4 MO can go longer between feeds in day than at night. Why?

[ElmMum]

I won't go into endless detail about DD's 'routine' but essentially she happily has a bottle every 4 hours through the day and she has 3 naps, usually about 4 to 5 hours in total, with the longest one around lunch.

We had a brief period when she would go from the dream feed (at about 10.30/11pm) til 5.30 ish (one morning, til 6.30!) without needing to be fed. She would wake up in that time, but briefly, and be easy to settle back (dummy in often did the trick, so a matter of moments).

Now, for the last week or so, she's been impossible to get to sleep in the evening (still relatively easy during the day for naps) and then after her dream feed at about 10.30pm she is awake again at 1am wanting a feed. Have tried dummy, gets angry and more awake, shh-patting, just doesn't work, getting her up and cuddling/burping her, stops her crying but she starts again the moment she's put down.

She had a full 210ml every feed (sometimes leaves up to 30ml but sometimes chugs the whole lot down), she's happy and healthy (big baby at birth and now over 16lbs). Can't get any more milk down her in the day without force feeding her, which I'm loathe to do.

So how come she can easily go 4 hours in the day but can't get past 1am in the night??? Any ideas?

TIA!

No advice from me I'm afraid but I am in exactly the same position with my 4.5 month old DD. Like your DD, she feeds approx 3 1/2 - 4 hourly in the day (she is bf) and always seems to take good, full feeds. She used to settle happily after her 10.30pm dream feed until around 5am and has also been known to sleep right through until the morning a handful of times, but recently she has been waking at around 1.30am for her feed, even though she still seems to take a full feed at 10.30pm. As a result of waking so early in the night, she has started waking again at around 5am and I need to feed her again to get her back to sleep. I don't mind doing this but then she doesn't seem particularly hungry for her morning feed at 7/7.30am which makes me wonder if it is actually hunger that is waking her? I'll watch with interest to see if anyone has any sound advice! My MIL suggested only giving her water at night, but I do still think she needs one feed so I don't really want to do that, at least until she is eating solids. She doesn't seem ready for solids yet either so I don't want to rush into that.

I might be off the mark here but the feeds could be a red herring. She may be waking because she's undertired (4/5 hrs of naps in day is quite a lot). Babies dont always wake at night because they're hungry, but will often take a feed if offered as its comforting.

I have absolutely no advice as my 4mo is still waking at 11, 2 and 5.... Then up about 630. I'm hoping someone comes along with the magic secret and I can steal it. I'm bloody knackered!

Sorry but I can't help either - until my dd was 4mo she was sleeping from 7 until at least 4am, gradually getting later and then at 4mo she started waking at 10,3and 6 to feed which was a shock to the system! She's now 5mo and her sleep hasn't improved at all and like others she isn't eating much at her mid morning feed. I'm toying with the idea of starving her (well not literally!) and only giving her the 10pm feed and then making her go until 7am for her next feed. She won't take a bottle so I can't try water either!

bcmummy - that's basically identical to what's happening with us!

loveis - it's definitely a feed she wants, she chugs down a whole bottle or at least 2/3rds. Also, she just won't settle - have tried settling her back to sleep without feeding (we used to be able to do this, so I know that if she's not hungry she will resettle with a bit of intervention).

From what I've read, 4.5 to 5 hours a day in naps is pretty standard at this age.

What do others think?

Google "4 month sleep regression" - its developmental

Tante - I have been reading about 4 month sleep regression but is there a solution or something we should be doing/not doing? I don't want to set some kind of pattern up as we flail about, sleep deprived, trying anything/everything. She really goes mad if you try to shh pat or give her a dummy or lie her down. Proper blood curdling crying, to the point where you think there must be a pin sticking in her or something. Exhausting.

I'm not sure if the naps make that much difference. My DD sleeps approx 3 - 3 1/2 hrs in the daytime then goes to sleep at 7 pm but she is still waking early. I forgot to say that she has also started waking herself at about 10pm - 10.30pm for that feed, whereas until the last few days I have always had to wake her for a dream feed. Tonight I expressed during the evening when she was sleeping and gave her a feed from both breasts at 10.15pm when she woke up then the bottle as a top up extra and she drank all that too, about another 3oz. She then fell asleep again very quickly. Will see if it makes any difference tonight to when she wakes up!

Meant to say I'm not sure the naps make much difference for the night wakings but that could be the reason she is no longer settling in the evening. Might be worth cutting them down a little to see if it makes any difference, especially later in the afternoon.

Yes, if she's having a late afternoon cat nap, she may be ready to drop that. No experience of the sleep regression as mine never went through one, but I think the general advice is sit and wait it out while trying not to introduce 'bad' habits.

My understanding with sleep regression is that it's just something that you have to grit your teeth and get through. Like cluster feeding it is linked to growth spurts and general development. My dd has just started this and while she is waking in the night and generally being exhusting I can also see that she is really starting to engage a lot with the world around her, far more then she was even a week ago. So, I think what I am saying is that this does all have a reason, there is a lot going on for her and she mey just need the extra reassurance and feeding top ups during the night to help her through this stage.

I have been told by my hv that though it's hard it will pass. I am holding onto that thought for dear life at the moment :)