5 month old breastfeeding a lot at night?

[Dreamland13]

Hello :)

I combi fed my last baby (Bottle at night) so I’m just looking for advice with my BF 5 month old. He wakes consistently every 3 hours through the night (sometimes 2) and always seems hungry even after a really decent last feed and even tho he seems to be able to go longer in the day.
He naps 3 times a day, usually one long one 2 shorter ones or 2 moderate ones and one shorter one. I’ve seen him wake up briefly at nap time and go back to sleep, and sometimes at night will wake briefly and go back to sleep but generally at night he just seems to be different, sometimes wakes crying and we can settle by holding onto his hands and legs gently (he’s a major fidget when tired) but he generally has to feed 11,2,5 and then up at 7. He used to sleep and wake once until 3.5 months then it all went wrong! I just don’t understand why his day naps are much more settled.
I’m sure it’s normal for them to feed so much I’m just very tired!! I’m assuming when they start weaning you know they don’t need so many feeds?

Thanks

Anyone??

Feeding every 2-3 hours is normal for breastfed babies.

That said, if he's going longer in the day, he might be needing to make up for it at night. This happened to some of my friends ("reverse cycling"). Could you make a big effort to feed more frequently in the day and see where that gets you?

I also have a 5 month old doing a similar thing. I wonder if it's being too distracted during the day to feed enough- I find he tends to cut his feeds short when my 3 year old is around especially.

Not sure if it will work but I am trying to take him off somewhere quiet to feed during the day to see if it helps

It waxes and wanes, I find. There will be periods where he needs to feed more. As PP said, he's probably quite distracted during the day and making up for it at night- try feeding in a dark room in the daytime to minimise distractions.

Thanks everyone, yeah he does get distracted particularly when his brother is chatting away too!