Self settler who doesn't sleep longer than 2 hours.. Any ideas?

[why5am]

DS is 16 weeks old. He self settles - goes into his cot awake and falls asleep without any help. But he only sleeps a maximum of 2 hours. He wakes every 2 hours all night every night. You can almost set your clock by it. He's inconsolable until offered food (is a breast fed baby on the 90th centile). He feeds and either goes back in his cot awake and goes back to sleep or (increasingly) I fall asleep feeding and he sleeps next to me.

He'll go 4 or 5 hours in the daytime without asking for food. He has 3 naps in the day - usually 2 longer ones (1.5-2hrs) and one shorter one (30-45 mins). Naps happen around the same time of day each day roughly, and I put him down when I see a first tired sign. He has at least 1 day time nap in his cot, usually 2. The other is in his pram.

I've tried feeding him a lot more often in the day to try and switch him around but he wasn't very interested. He seems a very efficient feeder, never feeding more than 10 mins in the day. Feeds longer at night, but is much more sleepy. It feels/seems more like snacking so I don't believe he's really hungry that often.

Any ideas how I stretch out his nighttime sleep? I have a nearly three year old who wakes most days between 5 and 6 so never sleeping more than 2 hours at a time is really starting to feel like hard work!

Any ideas or wisdom very welcome!

i think as he is only 16 weeks he probably needs the food. My daughter was like him but opposite - feeding every 2 hours in the daytime, and every 3-4 hours in the nighttime. If he goes so long during the day, how about not putting him down for naps as much? it might make him more tired for the night. or if he falls asleep while feeding at night, maybe wake him up a bit and make sure he has both sides.

At around the 4 month mark there is a huge growth spurt - so if the extra feeding is sudden, then it may be down to that. However, if it continues beyond a couple of weeks I would be inclined to disagree with PP. Feeding every 2hrs is like a newborn would feed & he should really be able to go at least one decent stretch of 5-6hrs during the night with maybe 2 feeds after that at most. I suspect that if he is fed back to sleep every time he wakes, then he may be starting to develop a sleep association & so when he comes into a light sleep at the end of each sleep cycle (2hrs) then he will need that feed to help him resettle. And of course he isn't going to be happy if you don't.

What you do about it depends a lot on whether you are happy to let it continue for now until he is say on solids, or whether you feel he is eating more than he really needs. In which case I would probably agree on 2 times at which you will feed, and then eliminate the rest one by one. You will need to use a sleep training method such as sssh/pat or pick up put down to settle him to sleep, instead of offering him a BF(CC/CIO not recommended for babies under 6 months). It wouldn't be easy & will involve crying, but if needed, it would help.

xx

Thanks, both. I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt on the growth spurt for a week and think about his sleep but I'm not convinced he needs the food. I think that although he self settles for naps/first thing in the evening, he's come to rely on boob to give him a longer sleep.
He went back into his cot very awake after his 11pm feed last night and slept for 4 hours..
I know that CC/CIO is not for me, whatever age the baby and will do something like PU/PD or shh/patting etc. In a week's time and on days when my eldest is in nursery, I'll pick 2 times a night and feed him only at those times..
Was only up twice in the night last night, and my 3 year old slept until 6.45am this morning so I'm feeling like a new woman!