3.5 month old eating less during the day

[Lindsay27]

My 3.5 month old was on a decent EASY schedule - we had napping issues but I could usually get enough into him to make it work. 

He took 5 x 5oz bottles per day and it seemed like he was ready to increase so I started to offer 6oz.  After he hit 3 months things all of a sudden changed - he started eating less during the day, but waking up to feed at night (he was previously STTN).  Now at each feed I struggle to get him to take even 3 - 4oz and sometimes he drops a feed completely.  But, he wants to eat a full 5oz bottle in the middle of the night.

Also, his night wakings are completely random - literally anywhere from 12:30am - 4:30am.  One night it will be 12:30am, the next night 3:30am, the next night 1:30am...all over the place.  If he wakes at 12:30am he usually wakes again around 5am.

It seems like he is not getting enough during the day for him to make it through the night any more, but the reason he wants to eat less during the day is because he now feeds at night.  Everything literally changed overnight one day and I am not sure why?  I thought he was hitting the 3 month growth spurt, but the total amount of ounces he eats during the day is not changing, just the timing.

I will also note that I do not do a DF - DS is a very gassy baby and I find that when I have tried the DF that he is really gassy at his next feed.

At the same time, his daytime napping went completely out the window.  What the heck is going on!? Thanks for your input!

[Lindsay27]

I will also note that I am trying to transition him to 3.5hr / 4hr EASY, however the increase in time between feeds is not making him want to eat more, or even the same as he was eating before.

When he was STTN his biggest bottle was always his first (obviously) and he would take up to 6oz.  Now since he's been waking to feed in the night, sometimes I can only get him to take 2oz at his first feed (usually around 6:30am).

[Lolly]

It may be that you need to reduce the night feed to encourage more during the day. A good way to do it is to drop 1oz every 3 nights, you may be able to reduce by a couple of oz and then resettle him.

Can you post your EASY so we can see what's going on, poor feeding can be due to poor naps sometimes. Have you tried a faster teat?

Eat - what times, how much
Activity - how long for
Sleep - what times, how long for

Laura

[Lindsay27]

Okay, I thought about reducing his night feed by a bit but I wasn't sure if that was the right thing to do or not.  I will try to reduce 1oz every 3 nights like you suggested.  I haven't tried faster teats but I will give it a go.  Also probably important to note that he is teething pretty heavily.

It is entirely possible that his poor eating is due to is complete lack of napping.  He was never a good napper, but I could at least get him to go 45mins and then usually resettle for another 45.  After he hit 3 months he started doing 20 - 35 min power naps, and really it messes up our whole EASY and our whole routine has been really off lately.

Today has not really been a good representation of what our typical day would look like because DS fell asleep during his morning feed (likely because we were at a cottage all day yesterday and he was super tired), so that completely messed up our whole morning.  I will keep track tomorrow and post