DS wakes up close to his feeding time. Hungry or just a NW?

[karindmor]

My 5 month old son wakes up about 3-3.5 hours in the middle of the night. I feed him every 4 during the day so I'm wondering if he's waking bc he's hungry or just waking up just because. He seems to do this with both night feelings though. He used to wake up every 2 hours but now it's every 3-3.5 since doing PUPD with him about 1 month ago.
I do a cluster feed before bed and always feed him from both sides. And do a dream feed between 9-10 every night. Still trying to get a good EASY I place and get naps figured out, I try hard to not get him OT, but I know he is with his lack of good naps during the day

[*Ali*]

It can be normal to have a couple NFs at this age. OT could definitely be causing him to wake and then he feels hungry though. Does he take a full feed at each NF?
Does he go to sleep independently or does he need you to be there?

[karindmor]

We started the PUPD a month ago. He's still in a bassinet in my room but we were going to move him into his own room soon. He has fallen asleep on his own before but when he wakes in the middle of the night, I'm right next to him. He has done ok before where ill do a dream feed between 9-11 (depending on how tired I am) and hell sleep almost to the full 4 hours until his next feeding. Sometimes I give in and feed him at 3.5 hrs, but other times ill do the shh/pat until its time to eat. Is that ok? Before starting the PUPD, he was waking every 2 hrs and I would just feed him, so he's come a long way! I'm pretty sure he takes a full feeding, but he's gets tired faster so he may not get quite as much as he does during the day.

[*Ali*]

If you know you are going to feed him after half an hour of shh pat then I would probably just feed him when he wakes so you can all gr back to bed sooner. Otherwise I imagine he just becomes more awake and is learning that if he protests long enough he will get fed.

Sorry, I didn't quite understand from your response whether you are there still in theroom when he drops off. Do you have to do pupd every time you put him down to sleep? Are you leaving the room once he is calm or staying until he is asleep? I know you are there at night but presumably you aren't sleeping fot his naps and BT.

[karindmor]

You know I guess I don't often leave the room until he's almost asleep. Should I start leaving sooner and just come back if he starts crying? He usually does a frustrated cry when trying to fall asleep but it doesn't sound like the real cry I heard when we first started PUPD. Should I leave him alone while he's doing a frustrated cry and only come back in for the genuine cry or if it escalates? I don't have to do PUPD with him anymore; I just calm in the bassinet doing shhh/pat. I have left the room while he was still sucking on his pacifier but had his eyes closed. In the past if I wasn't in the room and I heard him start to cry (frustrated cry) I would go back in and either try to calm him doing just shh or pat, but sometimes I do have to do both.
When he wakes in the middle of the night, I try and so math real quick to see if its been between 3.5-4. I will feed him at 3.5 hours, but sometimes he'll wake up between 2.5-3 hours and I feel that's just too early. I wasn't wanting to give into those crys (again they don't sound like genuine crys) so early bc that's what I was doing when he was waking up every 2 hours. I would feed him right away. So when he's woken up in the middle of the night these past few nights its been 1-1.5 hrs before his next feeding. I usually just let him fuss until its time to eat (3.5 hrs). I'm not sure what else to do! He's not a great napper and I've been asking questions on the napping board too, but his naps lately haven't extended past 45 min. I even try wearing him for 1 nap and hell still only sleep for 30-45 min bc if I make a big movement (by accident) hell wake up and won't go back to sleep.

[*Ali*]

I think if you could work on getting out of the room earlier that may help stop him looking for you when he wakes

It's hard to say without actually hearing/knowing his cries but if you think he is just mantra crying or fussing then I would leave him yes and only attend a real cry.