a young baby to need a feed through the night and you are lucky that he is going until 3/4am before waking for one!

Sounds normal tbh. I fully expected a night feed until 6 months old. Once they reached that age and were on solid foods I started reducing the night feed gradually by 1oz at a time over the period of a few weeks

4 months is tiny. Its normal for babies to need to feed at night.

The answer to your question, I am afraid to say, is just wait s bit. Most babies wake in the night for food until at least 6months.

Not really, mine started naturally taking more at each feed during the day which meant she slept through the night, but this was directed by her, I don't think it would be overly successful to try and engineer feeding more during the day?

They still need feeds at that age. Why would you try to stop that?

I agree with pps that although some babies can go overnight at 4 months( ie 6 hours without a feed) it is entirely normal to have a night feed until at least 6 months and many do for a lot longer. I wouldn't bother thinking about this until after the summer as baby will need more fluids in hot weather and on any case it is largely up to your child to know whether they are hungry and thirsty or not.

My 2 year old doesn’t even make it to 4am without a feed! So I’m afraid it’s totally normal, they just have such tiny stomachs that it’s hard for them to stay full for that long, particularly before they’re on solids (but don’t introduce solids early to try and make them sleep better!)

He just wakes once? I think you should count yourself lucky!

My daughter is 5.5 months and still feeds in the night at least once. Perfectly normal.

Thanks for the replies. I'm guessing it's very normal then. He did go for a period where he was sleeping until 7 which has stopped but I guess that might be a little bit of a sleep regression.

Just agreeing with PPs. Completely normal at that age and indeed much older to still be waking in the night. 4 month olds generally still need a night feed.

Count yourself lucky, he sounds like a great sleeper! The only suggestion I can think of is to wake him before you go to bed and offer a bottle, he might sleep through then. No way would I be messing with such a brilliant sleeper. Or just wait a month or two.

It's not normal for a 4 month old not to feed during the night, and in this heat, could be quite dangerous. Both of mine naturally started to sleep through or at least not need a feed (they still wake even when they aren't hungry for lots of reasons) around 9-12 months. But be warned, it doesn't mean they sleep through. My eldest still woke during the night until she was 3.5 and 17 month old currently wakes most but not all nights.

4 months is peak sleep regression time (google it). It’s so normal! Please don’t reduce feeds at night, especially in this heat.

They all get there, some take longer than others but they will get there. You’ve just got to ride it out.

I think also some are more content at night and others need some comfort

My dd stopped night feeds at about 3 months.

After a couple of nights when she slept through, if she then woke up the next night i gave her 5-10mins to see if she resettled or if she was actually hungry. I knew she could sleep through 12 hrs without a feed. 90% of these times she put herself back to sleep quickly

It is not always dangerous for babies to go all night without a feed, spreading misinformation isn't helpful. Same as some waking during the night for feeds isn't unusual.