Almost 8 week old - when can I expect him to go longer at night?

[aidenmc]

Hi ladies. DS will be 8 weeks on Saturday and he still does not do longer than about 3-4 hours at night. Some of his night feeds he is so tired that he falls asleep without taking a full feed only to wake a couple of hours later. But even when he has a solid feed, it doesn't seem to increase the length of time he will sleep. Is there anything I can do to extend his night sleep or is he still too little to go so long? He is usually asleep between 7 and 8 and will wake around 10. I would post his EASY but the E part is off kilter these days. I usually try to start getting him back to sleep at the 1 hr mark.

[muddyfeet]

What was his weight at birth, and what is his weight now? They often can't go longer than 3-4 hrs between feedings until they get past about 9 pounds. They just don't have the reserves to make it longer. Also, keep in mind that "sleeping through the night" means a 5 hour stretch, not an 8 hour. So don't set your expectations too high. I did, and was very frustrated and disappointed.

[aidenmc]

He was born at 9lbs 3oz and is now about 12 or so  so I guess that's not what's holding him back...I know gas problems unsettle him but he is usually quite hungry when he wakes. Does it help to get more into him during the day?

[Tweakster]

Hi there, really there are just so many growth spurts in the first 12 mths that their STTN is in fits and starts.  And food is only one of the many reasons they may be up at night :-)  As pp says, I think setting any expectations may lead to disappointment.

I had a large baby too, but he still took 2 feeds until about 5 months.  He probably would have gone longer with 2 feeds if we didn't have to start a thickener for his reflux.  I think your LO is so so young still and really just needs to eat when he's hungry, whether it be at 3 or 4 hrs or even less in some growth spurts!  They do a lot of growing and developing at night so even tanking them up in the day doesn't always help.  You can certainly try though :-) 

Are you doing a DF?  Or is he just waking on his own to eat?

[aidenmc]

Hi Wendy. Yes, he's waking on his own, about 3 hours after he goes to sleep. The next sleep is slightly longer sometimes (4 hrs). I certainly don't have huge expectations of STTN . DS1 did it at 15 months (bf prop related), and DS2 was even older before he was consistent (reflux, spirited and huge prop issues  ). I am really just hoping DS3 to learn to fall asleep on his own much earlier and to have a little more consistency than DS2 ever had.