15 week old night feeds

[tazz]

Hi, DS is 15 weeks and for the past week and a half he has been waking for two night feeds, at around 13-13:30 and then again at around 2-3am, then he wakes for the day at approx 6.  He has seemed pretty hungry at those times, though the other night at the 3am feed he fell asleeo after 3 minutes.  I changed his nappy which woke him right up and then he took a good feed.  Last night he went to bed earlier and I gave him about 70mls of formula as a top up and he went from 6pm to 11pm so I'm wondering if it truely a hunger waking or habit.  He had been sleeping from 7pm - 3am from 8 weeks until this started.  Could my supply be dropping off.  I have heard that there is a big growth spurt around 3 months but I would have thought that my supply would have caught up by now. 

[Fiver]

Some women reporting finding that the 3 and 4 month GSs sort of merge into one, so it could quite well be that this is growth spurt related.

It's also worth noting that if you are concerned about supply that offering formula is likely to cause issues rather than solve them as each FF you give is an indicator to your body that your baby doesn't need that milk.  If LO seems dissatisfied after taking both breasts, you could try offering the side you offered first again and continue like this until he does.

[*Ali*]

It doesn't sound like a supply issue although as Amanda says, giving formula can cause a drop in supply.

2 NFs at 4mo is not excessive. What times is he waking (I'm guessing 13.30 is a typo)? Have you tried doing a Dream feed?

How often is he feeding in the day? If you think it is a growth spurt you could try offering the first breast again maybe half hour after the first two breasts to get extra calories in. Tracy talks about doing this in her sleep interview here A Special Sleep Interview with Tracy Hogg

[tazz]

He is having a feed at 11pm (yes, a typo)  The formula helped a little bit on the first night but not really on the second night so not sure if I'm going to drop this feed from me or continue as a BF.  I usually always offer the first side again to try and fill him up.  He feeds 3 hourly during the day.  I spoke with a CHN today and she didnt think its too much of a habit at this stage but if it still continues in a week then try to resettle without a feed and see what happens or gradually reduce the amount of time on the breast to try and wean the feed.

[Fiver]

Let me get this straight - he's having a DF at around 11, waking for 1NF at around 2/3 and waking for the day at 6?  Is that right?

If so, that's absolutely and totally normal for a child of his age.

[tazz]

Yeah he has a feed anywhere from 10pm-11pm (he wakes for this so its not a DF) then he wakes again around 2-3am for another feed and then wakes between 5:30-6am to start the day.  I realise that this is not a bad feeding schedule for him at this age though from 8 weeks until 13 weeks he was going from 7pm through to 2-3am without the feed at 10pm.  The only consolidation seems to be that he is getting better at sleeping during the day.  I have been cutting back formula in the evening because it doesnt seem to help him, probably was giving him a belly ache from being too full.  I am also starting to ake his BT earlier becuase my middle child always wakes him when she gets out of bed at around 5:30am so I am making bubs BT between 6-6:30.

[Fiver]

It sounds like you've got a reasonable plan with bring BT forward a little bit.  Babies do have a habit of changing what they do once we've got used to one thing, don't they?!   Personally, at such a young age, I wouldn't be trying to wean a NF, though.