5 month old NW- help?!

[eogan0622]

Hi There!

We've been struggling with the nighttimes the past month or so.  My son is 5 months old and is a great easy baby.  During the day, he goes down so easy for naps, self soothes to fall asleep and if he wakes up at 45 mins 90% of the time is able to get himself back to sleep.  Is super easy to put down for bed...but then he can hardly go 3 hours between wake ups!  It's killing me!  During the day he can go 4 hours between feeds. He is EBF. Help!

Our EASY from the past couple days looks like this:
Monday
6:45a: WU
7:00: E (he is not a big eater when he wakes up which makes it tricky bc then he wants to eat before napping)
8:45: E
9-10:15: S
11:45: E
12:30-2: S
2:45: E
4:00:E
4:15-4:45: S
6: E (more like a snack...)
7:15: E bottle 8.5 oz bottle BM, 7:30 BT asleep by 7:25

NW: 9:30, 12:45, 3:45

Up for the day at 7am

Sunday:
7:30 WU
8:10: E
9:30: E
9:45-1115: S
12:30: E
1:30-2:30: S
3:45: E
4:30-5: S
7: 8.5 oz bottle, asleep by 7:15

NW: 1030, 12, 3


At this point, should I feed him at every NW?  I know the above schedules show 3 hr gaps between feeds but he really does for 3/5-4 some days and the NW are the same! I don't know if I should be feeding him more frequently during the day or less?? We are super tired over here.

Thanks,
Emily

[becj86]

What was LO doing a month ago night-wise? What's changed?

I think you could give him a little increase in A time of ~15mins, that may help but I suspect its something to do with this feeding.

Is super easy to put down for bed...but then he can hardly go 3 hours between wake ups!  It's killing me!  During the day he can go 4 hours between feeds.

I'm going to call you on this one - nowhere in either of those two days you posted did your LO go even close to 4hr between feeds except between the last night feed at 3:45am and the first feed of the day at 8:10 - 4:25 by my calculation. He is feeding frequently through the day.
Times between feeds are:
1:45
3hr
3hr
1:15
2hr
1:15
4:25 (long stretch is after last NF and leading up to first feed of the day)
1:20
3hr
3:15
3:15

From what I can see, your LO is waking at reasonably regular intervals at night for feeds which may well be reasonable for him based on his size, metabolism, etc.

I think he may be snacking through the day and taking a lot of milk at night - maybe that's why he's not terribly hungry first thing in the morning. I think also that 8.5oz EBM at bedtime is a massive bottle of EBM. Have a read of this: https://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/pumping/milkcalc/

My thoughts re: feeding are:
- You could keep feeding 'on demand' as it appears you are currently doing. I don't know what would change or when.
- You could feed on WU and put LO down for a nap without feeding when he's cuing for a feed 15mins before nap time (some babies look for food when they're tired). I suspect at least part of this might be that he rarely ever seems to go to sleep without a feed reasonably soon beforehand. I think if you were to do this, I'd reduce the BT bottle the night before you plan to start this so he's more likely to take more milk through the day.
- You could feed when he wakes and then 45min or so later so he's had a top-up and you can be confident he's not ravenous at nap time. You can then gradually reduce the time between main feed and top-up to consolidate feeds as he tolerates that which should reduce snacking.

Wondering why you're offering such a large bottle of EBM at BT? Is there a supply or weight gain concern? Have you taken guidance on volume from a mum who formula feeds?

[*Ali*]

How are things now?

Are you guys out and about lots during the day? Or are you busy with older kids perhaps? I'm just wondering if the day feeds are quick, little and often because you are busy and he is too distracted. Not necessarily a problem but could explain why he takes so much at night.

Some babies  have small tummies and need to feed often. Some mums have small storage capacity (not related to breast size or supply) and need to feed often. Babies feed for a variety of reasons other than hunger, all of which can be perfectly valid and healthy. They might need a quick drink, to settle their stomach, work on a bowel movement, soothe some heartburn, get some painkillers for some discomfort, get hormones like oxytocin to help them sleep, get comfort from mummy or just need to touch base now they are getting more independent. Putting a baby to the breast often is great for supply and growth by getting extra calories in so I personally wouldn't worry. Worrying about snacking is pretty outdated tbh.