Almost 4 month old up every 21\2 to 3 hours

[jgobelle]

My son is every 2 1/2 to 3 hours at night.  He's a super happy angle baby and goes down really well.  I always put him down awake and he'll fall asleep on his own with no problems.  I BF him but he has one bottle of formula before bed (around 7 30) the he's down for bed at 8ish.  Here's his normal 24 hours:

A 7 30
E
S 930
A 11
E
S 145
A 3 30
E
S 500
A600
E600 (last BF)
E 730 (4 oz bottle)
S 8
E/S betwen 11:30 - 12:00
E/S 2am
E/S 4am (sometime 4:45)
E/S 6:00am

He's always hungry when he wakes and feeds pretty well.  Sometime during the day he'll have two feeds during awake time (depending on how well he feeds each time).  It's hard to complain because he's such a good baby and just eats and goes right back to sleep, but I'm getting a little worn out being up so many times at night.  Is this just normal for some LO?  This is my second child so I'm know not to expect 12 hours every night but I thought my first son started going to 1 -2 wakings at night by this age.

[mmom]

((HUGS))) I wouldn't think you need feeds every 2 hours at night.  Have you tried resettling at any of those feeds?  Are you seeing any signs of discomfort?

This age was so chaotic for both of my LOs.  They starting waking often, as there is a big growth spurt.  But I wouldn't think they need to eat that often.

[jgobelle]

That's what I was thinking, but he seems to eat fairly well.  Would you suggest using a paci to help him go back to sleep for a bit try to stretch out the feeding times?  I thought it was a three month growth spurts but it's been going on for about a month now.  Before that he would wake around 2 and 5 for feedings which wasn't too bad at the time.

[alunrau]

I'm listening in as we're in the same boat. Went from just one NW after the DF, usually between 3-5am....then shortly after 3 months it all went to .... you know! I'm thinking it is really common around this age too, as I've been reading lots of posts re: NWings around 4 months old. It really stinks, especially when you've been used to only one or two NWings. I'm just hoping it ends soon, but haven't been reading much from people about when to expect things to return back to normal!!

[mamaJulie]

We definitely started getting more NW at 3-4 months! Does it coincide with the intro to formula by any chance?

[alunrau]

MamaJulie-did you NW go back down to normal again?

[mamaJulie]

No... I went with the "easier at the moment" route and nursed at every NW and it got worse and worse... She got very easily distracted during the day, so was taking more and more calories at night. It didn't get better until recently when I started to wean night feeds (but not completely) and insist on independent sleep. DD still likes to nurse before sleeping but when she dozes I wake her up a bit before putting her down. Don't know if that would have worked when she was 3 mos though.

[jgobelle]

I don't think it's the formula, we only do one bottle at night and have been for awhile now.  Last night was a bit better.  I've decided to try and slowly space the feedings out at night and settle him if he wakes early.  Last night I went with feedings every 3 hours and will slowly move to 4 and then 5.  He woke early last night (around 10:15 only 2.5 hours from last feed) and he actually slept until 1am!, then again at 4 so I feed him and he woke for the day at 7.  I'll keep it at 3 hour spacings for a couple of days then increase.  I'll let you know how it works!

[mamaJulie]

Great! That's how we did it too! I was nervous about doing any sleep training if she was used to being fed at night and therefore genuinely hungry. It helped a lot and she tolerated it very well. After an initial protest, she would settle quite easily. Good luck!

[jgobelle]

Last night went alright again.  He woke up a bit before the 3 hours but had two 4 hour sleeps as well:
bed by 815
E/S 12:50
E/S 4 something ( I was really sleepy for this feed lol)
Wake at 8!
Let's hope he keeps it up

[mamaJulie]

Yay! That's great! Don't let your guard down though.

[mmom]

How are you trying to resettle at the NWs?  Is it a real cry when he wakes or is he just transitioning sleep cycles?  Is is possible you are going in too soon?

[ShaunaD]

That's very similar to my post this morning!! I resettled DS last night and got a few hours sleep...is that what I should be doing?

You'd never think I'd a DD who's 3!!

[jgobelle]

Well we had a rough weekend!  My 3 year old was sick, and I think my LO wasn't feeling the best either.  Sunday he ended up sleeping too much during the day and not feeding enough so he was up a lot last night. 
As for settling I normally just go in and put his soother in and he goes right back to sleep.  I try and wait until I can hear a real cry because he will wake and whine for a bit and then fall back to sleep.

[Frony]

Hey ladys. Just want to say that it's not sure that your LO will sleep better with formula. My sunshine is 14 weeks old, I'm giving her only formula and she wakes up for NF anyway. I'll try to strech the feeding time now cause I so need to get some sleep. She's waking up EVERY morning, no matter what, at 5.30 or 6am! It's getting too much to do NF and wake up so early.