Nearly 8 wks old, waking 2x to feed in the night - how typical is this?

[EightiesChick]

I'm BFing my nearly 8 week old DS, and he has blocks of sleep earlier in the evening but usually has a last feed sometime between 10pm and midnight, and then goes up to bed with us (sleeping in Moses basket in our room). Standard practice then is 2x night feeds, sometime between 1.30 - 3 depending on bedtime, and between 4-5.

This all seemed pretty standard to me, especially as I was told that BF babies will want to be fed more in the night anyway, but in the last few weeks have had comments from quite a few people, my mum included, to the effect that they would expect him to sleep for longer by now, rather than waking every 2-3 hours still. So how typical is my DS? Is it totally unrealistic to think an 8 week old might sleep for a 5-6 hour block, if not 'properly' through the night?

Some 8 weeks old will sleep through the night. My DD was still waking twice at 8 months old. I think its perfectly normal for them still to be waking a couple of times at this age - if they sleep better that's great, but its not necessarily normal.

As a mother with a child that still doesn't sleep well at nearly 2 years old, one of the conclusions I've come to is that because we have such an ingrained belief that a "good" child sleeps through the night, there is very little incentive for parents to be honest if their child doesn't sleep so well - afterall, if their child doesn't subscribe to the stereotype of "good" then they must be "bad", and who wants a "bad" baby?

I'd say very normal.

Your baby is only 8 weeks old, he has the stomach the size of a walnut, he will need to be fed frequently. I think you are doing pretty well with the way the feeds are spread out, it is a really good 'routine'. My DC3 was awake for a feed every 2 hours at that age.

Who are these people who 'expect' an 8 wk old baby to do anything?

Sounds totally normal and , in fact, quite 'good' for such a young baby.

Oh God, my DD woke every 2 hrs for a feed for the first 4 months......I ended up co-sleeping, feeding to sleep etc. I had a few 'well meaning' conversations about 'rods' and 'maybe you should give up the BFing' (oh, and the one about putting rusk in a bottle, when she was 8 weeks old)

In the end I just went with the flow....I knew DD would sleep eventually, and she did. To others I was just very non-committal and 'oh really, well we all have our own routines, she'll settle into hers soon'

Yes its tiring - what worked for me was the co-sleeping so I was only just awake myself (rather than awake and having to take her back to her cot etc). Maybe it would work for you, but if your worry it just what other people are saying then please ignore them. Your DS sounds fine to me

Normal normal normal. In fact you're getting away quite lightly. Don't be horrified if teething or a growth spurt means he wakes up far more often that this for a while. That would be normal too.

I'd say that is very normal, babies don't have very big tummy's so need food little and often. I actually think that at 8 weeks twice a night is very good for a BF baby.

Yep, DS 10 months old, bf and still waking 2 times a night!

DD2 however, bf, and slept from 11pm-6pm from 4 weeks!! She did feed all the time in the day though!

Ooops, 11pm- 6am!! I wouldn't leave her to sleep that long!!!

Mine still wakes every two hours at 13 months (this is not normal!!)
Your son though - it is entriely normal and healthy - his tummy is tiny and he needs to feed regularly.

Direct your mum to thissite
and cover up your clock.

Remember, it will improve and you are doing a fab job

IGNORE IGNORE IGNORE your mother

At this age, my DS would feed at 10pm-11pm and then would wake either once or twice before 7am for a feed. By about 3mo it was more typically once a night, although he regressed to twice around 5mo. He didn't go 11-7 without a feed until he was nearly 6mo.

i agree with lawks

My 18 wk old DS2 still mostly wakes twice in the night to feed, though sometimes we manage only once.

DS1 slept through by 13 weeks.

They're all different. Go with the flow.

100% normal! everyone who has posted on this thread is right and your mum is wrong (sorry mum!). maybe a FF baby could go a bit longer but a BF baby just needs feeding more often because our lovely breast milk gets digested more quickly. I'd expect frequent night feeds for a couple more months at least

I think it is quite common for babies to have a bigger block at the start of the night but as your LO is going to bed later that block isn't there... Waking at 11pm, 1am and 3am is very common but my DD went down at 7pm from the start so very quickly slept from 7pm-1am and then up again at 3 or 4am... SO it's the same amount of wakings just different bed times

Oh and my DD was breast fed

Sounds perfect!

Sounds completely normal.

Ds1 was FF and DS2 was BF and DS1 woke more during the night. I think it is a bit of a myth that FF babies sleep better.

DD is 8 wks tomorrow, mixed fed, and has formula overnight - she currently goes down 9-12, wakes for feed and then sleeps til 3, another feed and wakes every 60-90 mins for feeds thereafter til she stays up from 10. I am at you!

And my MIL said the same thing about waking every couple of hours. .

On the plus side, we did have a random 9-2.30 sleep three days ago - sadly not repeated yet but I live in hope...

Normal but slightly on the lucky side.

Hi Eightieschick, it sounds like you are doing great. If you want your baby to sleep longer at night, just make sure he gets enough milk during the day (feeding at least every three hours). I BFed twins and their sleeping improved dramatically at 7 weeks old - they started to wake just once between 11pm and 7am . Before 7 weeks old they pretty much did not sleep at all at night!

Do you have any sort of feeding and sleeping routine during the day at the moment? I had a loose feeding routine with my two, every three hours but more than that if they were unsettled (my theory was the more milk I could get into them during the day, the more they would sleep at night, and it worked). They slept through 11pm-7am at 11 and 13 weeks.