Almost 12 wk old started sleeping for 5.5hrs at night suddenly waking up earlier

[D-bot]

My almost 12 week old LO a few days ago gave me a long stretch at night of 5.5 hrs before waking up for the next feed. He did 5hrs the night before that so it seemed like he is able to do up to 5.5 hrs. but the last few nights, he gave me 3hrs, s & 4.25 hrs (this is the longest stretch of sleep at night). Is it possible that they get hungry at an earlier time when they have gone without food for a longer period before? I am just confused and don't what happened. The 3 hr night may be due to the fact that I didn't feed him every 3 hrs that day and he slept quite a bit during the day at that time but the other 2 nights, I made sure he wasn't sleeping too much or eating too late,

[~ Vik ~]

It's likely one of those pesky growth spurts There's one right around 3mo and they get hungry around the clock!  Have a look here:
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=66001.0

hth!

[D-bot]

The thing is, he can give me 2 longer stretches at night. After the longest sleep, the next feed would not be until about 4 hrs or so later. Is that normal? He's a pretty big baby (almost 15lbs) so I think he can stay without food for 3.5-4hrs. Last night, after a dreamfeed at 11:15pm, he woke up at 4:20 and the next one was at 8:40 (I kind of woke him up at this one).

Also, I find that he bobbles on and off the breast a lot these days and doesn't seem to be that hungry when I feed him at the 3hr/3.5hrs mark. Do I feed him every 3 hrs still or should I wait till he shows hunger signs?

[~ Vik ~]

Last night, after a dreamfeed at 11:15pm, he woke up at 4:20 and the next one was at 8:40 (I kind of woke him up at this one).

Sounds pretty normal to me! And that's actually quite a good night IMHO

Be careful with using weight as a judge of how long your lo can go without a feed.  For example, my ds was 9 pounds at birth, and was 18 pounds by 4mo.  However, we were on a 3.5h feeding routine until 5.5mo.  It's very normal for an ebf baby to feed more frequently than a bottle fed baby of the same age and weight due to the composition and digestibility of breastmilk.  Growth spurts especially can really change up feeding patterns for up to a week until things settle back to normal.

Also, I find that he bobbles on and off the breast a lot these days and doesn't seem to be that hungry when I feed him at the 3hr/3.5hrs mark. Do I feed him every 3 hrs still or should I wait till he shows hunger signs?

You really do want to stick to 3h feeds during the day.  You want to ensure that he gets the bulk of his calories during the day (rather than at night when you'd rather be sleeping!)  The bobbing on and off is more likely due to him starting to discover the world around him - babies of this age are starting to get more distractible.  I found with my ds it worked best to feed him in his room, immediately upon him waking from his nap, in the dark/dim light.  I also made myself a 'necklace' out of his linking rings so he could fiddle with it while he nursed when he was a bit older.

Hope things are starting to settle for you a bit!

[D-bot]

Thanks. Last night, I dream fed him at 11 and he woke up at 3 and 7am (only 4 hrs of sleep each). I have been feeding on both sides the last 2 days to boost my milk supply so hopefully, he'll be back to normal tonight.