How to drop the early morning feed - help!

[raaan85]

Let me preface this by saying my 12wk old son is A DREAM, and I appreciate how lucky I am!
This last week we've transitioned to a 3.5hr routine which looks like this:
7.30 E & A
9 S
11 E & A
12.30 S
2 E & A
3.30 S
5 E & A
6 S
7 bath or massage
7.30 E
8 S
11 dream feed

My problem is the night / early morning feed.
LO wakes occasionally wakes at 1.30 / 2am so gets his dummy (he stays in his cot & goes straight back to sleep).
He then wakes anywhere from 3.30am to 4.45am for a feed. He only ever takes 2-3 oz (rather than the 4-5 he takes during the day), and because he suffers from reflux we have to sit him up for 20 minutes after feeding. I can cope with this at 3.30am but by the time it's 5 / 5.30am & I know the day is about to start again I really struggle!
Should I:
A) wake him at 3.30am every morning but start to reduce the amount I'm giving
B) let his feed become later & later and hope that eventually he reaches 7.30am on his own? (I'd settle for starting the day at 7am if I need to, but I worry with this option he'll be getting fed 2oz at 6am & then CN until 7 / 7.30 & fed again, and never drop the 6am feed  )

I don't mind doing an early morning feed, but as I say, I'm worried he'll last until 6am & then stay there!

Thanks in advance x

[creations]

Hello, welcome to BW forums

What a lovely routine you have

A couple of options to consider for that early morning feed:
- bring the DF earlier, say 10pm, this means LO will likely wake with hunger naturally, earlier than he is doing at the moment. He still needs to eat at night of course but rather than being hungry around 3.30/4.45 this would likely be an hour earlier which helps you to settle him down for a better sleep before morning WU.
- feed at the 1.30/2am NW instead of giving the dummy. As this is only about 3hrs from the last E time it could help him move his longer stretch of sleep (longer between E) to the second part of the night, from 2 - 7am (he is now doing a 5 ish hr stretch between E as his longer stretch in the night).
- introduce a cluster feed in the evening before BT, say one feed before the bath and another just before BT, these are less than 3.5hr between but in the evening it doesn't matter if feeds are closer if it helps LO in the night.  It might help him drop that NF naturally as he is only taking a smaller amount at that time anyway.

Have you tried just putting him down after the DF and NF?  Many refluxers do not ned to be held upright for the 20 mins after these night feeds because they are so relaxed that they don't suffer the same symptoms.  Mine took his best feeds at BT and DF (ours was a NF at that time as he woke for it) I never held him upright after either. Just straight back in bed and to sleep.  This might help you in terms of you getting back to sleep and just reducing the time and energy it takes in the night.

hope this helps

[raaan85]

Hello, thank you for such a prompt response!
Unfortunately we all got colds the day after I posted this so it all went a bit off schedule.
The last two nights he has slept until 5.45am, then had his dummy & gone back to sleep. I woke him yesterday at 7am to feed (as hoping to feed at 7,10.30 & 2pm) but this morning I let him sleep and he didn't wake until 8am.
I'm just going to enjoy this while it lasts, as I know there's the 4th wonder week AND a sleep regression soon!

[creations]

Sorry to hear you were all poorly.
I have found with my DS we often get a routine change when he is poorly. It isn't nice him being ill but we get to use it to our advantage and sort the routine out!
Sounds like you are okay for now   Do post again if you need help with anything, we have birth clubs if you would just like to chat along with other people with LOs the same age too.