sleeping though the night..??

[cosmicangel007]

Logan is 20 weeks and eats about 30oz a day
i'm on a pretty good E.A.S.Y. routine
that consists of eating every 3.5 - 4 hours  he gets lots of A and has 2 great naps during the day with a CN around 5

E:  7, 11, 3, 7, 11, 3
some days its off if he wakes earlier or later but the 3.5-4 hours between feeds is consistent

all feedings are 5oz except dinner 7pm is 6oz and 3am is 2oz

I was feeding him 6oz  each feeding but he wasn't finishing them and since i get donor breast-milk i can't afford to waste so he does finish all his meals. 
and the times that he does get a bigger meal he'll finish it off but then has more spit up - a lot more
oH and i should mention that he is a guzzler, the more i put in his bottle the faster he drinks it... !

SO -
i can not get him to give up his feeding in the middle of the night
i had been weening him - we were at 5oz and got it down to 2 oz over a few weeks time  then i tried to not give him the 2 oz but was not happy when he was screaming in the middle of the night and had done all the necessary acts prior to feeding him.  once fed he went right back to sleep
then last week it was madness
I'd start him with a 2oz bottle and he would go crazy until i gave him another 2+oz
that lasted 3 or 4 days.
i'm now back down to 2oz
so i'm sure that was a growth spirt  but i feel like he is so stuck on food every 4 hours and cant get past feeding in the middle of the night!

I think that one of the causes of him waking is that his diaper is full and i have to change him which wakes him up and then he wont go back unless he has his milk

I have ordered the next size up diaper and am hoping this will help hold more fluids and not wake him up but i'm also scared he is in a 'bad habit'

please guide me to what i can do to help him sleep through the night.
20 weeks old,  he'll be 5 months on April 30th

is he still too young?

thanks

[Lolly]

Honestly - he probably is still a bit to young and does need that feed. It's very common for babies to still need a feed at night until they are established on solids, if he is onoly waking for a feed and goes straight back to sleep afterwards he's doing great!

Don't forget too that breastmilk is digested quite quickly and breastfed babies often need night feeds for longer than a formula fed baby. If the nightfeed isn't having an impact on his first day feed I would just offer him a full feed and get you both back to sleep ASAP.

Laura

[cosmicangel007]

ok right, I forgot about the BM digesting quicker. 
so i won't  try and ween him off this NF and go back up to the full 5oz
i'm also doing the DF at 11pm and wasnt thinking of dropping that for a little more time.


now what about a habit forming though,  how do i make sure this doesn't transfer to that?

thanks!

[*Kara*]

now what about a habit forming though,  how do i make sure this doesn't transfer to that?

Hi hun... agree with Laura - he very much needs this feed.  As it is breastmilk, having a single feed at this age is rather impressive.  Most will have two night feeds until solids are underway and keep that last NF until 10 months (some longer).

As for it being a habit - once it starts to effect his first feed of the day, then we look at whether the feed is needed or habit.  So long as he eats during the night and still does well when he wakes, no concerns.

[cosmicangel007]

ok thanks!
he never has a problem eating in the AM - actually really looks forward to that
i'll keep doing what im doing 
thanks ladies!