Feeding during the night..

[pottysavage]

I have a 5 week old baby boy and am just starting to get him into a night time routine.. he is doing well and going down at 8:30ish and tends not to wake for his 12:30 feed. I don't know whether to leave him and wait until he wakes naturally or wake him to feed at 12:30 as if i don't it throws off my whole schedule for feeding the next night and his bed time will be at a different time each night. Any suggestions guys? x

This is a common dilemma... and there is no right answer. Many people struggle with it, and no amount of experimentation will give you a "correct" answer, as babies keep on changing!

One suggestion is get yourself to bed as early as you can after he goes down (unfortunately means choosing between having adult evening time and sleep!) and then letting him wake naturally. Stocking up on sleep is never a bad idea!!

Another way some people do it is to wake them in late evening (10.30 say) or lift them and "dream feed", before you go to bed.

Either way, things can still be different each night in terms of waking in the early hours or in the early morning.

Good luck with finding something to suit you!

There is no right or wrong way to do things, honestly.

By the time you have figured out what works you'll be at another developmental stage and you'll have to start again.

So don't concentrate too much on timings and routine, just on meeting yours and your baby's biological needs. Enough food, enough sleep etc. regardless of the time.

Yes I've decided I'm just going to let him wake when he wants to.. as by god he lets me know when he wants food haha!
Thanks for your suggestions, you're right I'll just get this right and then he'll move onto doing something else :)