not sure why he's waking?

[mamatolevi]

Hi there, my LO is 8 weeks old and has been sleeping really well at night (fingers crossed). He is usually asleep from bedtime until about 3 or 3:30. He goes to bed without his soother. When he wakes in the night (at 3 or 3:30), I give him the soother and he goes back to sleep, but is up every half hour or so after that needing plugged back in. I'm wondering if it's actually a night feeding he's after? Maybe if I fed him the first time he wakes, he's sleep straight until 7am? I make sure he is getting all of his calories during the day, so I am hesitant to feed him again if he doesn't need it. I'm also worried that if I try to feed him at that time, he'll want some 'A' time in the middle of the night. Any suggestions?

[~ Vik ~]

Hi and welcome!  Your little man is so handsome

I don't know if your breast or bottle feeding, but thought that I would jump in because at this young age the answer is pretty much the same.  I would definitely feed at that first waking.  At 8 weeks old it is very normal to do a dreamfeed and two other night feeds, so if you are getting that stretch from bedtime to 3/330 am then you are doing amazingly well!!  When he settles with the soother, only to wake again shortly after, that tells me that there's a *need* there that hasn't been met.  If you feed at this waking I think that you'll be in for a much more peaceful night.

And re: the middle of the night A time, I would just try to keep the feed as low key as possible - keep the room dark, no diaper change, just feed and lay him back to sleep.  If he falls asleep while feeding there's no reason to wake him in the middle of the night, just lay him back to bed.

hth!

[mamatolevi]

Thanks so much! I hope it works....getting up for one bottle will be much easier than 6 trips for a soother!

[~ Vik ~]

getting up for one bottle will be much easier than 6 trips for a soother!

So true!!

[mamatolevi]

Hi again, I have tried the dreamfeed and it was a nightmare. Can I get away with not doing it? My LO was in such a deep sleep when I gave him the bottle, and by the end of it he was wide awake and fussed for over an hour afterwards. Then, he was up at 3 until 6am. I fed him at 4 to try to get him back to sleep but it didn't work. Previously, he had been sleeping extremely well at night. Is it ok if I forget the dreamfeed, and just feed him when he wakes? Or will that cause him to be too dependant on night feeds?

[Lu Lu]

I'm not as knowledgeable as others on here but I don't think you *have* to do the Dreamfeed. When we used to do it with DS1 it never worked - always woke him more and he was up for more food in the night.

And also he got to a point where he was waking for the Dreamfeed.

If he's going from bedtime until 3am stick with that - sounds great - lucky you!

[~ Vik ~]

You certainly don't have to do a dreamfeed if it doesn't work for you! For some moms it works really well, but others actually notice that sleep patterns get disrupted and get more nws. If he's sleeping well without it, then I would stick with what works