Taking less throughout the day?

[maggiesmom76]

DD (12 weeks) has recently started waking up around 1am for a feeding (at least, we think that's what she's waking up for -- she won't settle down unless we feed her) -- she'd been going 7-10 hours between feedings at night, and now she's back to like 5 hours.  At the same time, we've started giving her bottles during the day (I'm going back to work) and now we're realizing that she eats less later in the day than she does earlier.  For example, today, at her 11am feeding, she ate 5 oz, and at 5pm she ate more like 4oz.  Is it normal for a baby to eat less throughout the day?  Could this be what's causing the 1am feedings?  If so, any advice?

[TDR'smom]

Hello Maggiesmom76, your lo is so cute sitting in that Bumbo!

Could you post your current routine in terms of Eat/Activity/Sleep time and length?

That will help us see what if anything needs to be tweaked.

Sounds like maybe a growth spurt which is causing the overnight wake up.  But now sure.

Post your routine and we'll take a look.

xxx
Judy

[maggiesmom76]

Thanks Judy!  She hasn't smiled in that Bumbo chair since the day we took that pic! 

She's on a pretty good 3 hour EASY.  Usually wakes up around 8, give or take 30 minutes.  Currently tweaking her A times -- she was at 1:20 for a few days but started waking up 20-30 minutes into her naps, so we cut back to 1:10 again (short for her age, I know, but not sure what else to do).  First nap of the day is usually the best -- about 2 hours or longer -- and they get shorter throughout the day.  So part of the less food later in the day thing may be that she's eating more frequently later in the day: In the morning, she goes at least 3 hours between feedings, often closer to 3.5.  In the afternoon, it's sometimes less than 3 hours, and in the evening before bath/bed it's more like 2.5. 

Anyway, so a typical day may look something like this:
E: 8am
A: 8:10-9:10
S: 9:10-11:20

E: 11:20
A: 11:30-12:30
S: 12:30-2:20

E: 2:20
A: 2:30-3:40
S: 3:40-5:10

E: 5:10
A: 5:20-6:30
S: 6:30-7:45

E: 7:45
A: 7:55-8:30 (bath and book)
Bed at 8:30

I know that last nap is supposed to be more of a catnap, but we tried that for a few days and it didn't go well, so we tend to let her sleep a bit more.  Also, we did try feeding her after her bath to space out the feedings a bit, but she is so fussy after her bath that she doesn't eat well, even if we swaddle her. 

She went a bit longer last night -- 6 hours -- but still not quite what we'd gotten used to!  Any advice you have would be great.

Thanks a bunch
Ellen

[TDR'smom]

Is she waking at the same time over night?  Or does it vary?

[maggiesmom76]

Well, before this earlier waking thing started, it varied.  She's a paci addict, so she wakes up every few hours at night, but she'd generally want to eat between 3 and 5 am, sometimes even later.  Now she's waking up between 1 and 2 and wanting to eat.  Like I said, last night was better (2:30) but still not where we were before. 

[TDR'smom]

If the time that she is waking varies each night, than chances are she is hungry or maybe she is looking for her paci.  If she gets up consistently each night, than it is out of habit. 

If you are going to keep the paci (which I did!  , try replugging her first, if she keeps fussing than give her a feed.  Just keep an eye that it does not become a habit.  Growth spurts usually last a few days.


HTH!

Judy

[maggiesmom76]

Thanks Judy.  I think it was a growth spurt.  There were 2-3 days of waking up between 1 and 2, then 2:30, then the next night she went back to sleeping til 4:30 or so.  Much better!  She went back to 2:30 last night, but I don't think she was hungry, just couldn't put herself back to sleep even with the paci because she was really OT.  Thanks again for the help -- I'll keep you posted!