Waking at 2am? Hard to put down?

[ksmama]

Hello everyone,
My LO will be 16 weeks ( 4mo) on Friday. He had such a fab 4 hour EASY routine going til a few days ago. He was a little rough to put down, starting fussing and we needed to give him his pacifier to settle him, then he woke up at 2am and I tried PU PD to no end so ended up feeding him, which he drained the bottle. He gets 6 oz every 4 hours, 5 feeds plus DF. He's roughly 17 lbs. ( I know, he's a tank!) But I don't get why he was up at 2am two days running. Now, last night, I swaddled him, I live in the Dominican Republic, it's gettin pretty toasty down here so I have been lettin him sleep unswaddled, so last night when I swaddled him, he slept til 4 am. Though he was pretty warm and sweating a bit. Now my questions are -
1. Is sleeping from after his last feed 8ish plus dream feed to 4am good? Normal? I remember reading in the book somewhere about them being able to sustain 10 hours? So I don't want to feed him if he's not hungry and I'm still having a hard time deciphering his hunger and tired cries. They are both very Neh nehy.
2. Do I maybe up his feed again as my husband gave him a bottle of 7 oz last night at 8 and he finished it w/ease? Do I up all his feeds to 7oz?
3. I understand that the pacifier is a prop and my LO really doesn't use it. He will use it for a few min to calm himself down then he'll spit it out. Sometimes he's doing what I call the jungle boogie, flailing his arms and legs he just needs to chill cause he's overtired. Any suggestions re that to get rid of it completely now, or wait til after he's teething?
I know there is a lot of info here, but I've recently gone back to work and haven't had a lot of time as you all can imagine.
Thanks for any advice I can get!!

[mmom]

Hi and welcome.   There is a major growth spurt at 4 months and the waking could definitely be hunger.  My LO was actually STTN before this point and then starting waking 2x again.  I would think even making it until 4 from 8 is excellent!!  It could be that him fighting you is actually because he just needs to eat! 

If your LO is draining 7 ounces, then why not offer it to him?  If my LO drank that much and kept it down, that is what I would give him.

About the paci, it is really a personal choice on when to wean it.  But I can say that paci use and PU/PD is not recommended.
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=67675.0

[ksmama]

OH thank you so much! That is comforting! I had a couple shots at the pu/pd but it's a bit difficult at the moment as I'm back at work and keeping track of naps and such is difficult. His caretaker is fabulous, she's a bit old school but humors me with my "routine" etc.

So we're going to up him to 7 oz, well we did last night at his 8:00 feed and again at his dream feed, he woke at 2am, I gave him a bit of water without picking him up and he fell back to sleep til 410 or so. Fed him 7 oz, he took a little while finishing it due to being pretty sleepy, but he finished it ( he's also between no 2 and no 3 size nipples/teets, he makes a bit of a mess with 3 still). Slept til 7, moved around quite a bit so I brought him in bed and he slept til 7:55.  He also takes his feeds a bit later now in the am. He can usually hold out to 8:40 or so. But yesterday when he did this, he ate at 1240 and then was starvin at 330. which in turn moves up his last feed to 740!

I think he's doing alright, I was just curious when he's going to drop his 4am feed. But if he's going to hit a huge growth spurt, he's 4 mo today, then won't be for a while I guess. 

Thank you for your help and hope you have a great weekend.

If anyone has any suggestions of when he may drop the 4 am feed, let me know. Also, any idea when he'll hold his own bottle?

Take care everyone!

[mmom]

There is no exact time for when LOs drop feeds.  It depends on the LO.  My LO started going longer and longer between 5 and 6 months and then settled into a slightly later wake up after.

My LO is 10 months and while he can hold his own bottle, I still need to help him.  He never lifts it up enough to fully drain it.

[ksmama]

Hello again and thank you for your info as always!

My little LO is getting better, he'll wake at 1:00 or 2 and do what I call the jungle boogie, then kinda put himself back to sleep, which is great. He finds the bottle with his hands and likes to rest em there, which is fun for us. He's also not finished his night feeds the last few nights. He tends to leave some in the bottle and then falls asleep. So maybe slowly but surely he's weaning himself. We do not cluster feed any more but do still dream feed. We've upped his bottle to 7 oz during the day and six at his DF and first wake, then he's waking at like 6 or 7 which I consider normal and quite convenient! We have our days, but he's doing pretty well and just had a few general concerns! Thought I would updated you and thanks again!!!!

[mmom]

So glad things are improving!