How should I encourage my 4 month old to go for longer in the night?

[Thankyouandgoodnight]

Bed and feed at 6:30pm ish
Dream feed at 10 or 10:30ish when I go to bed

He will then wake every 2-3 hours until 4am and then every 1.5 hours until he properly wakes at about 7 or 7:30ish.

I pop him on the boob because he starts to get cross if I don't, a cuddle sometimes works in the post 4am wake ups but generally not. He feeds but not fully so i am thinking that he doesn't really need the milk and that I could get him to go from his dream feed to 4am or something without causing him nutritional problems .

How do I do this??? How do I stop him waking so frequently towards the end of his night?

HE WILL NOT TAKE A DUMMY

it's normal. he is still a really little baby.
he needs to feed during the night. and sometimes he needs comfort.

please don't fall into the trap of thinking that giving him comfort is somehow bad, or that his need for comfort is less than that of his need for nutrition.

do you waken him for a feed at 10 or does he waken up himself?

Thanks for your replies.
I have absolutely no problem with feeding him in the night if he needs it and/or giving him comfort as and when he needs that too. The trouble is that he's waking and then I assume he's hungry but he falls asleep after sucking for a minute maybe, which to me isn't a proper feed, so I then do everything I can do encourage him to feed properly as we're already up and do manage to get maybe half a feed in to him. It just seems daft feeding him every 2 hours when he clearly isn't fully hungry and could wait another hour or two.

He usually wakes at 10 so it's not really a dream feed is it?! If he doesn't wake, I don't wake him and he has gone to 11:30pm before now.

I just wondered what would happen if he was left to sleep on but if he is wakening himself then thats no use is it sorry!

my dd3 is 15wks on Thurs and also waking during the night

I am about to move her from moses basket into cot in her own room (only across very small corridor from our room) in the hope that

a. I'm not instantly picking her up when se starts fussing incase she would happily settle herself (am not sure but I wonder if she's politely taking the nipple thrust at her through fear of not being offered it again if she refused!!!)

b. we're no longer disturbing her, for example when she's in a lighter stage of her sleep she might be disturbed by us turning over/snoring etc

just what we're about to try to see if she'll sleep through incase you wanted to give any of those a whirl

good luck!

just take him into bed with you? then you can fall back asleep within moments of latching him on, without giving a damn how long he's feeding for

Thankyou and goodnight

sorry (!) but my ds has not woken in the night for a couple of months now and will be four months in a week or so..

We put him to bed at 8 ish - dream feed at 11.30 then sleeps till 8 or 9

How big is your dream feed?

I find my babies seem to be happier when they are feeding less often..the feeds they have then seem longer and more fulfilling

I find once i stretch the feeds out a bit in the day then they go longer at night

ds only has 5 feeds a day including dream feed

i also find he does not dummy as much on me

i am the world worst b/f advisor though as i do not really enjoy it so am less baby - led than a lot of mumsnetter mums...

mine is probably the selfish response ...

very happy baby though and seems to love me!

That's interesting Otter - I have realised that actually he is grazing in the day which is possibly why he's grazing at night too . What time are your feeds? Did he go through naturally or is there anything else that you did?

thankyouandgoodnight

We always do the same thing and have been lucky to always have sleepers

ds feeds are 8 am

midday-1

4.30-5

8 ish and 11 ish

We always give EXPRESSED feed at the dream feed because he sups more -
On the boob mine just drink the let-down and then doxe off but drink much more 7-8 oz of expressed

we are great believers in swaddling too!

Oh my, sounds the same as mine! ds (16 weeks- just recovering from bronchiolitis) sometimes does an evening stretch on me, occasionally swaddled in cot, but is usually every two-three hours, and then slightly more frequently in morning (sometimes get a looong stretch in morning though - til 10am today). Before he got ill, he would latch on and latch off and go to sleep (mostly co-sleeping) - am waiting to see what happens when his cough goes. Mine won't take a dummy either, but is happier to go to sleep without sucking more often than dd did, so I am convinced he will 'sleep through' earlier than she did. But tbh I have no great expectations at any this age!

Well - last night he did two stretches of 4 hours after a non-grazing day yesterday!

He didn't feed very much today at all though - two massive feeds at 9 and 5pm, so we shall see what he does tonight!

The night before last he woke at 10, 2, 4 and 6. I ignored the 4am wake up and he went back to sleep. Last night he did 10,2 and 6 and didn't bother with the 4am....

good!

I am rooting for you i am sure this helps!!! keep us informed!