4mo growth spurt but only at night?

[Seh13]

Hi all
DS is 17 weeks old and ebf. Up until a week ago he was feeding 5x during the day (aporox 7,10,1,4 and 6pm), going to bed at 6.30pm and sleeping till 6 or 6.30am with two night feeds at roughly 11/12 and 3/4am (though the times of these feeds varied greatly) Anyway, for past 5 or 6 evenings he's been waking also at between 8.15 and 9.30pm to feed in addition to two other night feeds so I've assumed the 4 growth spurt has hit! Last night was: bed at 6.30, feeds at 8.15, 12am, 2.15am, 5.30am... What is surprising me though us that he doesn't seem to be needing extra feeding during the day... Is this normal for a growth spurt? Also, feeding at 8.15pm was less than 2hrs after going to bed (at which time he had had a good long feed) so I'm wondering if he was actually hungry at that time. He did seem to feed properly but who knows?! I tried to resettle him at 8.15 for a few minutes but didn't look like it was going to work so I just fed. He goes to sleep at naps and bedtime independently.

Thanks for reading and for any advice! How long do growth spurts typically go on for? It's exhausting!

[lily_layne]

My LO did the same thing at around 17 weeks.  I think part of it was a growth spurt but after a week or so (with lots of help from the ladies on here), I figured out that  big part of it was that she was ready for a major routine overhaul.  Feeding her less often during the day was the answer for us.  I spaced feeds out to 4 hours and increased her A time and she went back to only 1 (occasionally 2) feeds at night.  Some people work up slowly to the 4 hours between feeds, but I just thought I'd go for broke one day to see what happened and DD was fine with it.

[ZacsMumme]

Agree with LJ we had similar. Also there Is a huge developmental leap at this age which can mess with feeding and sleeping
http://www.makinggoodchoicesblog.com/2013/02/4-months-wonder-week-19-4-month-sleep-regression.html

[Fiver]

It's certainly not uncommon for GSs to manifest at night and not during the day.  LOs are really quite clever and know that night time is when milk is more plentiful.

But as PP said, 4m is a tricky time with sleep issues and developmental stuff happening too.

[Seh13]

Thanks for the replies. I think you're all right in that it probably is more than just a growth spurt... Interesting to read the sleep regression blog.  I've been thinking recently that he could probably go more than 3hrs between feeds during the day but it's tricky as he's short napping so, in turn, he ends up feeding more often and snacking (he needs another nap soon after a short one but i offer him a feed before his nap but he's not that hungry and so it cintinues all day!) Which I guess could also be causing him to feed more at night as he's not taking good, long feeds during the day. It certainly is a tricky time! I'll see if it settles down over the next week and take it from there I think. Thanks again.