Nightime Feedings

[Missy Lou]

I DF my lo at about 11.  She starts to get fussy about 1:30 - pretty much every night for about 2 weeks now.  After getting her pacifier, she'll go back to sleep.

1)  Will she outgrow this 1:30 waking? I don't feed her but she is stuck at 1:30.

She does wake to feed anywhere between 3:30 - 5.  I go ahead and feed her because although she's 11 weeks old, she only weighs about 11 pounds so I don't think she can make it from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. (her waking time).  But I was wondering about dreamfeeding her about 4 a.m. so that she doesn't actually wake up.  When I do feed her, she's awake and it takes about 20 minutes for her to go back to sleep.  But if she's still sleeping, she'll eat and not have to spend time going back to sleep.  But I'm afraid that if I DF about 4, I'll never know when she's ready to sleep without having to feed during the night.

2)  Do I let her dictate when she eats during the night or DF and keep her from waking up?

3)  When do you try not feeding during the night and just giving the pacifier?  She only eats about half of what she usually does during the day at the nightime feeding but when she wakes up hungry, she's really mad.  But if she's full, she wakes up stretching and smiling which of course I like. 

[Leah's Mom]

Hi there! 11 weeks is still pretty young. A DF and one night feeding is very typical.

1. Does she always wake at 1:30 every night? Does she cry? Make sure you don't rush in. I always counted to 100, unless it was a hard cry. Do you keep stimulation to a minimum? I would go in, reinsert the paci and go back out. Don't change the diaper, that will reinforce the waking. If she continues to wake at 1:30 every night you could try wake to sleep. Go in at 12:30 and jostle her a bit. Don't wake her up fully. Here is a link with more info on wake to sleep. It is for naps, but it will give you the general idea. https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=43311.0

2. I would not DF at 4:00 in the morning. This will disrupt her sleep even more. I would continue to feed at that time. But keep stimulation low. I always changed the diaper first, then fed in the dark in my DD's room and put her right back to sleep.

3. Some sleep experts say some LO's need a nightime/early AM feed until 6 months or longer. I would say that around 4 months I would try and give the paci. It would be worth a try, if she goes back to sleep great! If she keeps waking up, I would feed her.

Hope that helps a bit. Let me know if I can offer more help!

[Missy Lou]

She actually starts fussing at about 1:30 - not really completely awake I guess.  Giving her the pacifier usually helps and she goes back to sleep.  It seems as though she wants to wake up but is too tired and so she squirms and grunts for about 15/20 minutes and then is out again.  I'll try the wake to sleep thing and see if that changes when she starts fussing. 

 

[Leah's Mom]

If she is not cyring at 1:30 I wouldn't respond to her. She could be grunting and squirming in her sleep, or as she passes through states. Just make sure you don't respond to every grunt. I did that and it caused habitual wakings that were very hard to stop! If she is crying, by all means go in and soothe her.

[Missy Lou]

ok.  thanks.  i was surprised at all of the noises babies make in their sleep.  the first several nights she started sleeping for longer periods, i would go into her room everytime she made a noise because i was thinking she was waking to eat like she had been.  but she was still sleeping.  i'm getting better at being able to sleep through at least some of the noises instead of waking up every hour.