6 month old feeding every 3 hours over night??

[Hiraeth20]

Is this typical? He goes to bed around 6.30-7pm (settles himself to sleep really well, doesn’t need to be nursed to sleep) and will usually wake around 10, 1, 4 and then up for the day at 6/6.30. He’s combi fed at the moment (all night feeds are bf) but for a variety of reasons we’re in the process of moving him on to formula. The feeds can last between 10 and 20 minutes so I assume he is hungry but I’m really not sure. At 3/4 months he was going 6 hours without a feed over night but this has been going on for the last 2 months now and I’m exhausted and want some sleep back.

During the day he will feed at 7, 10, 1, 4 and then before bed at 6. How can I get him to sleep for longer stints without needing a feed? Does it sound like hunger, habit or comfort?

Thank you

Yes, it was normal for us. Didn't improve until 10/11 months. Even now at 13 months he wakes twice a night if not suffering from teething.

Does it sound like hunger, habit or comfort?

It's probably all three simultaneously.

Calorific need accelerates significantly in the region of 6 months and that is tempered by the fact that early weaning foods (fruit, veg etc) are low calorie. So be careful not to fall into the trap of replacing milk feeds with solids. Until around 9 months milk levels wants to at least be maintained at pre-weaning levels, and may well go up. Solids should be in addition to milk, not in place of.

If your daytime calories dont keep up with babys increased calorific need, then you see an increase in night feeds. That then leads to a vicious cycle - baby doesnt have enough calories in the daytime, so has calories at night, but then isn't as hungry the next day so continues not having enough calories the following day... and so it continues.

By 6 months it is definately possible for baby to have 100% of the calories during the daytime hours, and zero calories at night. But to get there you have to not feed a hungry baby at night, so that the following day he's very much more hungry than usual and the timing of those calories moves away from night time.

To night wean successfully though you need an alternate way to settle the baby without feeding. Night weaning doesn't mean no night wake ups. It just means that when baby does wake, you don't feed and get him to sleep another way.

In this way your feeds are comfort. Baby needs that comfort as a biological need as strong as the need for calories. So you would be wrong to assume baby will go to sleep without any alternate comfort when you night wean. You need to replace that comforting method with something else that still gives baby that same level of comfort feeing - or at least teach (sleep train) so baby learns to get the comfort a different way.

Thank you so much for your response Fatedestiny. This makes a lot of sense. We’ve had quite a difficult time with his feeding and weight gain. He has CMPA and soya allergy and has struggled to gain weight. He is now really thriving and finally a bit of a chunk which is why we’re moving onto formula and why I’ve been thinking about how to help him move away from the night feeds (I also need some sleep!!!). He’s really very good at settling himself to sleep and is comforted by a cuddle and a head stroke, although this only works when he’s not hungry. A friend suggested timing his night feeds and slowly reducing them by a minute or two each night, is that something that you’d recommend? I’m wondering whether it might be best to continue sucking up the night feeds until he’s exclusively on formula and see how this impacts his sleep.