How much should a 12 week eat before bed

[linghu84]

Hi,

My DS is 12 weeks now. I am trying the 3hr EASY for a month. Usually his naps are short (30 or 40 mins) and i have to extend his naps to 2 hrs by rocking him. And he eats every 3 hrs.

However, since about 3 weeks ago, he started eating a lot before bed time. I BF him and supplement with formula (the last feed before bedtime around 7:00). At the beginning he would take about 5oz before going to bed and during the day he usually takes between 3-4 oz. at a go. For this week, he has not been taking much at all during the day. He shows no hunger signs when he wakes up from his naps. I end up having to take him into a dark room to BF him and he would feed for 10 mins max for both breasts. And he latches off often and turns away then turns back again to take another sip. This goes on and on. Today i started to feed him with EBM so i can know for sure how much he had.  Same as BF, he would drink for a couple of mins and then pushes the nipple out and if i try again, he would take it again. And it takes close to 1 hr to feed him 4oz. Also before bedtime he drank close to 8oz. And yesterday he slept from 6:00PM to 12:00AM (6 hr for the first time). Before his longest sleep was only 4.5 hrs.

So my question is is it normal to drink that much before bed as compare to his meals during the day. I feel that means he didn't have enough during the day, and thus he was having trouble with his naps. For the past couple of weeks, he would wake up after 30mins and never really settle back to sleep. He would wake up every 10 or 15 mins afterwards and even if i hold him to sleep.

Please help!

Ling

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

If you are on a 3 hour EASY and extending naps to 2 hours, is his A time only an hour? This link shows the averages by age, he is a little on the low side if it is an hour. Adding more A time could make a big difference to the naps.

Average A times- BOOKMARK ME!

At his age he is probably becoming very efficient at bf, and 10 minutes could very well be a full feed. My DD1 had 5 min feeds from birth and it was enough for her.

As for the bottle, does his bedtime feed take as long as the feeds you tried with ebm? Just wondering if he is ready for the next size nipple.

[*Ali*]

Have you tried feeding him either immediately when he wakes, still in the dark room before he wakes up properly or at the end of A time when he is getting tired again?

4oz is probably all he needs.  BF babies do take considerably less than their FF counterparts. Some studies show average breastfeeds to be 3oz. The normal range of total breastmilk in 24hrs is 19-30oz with 25oz being average. So even if he did 4 feeds of 4oz and 8oz at BT that sounds ideal.

Yes teething can certainly put babies off feeding temporarily.

[linghu84]

I have tried to feed at the end of the A time, but he seems to be too tired to eat. So I was thinking of switching to the bigger nipple but afraid that if will effect BF. Would he reject my BF if I use a bigger nipple?

He drinks about 8oz before bedtime and then sleep from 6:30 until 11:30 (I feed 4.5oz), then wake up again around 3am (BF) and then 6am. I feel like he is getting his milk mostly during the nighttime and I thought that it is not good to form that habit. You want your baby to think that daytime is for eating and nighttime is for sleeping. How do I make him eat more during the day? Should I make him to eat every 2.5hr?

[*Ali*]

When does he cue for a feed? Are you holding him out for the three hours or trying to feed him before he is interested would you say? I'd probably try to follow his cues to get the calories in during the day for now.

Yes there is a possibility he will develop a bottle preference but there is really no way to know beforehand. Some babies do just fine combination fed.

How long is he awake before you put him down for a nap?

[linghu84]

I always try to feed him every 3 hr after he wakes up. He usually would take some but then stop after a couple of minutes. For the past few days he hasn't shown the usual hunger cues. I feel it's a bad cycle because he probably had too much to eat at night and therefore not that hungry when he woke up in the morning. He has had a couple of EW at 5:00 and 5:30 (only 2 hr from last feed at 3:00) and I had to feed him in order to settle him back to sleep for another hr.

Should I wait a bit longer for his first morning feed? Would that help?

[*Ali*]

Yes if he isn't hungry when he wakes the maybe get him washed and dressed first for example.