Bigger feeds at night than in the day?

[LovelyLilyandJack]

I've recently switched my 5.5 month old to bottles which,  in a way,  has confirmed something I've suspected for a while.... He'll take much bigger feeds at night than in the day.  Is that the right way round?! In the day he'll take 3.5 - 5ozs every 3-4 hours but at night he'll happily down 6-7 ozs. Also the amount of time he can go between feeds at night varies hugely - from 5 to 10 hours. We don't dream feed since it started making him wake more at around 4 months so I go by the time of his first feed.  Sometimes we'll have a good night or 2 and he'll go til 2 or 3am and then he'll start bringing it forward until last night it was midnight and then another at 5.30ish.

Anything there not sound right or is it all normal?! My daughter was sttn from a dream feed from 3.5 months so this is all new to me.  I'm desperate to start weaning night feeds but since he's not on solids yet I suspect that's not going to happen for 2 or 3 more month. If we can stick to one nf where possible though,  that would help!

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Mine always took more for his BT feed and NF (which I did at the DF time but he was awake for it) than he did for day feeds. In our case I think the silent reflux affected him and being more relaxed at night helped him to take more with less discomfort.  No other night feeds.

[LovelyLilyandJack]

Funny you should say that cos I've wondered about silent reflux on and off for months.  He does have some of the symptoms but k haven't taken him to the doctor cos when I took my daughter with similar symptoms I was told I was treated like a paranoid ftm and was told babies can't internalise anything and so they cry.  Yeah,  thanks for that.  Is it too late to take him now?  If I get him onto solids wouldn't that help anyway?

If it isn't that then maybe it's just normal then?  I need to sort out his feeding routine really.  I try to stick to at least 3 hours between feeds but feed times often clash with naps and we're in a mess most days really!

[creations]

My guess would be that if he is coping well enough it may not be worth following up on the silent reflux question.  I'm trying to remember when mine started meds, it was lateish, I think around 5 months, and would have been almost 6 months by the time I'd argued enough with the GP to get an appointment with a paediatrician.  I'd suspected for several months but he was coping, then suddenly he wasn't, although in hindsight a lot of the trouble we had with sleep from around 3.5 months to 5.5 months was likely related to reflux pain   For me it became very clear that something needed to be done all of a sudden when he brought up a lot of milk (unusual for silent reflux) and was clearly unhappy.  I wish I'd pushed much sooner tbh.
I dot' know where you are but I do know the 'paranoid mother' approach, I'd been mentioning problems for months to the health visitor, it was only when I demanded a ped app that we got somewhere. Within 5 mins of walking into the peds office she had diagnosed silent reflux and prescribed meds.  It astounds me that GPs and HVs ignore these problems in babies.
So, don't know what I can advise, only what I said, if he is coping ok, not in discomfort and the only thing is taking more milk at night then I'd likely not push, on the other hand if you feel there is discomfort or pain, sleep problems, back arching etc then I would demand a ped app and seek some meds.  I didn't like my LO on meds but the long term effects of unmedicated/uncontrolled reflux scared me.

Starting solids can go either way I think. Mine took to solids eagerly (I planned to wait until 6 months but he was so eager I couldn't hold him off past 5.5 months). I did BLW so there was not a huge amount of liquid going in, maybe the solid finger foods helped.  But I also hear of LOs having food aversions from the pain they have experienced with reflux, and reflux babies sicking up puree.  Maybe a thread on the reflux board would help you get more experienced eyes than mine x

[LovelyLilyandJack]

Thank you! The main things which have made me wonder are him squirming and arching his back during feeds (But more on the bottle than on the breast), he used to do that apnea thing during a feed,  he has wet hiccups I can hear him bringing up liquid sometimes and sometimes has a dry cough.  When he was smaller he slept better in the car seat or sling and never slept in the carrycot for more than 10/20 minutes.  But it doesn't really seem to bother him which is why I've never followed it up.  I did mention the apnea to my HV but she didn't know what it would be so I didn't pursue it.

He is doing a bit better feeding somewhere without distractions so I think that's as much a part of it as anything else. We're planning on doing blw too so maybe that'll suit him better as well. 

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It does sound like silent reflux to me.  I've asked one of the CRC ladies to pop in when she has time, I'm sure she will be more help than me x

[LovelyLilyandJack]

Aah thank you!

[ZacsMumme]

Hi lovely!
I think creations has said everything I was thinking
Do you feel that he is in discomfort still? - if so then it up to you if you wanted to maybe visit a different GP to discuss a med trial ie ranitidine. The other thing you could try is a thickener, or see if solids helps.

With solids I would start him on something gentle like pumpkin or pear.

Hugs

[LovelyLilyandJack]

Great, thank you!  I might try a thickener or see how he does on solids first cos it doesn't really seem to bother him and we're only just starting on bottles so I'll give that a chance to settle first.  Thanks for the advice

[creations]

Thanks Sara.

If it's any help I used carobel thickener with DS, you can add in varying amounts and use the smallest amount needed to help LO. Here is was on prescription from the paediatrician, then follow up scripts from the GP but I believe it can also be bought over the counter. I don't recommend gaviscon as a thickener, I know some are fine with it but it can also cause constipation. It depends what suits your LO I suppose.