Is our sleep routine wrong ?

[SGooch]

We have a 8 week old baby and we have been following the following routine

07 to 07:30 AM Feed - 4 to 5oz
10 to 10:30 Feed - 4 to 5oz
14 to 14:30 Feed 4 to 5oz
17 to 17:30 - 2 1/2 to 3 oz
Bathtime
18:45 - 4 oz
Asleep by 19:30

She then wakes between 23:00 to 12:00 but can go as long as 01:00 and will take 4oz and then depending on what time she feeds at around midnight, will wake between 04:00 to 05:00 for 2 1/2 oz before starting all over again at 7AM

How do I try and drop the midnight feed. I have asked friends who keep their kiddie up until 20:00 to 21:30 and they then sleep right through till 6AM or even later.

The pickle we are in is that the midnight feed seems to be getting later and later and subsequently the 5AM feed gets later. Eventually I think that she will sleep till 7AM but we will still be getting up around 1 to 2AM for a night feed after she has gone to bed at 7PM

How do I try and drop this middle of the night feed as I can only see the routine we are following becoming difficult to break.
Should we feed her as much as possible at 17:00 and delay the bath time till later resulting in a bed time of around 8 or 9PM ?

Its a viciouscircle for me and I would be interested in any advice or rountines anyone else follows for an average 8 week old baby.

Thanks in advance for the replies as this is my first post on the forums. I think its excellent

[anna*]

Hi and welcome to the boards! In your routine you don't say when and for how long she is sleeping?

Have you tried doing a dreamfeed at 10 or 10.30pm (just before you go to bed)?

Honestly there is nothing to be gained by keeping her up later - you'll just end up with an overtired baby.

[SGooch]

thanks for the reply

she sleeps from 19:30 up until she wakes for a feed between 23:00 and can got as long at 1AM.

she sleeps pretty much straight away after this feed and then wakes around 5 AM for another top up feed, back to sleep and we wake her up between 7AM and half past.

Sleep during the day is the usually nap in the morning , afternoon and a three hour stint over lunch time.

do you think we should wake her up at 22:30 to give her a feed rather than letting her go later ? Do you think she would still go through until 4 to 5 AM.

Your help is appreciated

[anna*]

Sweetheart to be honest, at 8 weeks, I really think you should just feed when she wakes at night. It sounds like she is doing so well.

You could try doing a dreamfeed at 10 or 10.30pm, just before you go to bed. That way she might feed just once more at around 3 and then start the day at 7. For the dreamfeed you try not to wake her, the idea is to try to feed her 'in her sleep'.

[SGooch]

Anna

I have tried this for the last 2-3 nights and purposely woke her up at 22:45. She has taken a feed, but due to her being asleep for it, has refused to bring up wind.

Then at 2AM all hell breaks loose as she writhes around in agony.

We get he through the night with a small feed between 4 and 5 AM and then at 7AM she is right off her morning feed and does not want to take much at all, which is not like her.

[anna*]

Gas can really mess things up - so hard for her, and for you. I don't know where in the world you are but have you tried syntheticone drops (Infacol in the UK)? You give them before every feed and they have a cumulative effect and really help them bring up wind. Also old-fashioned gripe water worked well for us. Maybe you have to wake her just a little more to bring up her wind?

If you want to, you can of course try using shush-pat to settle her without feeding, but at 8 weeks the likelihood is that she is genuinely hungry.

[SGooch]

Hi

We are based in Manchester, UK. Yes we have tried infacol and gripe water and didn't seem to help much.  She is now on colief which is added to her milk in order to breakdown the lactose.  Along with Dr Brown bottles, this has helped with bringing up her wind, although she still holds onto some, especially when she is tired and falls asleep on her bottle.

Had another unsuccessful night last night as follows:

17.00 - 3 1/4 oz
Bath and bedtime routine
18.30 - 4 oz
Woke her up at 23.00 - 4 1/2oz - hardly brought up any wind
Woke at 02.00 - managed to get her back off to sleep but was very restless until 04.50 and gave her 2 3/4 oz.  Was very surprised she wouldn't take more but think it's because she still had wind from her 23.00 feed and tired due to restlessness since 02.00.

This is the third night on the run that this has happened and is impacting on her daytime sleep and feeds.  This morning she struggled with her 07.00 feed due to being tired still and only managed to take 2 oz.

Don't know what to do for the best now?  Options are:

a) continue waking her up at 23.00 in the hope that she will get her wind up and sleep past 02.00 without waking and wake nearer 05.00 (however she is clearly not ready for a feed at that time as we always have to wake her and she falls asleep very quickly on the bottle)

or

b) let her wake up naturally after her bedtime feed - that may be any time from 23.30 to 01.30/02.00 and then see what time she wakes again in the hope that it's 06.00/07.00 - however this defeats the object of eliminating the middle of the morning feed

HELP - I don't know what to do for the best?

Thanks again, Sarah

[anna*]

Do you think she'll bring up her gas easier if she wakes naturally? I think it sounds like that might be worth a try. ((((hugs))))) I know how hard this is, my LO was a really windy baby and nothing much helped except time. A note on the Infacol, we did need to use it for every feed for about ten days before it made a noticable difference.

[SGooch]

We only use infacol for a few days - didn't realise you needed to perserve.  Will give it another try.  Think I will let her wake up naturally tonight and see how see gets on.  Keep your fingers crossed for me!

[b0nni3]

We used Infacol for about 2 months (from about 7 weeks onwards) and it was superbly helpful. I have the motor memory for squirting it into DS' mouth in the dark, in the middle of the night.

I agree with Anna that at this stage it is too early to try to get rid of a night feed. My LO was doing your LO's feeding pattern at 8 weeks, and 8 weeks is still very, very young! Unless LO's get rid of the middle-of-the-night feeds on their own, I would not make them do it until at least 4 months old. Some LOs STTN earlier than others. Mine didn't until 7 months and I night-weaned him then.

You mention that the night wakings and feeds are interfering with daytime sleep and feeds - in what way? It is normal for babies at this age to still feed round-the-clock. Night sleep is still relatively disorganized until about 12 weeks.

[SGooch]

The night wakings are interfering with day feeds and naps due to the fact that she's so tired that when I give her her first feed (breakfast) instead of being really hungry and wanting to take a big feed, she's that tired from a restless night that once she's had a couple of ozs she wants to go to sleep. 

Then instead of having activity time she goes straight back to sleep.  She then wakes up and has about 30 mins activity time before getting grumpy and wanting her next feed early (because she didn't take full feed at breakfast).  However, because she's still tired, again she doesn't take a full feed but falls asleep on the bottle.

It isn't until after her lunchtime nap of approx 3 hours that she becomes more alert and has proper activity time.

Just put her down for tonight so will see how I get on - will be led by LO. 

[anna*]

Just to reassure you, that she may just be sleepy. When my LO was around this age, he was barely awake for any A time in the first part of the day, it wasn't until afternoon/evening that he started to have a bit more interest in being alert. I really wouldn't stress too much about being strictly 3 hours between feeds etc at this age, for the time being it sounds like your main issue needs to be helping her to deal with her gas pain, encouraging some independent sleep when possible with shush-pat, and making sure she doesn't get overtired. It's totally normal not to get closer to a 'good' 3 hr EASY until closer to 12 weeks.

[SGooch]

Anna, I think you have a sixth sense!  Just been woken up by my LO needing to bring up more wind.  Hopefully she will sleep peacefully now although somehow I get the feeling it's going to be a bad night!!!