Author Topic: 4 week old snacker at night?  (Read 1034 times)

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Offline cbeaup

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4 week old snacker at night?
« on: November 10, 2012, 21:34:49 pm »
Our 4 week old angel (so far) is working towards a 3 hr EASY routine.  During the day this happens pretty easily.  I know at 4 weeks she's still young to be on a set schedule so we try to make sure she at least stays awake during feedings and after.  Sometimes during the day I have to wake her up to eat every 3hrs and she'll take 4 to 5 oz at each feeding.  For the past week or so she's been settling into a new pattern at night.  We go through her nightly routine and she gets a bath, and takes 4oz around 8:00.  She will sleep for a bit and then wake up 1hr to 1 1/2 later giving what seems like hunger cues.  We offer more bottle.  She takes only a few oz and then passes out.  She sleeps for a short time and wakes again after 5 to 10 min.  We try to wait it out and see if she'll go back to sleep or if she needs a burp, etc. but seems like she's still hungry so we offer more bottle, she eats a small amount and falls back asleep.   This happens for close to 2 - 2 1/2 hrs which is frustrating.  Eventually she settles and then gets her last bottle around 11:30/ midnight and doesn't wake until around 5 am.   She's not crying at night, just seems hungry.   Is this normal? Seems like she's snacking but not sure.  She doesn't take a binky for long, tried to give her that to sooth her back to sleep. Trying to "start as we mean to go".  Another question:   Should I be waking my LO at the same time every am? I've been starting her 3hr easy from the time when she wakes up on her own. Thanks in advance for your feedback.  We're open to suggestions!

Here's a typical day of her eating patterns: (Again, mostly during the day I have to wake her to eat )

8:30 4 oz
11:30 4oz
2:30 5 0z
5:30 3oz
8:00 4oz
between 9:30 and 11:30  at least 4oz just keeps eating
slept until 6:30

Offline becj86

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Re: 4 week old snacker at night?
« Reply #1 on: November 10, 2012, 22:08:25 pm »
between 9:30 and 11:30  at least 4oz just keeps eating
This bit sounds like cluster feeding :) You may find feeding more frequently through the afternoon/evening will help.

Offline *Kara*

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Re: 4 week old snacker at night?
« Reply #2 on: November 12, 2012, 16:15:18 pm »
I don't think it's cluster feeding - it sounds like she isn't settling well for some reason - we just have to figure out why ;)

I see that she takes 5 ozs at 230 and then only 3 ozs at 530... wondering if this is causing an issue.. have you tried dropping that 230 bottle to 4 ozs to see if she then takes 4 ozs at 530?  I'm not generally a fan of limiting intake but it seems that she is not hungry enough otherwise...

As for the paci - this is a great idea... not unusual for them to be unable to hold it in until a few months of age though - the tongue thrust reflex will push it out... have you tried holding it in to see if she will settle?