eating at night not during the day

[SEA0680]

Hi- I have been having the same problem since about 3.5 months. I think it's really common, and think its less about teething for my LO (although that may be a factor), but that he just wants to move around and gets bored taking the bottle.

My question is this: it seems like my little one is waking up a few hours after going to sleep and taking a whole bottle (6-7oz), and continuing to wake up every 3-4 hours at night for bottles (6-7oz). This started about 1 week ago. Since then he has increased his total amount for the day from about 32oz to about 38-43oz. I think he may be going through a growth spurt. But what's annoying is that he doesn't take much during the day- it's a big fight to get him to 3-4oz, and I think he is feeding more at night to get the total amount he needs, since he's not taking much during the day. He used to go 6-7 hours from his pre-bedtime bottle to his first overnight bottle. Now it's 2-4 hours. So... should I attempt to feed him every 3 hours during the day to try to get more into him, or keep him on a 4 hour EASY, which is more developmentally appropriate? He's not hungry at 3 hours anyway...

Thanks! Appreciate any advice!

[*Kara*]

Sea - are you happy if kara splits your last post off (and mine) onto a new one and we can offer you support and advice on your LO.
How is your LOs behaviour on the bottle during the day? - does your LO display any discomfort signs? - d took think reflux could be a factor?
Reflux 101 - General reflux information

Sara was quick   I was splitting this off as she posted so have pasted it here

[SEA0680]

Hi- LO appears bored, and if I keep trying to put it in his mouth, irritated. He's talking and smiling and moving around during the feed. Uses his hands to try and push the bottle away after a few oz. Doesn't appear to be in pain. This is a problem in the last month or so, and I think reflex would have gotten to be a problem sooner.

[ZacsMumme]

Mmm yes your right. how frequently are you feeding?
What size teat?

[*Kara*]

How old is LO now?

[SEA0680]

Hi- seems like growth spurt is over- feeding (oz per bottle and total oz for the day) has decreased again. Still feeding every 3-4 hours at night, but not waking up 1-3 hours after going to bed. (At least, this has been true for a day, and his overall volumes have dropped back down, so it remains to be seen if it continues.)

LO is 5 months old (almost exactly), and I switched to size 2 Dr. Brown's nipple (1 step above standard size that comes with bottle) about a week ago, right around the time he increased his volumes.

So.... feeding every 4 hours in the early day (wake up feed to early afternoon), and every 3-2.5 for the 1-2 feeds before bed, and unfortunately feeding about every 4 hours overnight. Will give this a few days to see what his pattern is (since I think growth spurt is over, and things may change), and then let you know. Thanks for all your advice.

[*Kara*]

Hugs hun.. it might slow down now that the spurt is over.. even if it doesn't, night feeds are still expected, but two would be the max for sure... are the night feeds affecting his first feed of the day (does he refuse or only partially finish it)?

[SEA0680]

Yes, the first feed of the day is a struggle. What can I do about it?

[*Kara*]

If the first feed is an issue, we need to shift the night calories to day time calories.

What does his typical day look like right now in terms of eating times and how much at each feed?

[SEA0680]

Hi- eating every 3.5-4 hours for the 7am-4pm feeds, then every 2.5-3 for the 1-2 feeds before bed. Offering as much formula as he will drink, but routinely takes 3-4oz for the first part of the day, and then 5-6oz for the second part of the day and at night. Trying to move to a 4 hour EASY schedule right now.

[*Kara*]

Could you list typical feed times please and thank you   Include night feeds too...

What time is bedtime?  Just wondering how he would have 2 feeds before bedtime but after 4pm...

[SEA0680]

Last bottle is around 7pm (with a cluster feed in the evening), and bedtime is about 30-60 minutes later.

Two example days:
Tuesday
E 1:30am (5 oz)
E 4 am (3 oz)
Woke up 6:50am
E 7:15am (3.5oz)
E 10:10 am (4oz)
E 1:15pm (6 oz)
E 4:40pm (5 oz)
E 6:50pm (6 oz)

Wednesday
E 12:00am (5.5 oz)
E 4:15am (5 oz)
Woke up 7:30am
E 8:20 am (3.5oz)
E 12:00pm (5oz)
E 3:45 (5 oz)
E 6:30pm (6oz)
Went to sleep 8:30pm, woke up 9pm (this has been a recent problem- weaning from swaddle in last few days, so not sleeping as well, and in the last week or so a problem with waking up 1-3 hours after bedtime and seeming hungry. In this case he didn't seem to be waking from hunger, but rather due to swaddle weaning, but fed him to take the place of the dream feed and help him get back to sleep.)
E 9pm (4.5 oz)
E 11:50 pm (6 oz)
E 3am (5.5 0z)

On Tuesday I am following a 3 hour EASY with a cluster feed, trying to get more food into LO and trying to avoid OT (weaning swaddle). But my goal is to get to a 4 hour EASY, so Wednesday I started transitioning to that. But because there was 1 less bottle, and he's not drinking a lot per bottle, by the time he went to sleep he had only eaten about 24 oz during the day, and that's with a lot of attempts to drink more of each bottle.

No sure what to do. Any ideas? My current plan is to transition to 4 hour EASY and slowly stop the multiple attempts at each bottle. (I'm afraid that may 1. turn him into a snacker and 2. Give him bad associations with the bottle.) He needs to eat more oz with each daytime bottle, and stop cluster feeding in the evening (he can never go as long as he does during the day), and stop feeding so much at night. Argh!

[*Kara*]

Does he drain bottles generally?

I am just thinking he needs to have more in each bottle... I have an idea to start this process - start with the second NF (~4-5am) only give him 3 ozs and resettle him... then offer 8 ozs when he wakes and see how much he will take... if he can take a good feed of 7-8 ozs, we can push his feeds out a bit!

[SEA0680]

Hi- I'll give that a try. No, his bottles always have more than he drinks. If he ever drains a bottle, I quickly add another oz and see if he takes it. As it is, to get him to drink as much as he does during the majority of the day, I have to make multiple attempts and sing to him and even be a tiny bit forceful in getting the bottle into his mouth. But I really want to stop doing this, and just let him drink what he wants!

[ZacsMumme]

Can you feed that first am bottle in his room in the dark before he gets up... . Maybe he needs to be relaxed YK?
How are his poops?