Moving towards going through the night!

[verycherry82]

Hi there,

I have never posted on here before but have read other threads and found the tips and advice very useful so I am hoping you can help me!

My little boy is 8 weeks old and is generally a good sleeper but I have a couple of questions about his routine.

We start his bedtime routine at about 6ish. He's bathed and then fed at about 6.30pm and then put to bed at about 7pm. He's awake but settles himself to sleep within about 15 minutes. I have been waking him at 10.30pm for a dreamfeed and nappy change and he goes back until about 2.30am, then wakes at about 6ish and goes back down until anywhere between 8.30am and 10am.

I am a bit worried that his feeds are still so routinely every 4 hours during the night and would like to start stretching out the gap between his 10.30pm feed and the 2.30am feed. Any ideas how I could begin to do this?

I am also wondering if it would be better not to wake him at 10.30pm and just let him sleep until he wakes naturally.

What does everybody think would be the best course of action??

He is doing so well with his bedtime routine but I am keen to start movning towards him going through the night after a late feed.

Thanks in advance for any advice and suggestions!

I would say let him wake when he wants, and I also wouldn't think about cutting out any night feeds. He's so young still and will rely on the feeds at night.

My son is 6 months and still wakes up for a feed at night. When he got to 3 months and had a growth spurt he was waking every 1-2 hours for a feed.

You have lots of mile stones to deal with soon, Growth spurts, teething, sleep regression... My advice would be don't be too set on a routine just yet!
Have a look at the My Baby Won't Nap thread. You'll see what I'm talking about!

Lucky you! Don't change a thing!

I know I am lucky! He is a very good baby! Thing is, if i don't wake him he will sleep until about 12.30ish so is capable of going for 6 hours, I'd just like to move the 6 hour stretch so that it's during the middle of the night rather than the early part!

Hi verycherry82
The wakes will probably move themselves onwards with time. My son used to be woken for his feed at 10:30pm and then woke at 2 and 4 and then morning (after 7). At about 10 weeks, he started waking only at 4 and then at 12 weeks slept through from 10:30pm until the morning. It probably will happen all by its merry self so I would just go with it for now.
x
P.S. He was 6 weeks premature so those dates will probably be even sooner for your baby! Cross fingers for you - good luck!

Ok I just saw my dr who mentioned this. She used to work at a sleep clinic so I guess know what she's talking about.

Metabollicly they can go do a 7 hr stretch from when they weigh about 5.5kg which is approx 2-3 months. Most people want that stretch from around 11-6 so you're best off keeping the dream feed so you get the longest uninterrupted sleep stretch possible. Then after the dream feed let your dc wake as they wish.

Some babies will slot into the 7 hr thing quickly. Others you need to stretch. You do this by not feeding your dc for half an hour after waking. If they usually wake at 3ish you can't feed til 3:30. Continue for 3 nights then put back by another 30 mins. Repeat until dc is sleeping through to the time you want. One thing though is if dc wakes early one night you have to wait until the later time to feed. Eg you're trying to stretch til 4:00 but dc wakes at 3:00 you need to wait until 4:00 to feed. Obviously if your dc is screaming for food then you feed. If your bfing getting you DH to do the stretches can help.

Hth

Thank you beijingaling! I will put that plan into action ASAP and see how we get on! x

I really would not make an 8 week old wait for a feed. I have only just started doing this and DD is 6 months and I know she is not hungry, she just wakes out of habit.

8 weeks is so very ting and BF is still being established for some people. I wouldn't risk messing up a brilliant situation by doing a thing!

We didn't introduce the dream feed as such until our dd started sleeping through (ie she dropped the 3am feed). Why not keep to what you are doing but instead of waking him at 10:30 for the dream feed let him wake when he is hungry. You will probably find that in a short time you realise he is waking at the same time. Then when he stops waking up in the middle of the night carry on that dream feed but you could do it at a more regular time.

Our dd slept through from 15 wks. She was fed at around 7ish after bath then we gave her a dream feed around 10:30, this lasted until she was about 7 months and had started having solids.

Hope this helps.

Don't see the point in a dream feed tbh.

Let them wake when they are hungry, when they don't need it, they will go through the night.

DS was 13 weeks when he went throught the night and we just fed him as and when he woke up.

I only suggested the dream feed as in our case she needed it. We found that when we didn't give it to her she was waking at 5am. With the dream feed it was more 7am. Every baby is different. I know some people that dream feeding worked for and some it didn't.