is it typical for 6mo to eat in the night?

[chicagomom]

my DS is 6.5mo, formula fed, and is very big...almost 21lbs and 29" long.  he currently has solids for breakfast and dinner.  for bedtime he takes an 8oz bottle, goes to sleep for the night between 6-6:30 (no DF) and generally sleeps until 3:30/4am.  he then wakes crying so i change his diaper and give him a 6oz bottle.  he wolfs it down and usually goes back to sleep for another 1.5 hours or so.

just wondering when babes usually grow out of this feed?  if i remember right my DD stopped waking at that time to eat by 9/10 mo.  is that typical?  i am so darn tired these days and my DH would love for DS to sleep straight through, but i think he is not ready yet.  for the record he HAS slept 10.75 hours straight a few times recently but not too often.

[~Sara~]

I think that since you're not doing a DF that, yes, him having this one night feed is normal.  Have you tried the DF to see if that makes a difference for you guys?  Fwiw, the DF isn't dropped until about 8 months, so either way (DF or no DF), I would say that most LOs aren't "sleeping through" until 8/9 months anyways...meaning no need for a feed after bedtime to morning.

HTH a bit...and *hugs*

[Lolly]

Totally normal in my house! As Sara said, if you aren't doing a DF then 1 NF is normal. We weaned DD's NF at about 8.5 months, but DS had one until much closer to 1 year (reflux and food refusal issues there!). Neither of mine were any good at a DF which is why we didn't bother and just let them wake when they were hungry.

How much is he taking in a bottle in the day - have you tried increasing his day time oz?

Laura

[chicagomom]

thanks, ladies.  even though i know lots of babies eat at night, i needed to be reminded that it is ok and NORMAL.  my friends think i should stop feeding him but i really think he will stop waking when he is ready.

re: the DF, i never tried it but we got to a point where if DS woke to eat before 2am he would wake again 3 hours later for another feed! so now we don't feed him until after that 2am wakeup, even if we have to sit with him consoling him for 1/2 hour..although thankfully he rarely wakes before 2am now which is great.  so i don't think the DF would actually help that much.

ETA...including the 4am feed DS takes 32-34oz!     he loves his milk.  i actually give him 6oz at 4am, then after waking for the day at 6:30am solids, then 8am bottle.  that is the only way he will eat solids in the morning...if i start the morning off with another bottle i can forget the solids.  interestingly, those mornings where he has slept straight through w/o eating he still won't eat solids unless i give them to him before the bottle.  unconventional, i know, but it works for us!