Baby midnight feasting...

[Jumperoo222]

Hi guys does anyone have any advice? My baby is 18 wkss old(we have been through the 4 mnth regression I think) and seems to be in a pattern as follows:

7pm bed
10.30 wake feed
12.00 wake feed
01.00 wake feed
02.00 wake feed
03.00 wake feed
05.00 wake feed
07.00 wake up

Any idea how I can consolidate the 12-3? I have been trying to reduce the feed size but then she just won't go back to sleep. Should I give her a big bottle of expressed milk? Does tanking up work? She's exclusive breast fed. I do try and settle her without feeding first but never any joy and then I'm just so knackered i just feed her to get back to sleep.. should I persevere? Any advice much appreciated!

What is daytime feeding schedule like?

That is a lot of calories at night for this age. I would make the assumption that most of those feeds are for comfort.

Growth spurt? Has it always been like this or is this a recent development? It could be comfort feeding as a pp suggested but I wouldn’t have though a four month old would keep waking so often unless they were actually hungry.

Thanks guys..@fatedestiny yea I keep trying to settle.her in other ways but nothing seems to do it other than milk. Any tips on how to knock comfort feeds out and replace them with anything?

@rosesareyellow thank you God I really hope its a growth spurt and ends soon! Its hard to say as we've not had much of a pattern this month due to the 4 month sleep regression. I thought it was over and getting better as she'd recently returned to sleeping 3 hour chunks....literally heaven to me right now. But last 3 nights have been waking every hour or max 2 wanting food...I really really.hope it's a growth spurt that ends soon!
The girls in my NCT group have suggested slowly introducing a bottle of formula before bed...apparently this helps them sleep for a long stretch? I've only BF so far so feels like a big leap to use formula, but I'm getting so tired I could be worth it...

What is your daytime feeding schedule (ish)?

You could try habit stacking. It's where you start incorporating a second tactic while slowly removing the first. So for example, start bum patting during those feeds and she'll start to associate bum patting with comfort rather than needing feeds...it can take a while though to phase it out. If you google Lyndsey Hookway you can find more info 🙂

Oooh I'll start patting her bum right away! Thanks for the tip :-)
We generally do a wake feed play sleep cycle with wake window around 1.5 hours. So she has 4-5 naps a day with feeds after. She's so interested in the world in the day so I do try to take her somewhere quiet so she's not distracted. Do you think if I express more I could be sure she's getting more in the day?

Was so much better last night! She woke to feed 4 times but the 4th was really just a comfort one to keep her asleep. She's still asleep!! Thanks all for your replies I'm hoping it was a growth spurt or maybe a reaction to the 16 week jabs...which were a week ago but they seemed to affect her alot xx

Pleased its improving for you 🙂

You could absolutely introduce a bottle to take some pressure off if your partner could help feed her, but personally I found just bf easier if it's just yourself at home during the day. And during the night much much easier and it also keeps your supply up. As long as weight gain is fine and plenty of dirty and wet nappies, I wouldn't worry about using bottles to check how much she's getting!

Alas its gone backwards...so bad now it's every hour. Its been the last 4 nights in a row now...could this still be a growth spit or have a created a baby that only likes to.eat at night? Pretty much at my wits end

Could teething be anything to do with it? She's hungry though

Most of those night "feeds" will be more about comfort than calories.

To solve this ultimately you need to find a way to settle him back to sleep without feeding.

Dummy?

Thanks @fatedestiny we use a dummy but doesn't seem to cut it. Do you think it could be the 4 month sleep regression? I thought we had had it already but can it sort of stop/start? We had 2 weeks terrible sleep then 1 improved..now this.
Going to try and feed as much as poss in the day and try and much as possible to settle without feed at night. Just don't get why she's waking up so much. Thanks for the help

The four month regression is actually a progression. It's a mark of sleep maturing out if the fourth trimester and becoming more adult-like with cycles and having yo actively get to sleep.

You don't come put of the 4 month regression. It's just that it takes time to adapt to the new way of sleep. It lasts as long as it takes you to find a more independent way to get baby to sleep.

Thanks so much...how do you knownwhen its over? And can you gave good days of sleep within that period? I'm so confused about what's causing what

Well she might be a night feeder, my DD was. Barely fed during the day, far too interested in everything else around her and then made up for it at night - it's called reverse cycling I think. I just gave up and went with it on the basis that even if it was just for comfort why is that such a bad thing? If I'm upset I talk to someone or have a hug with my DH but babies can't express that and so if the boob is what was needed boob was what she got. She grew out of it, it took a while but it did happen.

In terms of sleep regression or progressions as they really are, yes in my experience it's not a linear thing. Some nights are worse than others, it definitely felt like two steps forward and then three back at times. Some progressions were quick, some veeeeeeeery long and it's difficult because sometimes teething gets thrown into the mix or another developmental leap so it's can be almost impossible at times to say exactly what the issue is.

I would be careful about introducing formula as it will effect your supply and if she just wants you it's not going to help I wouldn't think.

I found it easier to just go with the flow rather than trying to fight it which just upset everyone in the house and ultimately led to less sleep. X

Ps. It's not a bad thing if she's really interested in the world around her... It's shows she's alert and learning about the world around her. Babies sleep badly, that's just what babies do x

@Jumperoo222 My baby is 5 months but going through this - reverse cycling and it’s so hard! Did you get through this and if so, any tips you can share? At my wits end! X

Just wondering if you're still on here and can give any advice? We're currently going through this at 16 weeks. When did things improve for you?

@CoralRaven we went through this and the solution was to feed him in a dark room, away from his toys, tv, noise. It meant I could only go out with him for brief periods for like a week or two but it did the trick. The reverse cycling happens because they're suddenly a lot more aware of their surroundings and very distracted.