When do babies drop a night feed?

[Pualani8]

My LO is 9 weeks today - weighs 12.5 lbs and gaining weight great!  My question is when do they drop a night feed?  He sleeps usually 8 pm to 8 am with 2 night feeds.  We don't do a dream feed as it just wakes him up completely.

7 - 7:30 bottle (2 oz breast milk + 2 oz formula)
8 - bed

12:30 - 2 usually wakes for a feed some time between there - 4 times he's slept until 3!

4 - 5 usually wakes to feed

8 am wake up for day.

Should I be trying to phase out the first feed? Or is he still too young?  I hear about these babies sleeping through at 12 weeks and we aren't even close!!  Is that unrealistic typically?

Thanks!

[Haribo2012]

Hi my LO didn't drop his night feed until about 16 weeks until then he would get DF at 10pm then wake about 2-3am then 6am. When he dropped NF We did DF at 10pm and then he'd go until 5am gradually this just got later. I didn't drop DF until it started to affect his morning bottle which was about 6 months ish. If you are only doing the 2 feeds I think your doing well at 9 weeks as some babies wake up much more than this. Sounds like your doing great. :-) x

[Pualani8]

Thank you!  It's all so confusing and I never know if I need to tweak my routine or just be patient ;-)

[Emami]

I would say be patient until at least 6 months.  I know that sounds like ages when you're up every night but a lot of babies still need a NF or two until a least that age.  I wouldn't start actively trying to cut one until you know he can go longer and that it seems like habit if he is still waking rather than genuine hunger.  I was one of the lucky ones with a baby doing 12hr nights at 3 months so it's easy for me to say that, but then she started waking up for a feed again at 4 months and I went with it because she was still so little, and you have to keep in mind that growth spurts, development, and a million other variables can affect things too!

Sounds like you're getting there if he can sometimes go 7-3, that's a decent stretch for 9weeks!

[ALmom]

Until DS was 5 mo, DH would do a DF around 11pm and then I'd do a NF around 3am.  Somewhere around 5.5 months we moved the dreamfeed about an hour earlier, and then just last week DS stopped waking *hungry* at night.  (Now he's waking later, but easily resettles with a paci.)