4months old- wakes up frequently at night

[lololove]

4month old boy. 15.5lbs.
Have been bottle and breast feeding but almost breast feeding recently.
He eats every 2.5 or 3 hrs during the day time.
FYI. He usually drinks 6-7oz from a bottle.

8pm - Last feeding and sleep
12am or 1am, 4am, 5:30am, 7am, 8:30am - wakes up hungry.
(I tried DF at 11pm or 12am but it didn't work at all)

I also tried to use a pacifier during the night but he notices it's a pacifier and cries so hard asking milk.
Once I feed him, I try to pull my breast off after a while then he cries hard. He is on the breast until he is satisfied. I don't see any sign if he is gassy after eating (he doesn't throw up or spit up), but he wakes up hungry anyways(I try to tank him up during the day time).

What do I do...??

[*Ali*]

There's a big growth spurt at 4mo so it could be that.

Do you feed to sleep in the day?

[lololove]

Thank you for your response, Ali-
He frequently falls asleep while breast feeding during the day(but he still sucks in half sleep)  but he anyways wakes up after feeding(after satisfied).

[*Ali*]

Ok. So how does he go to sleep for naps? I'm just wondering if he is needing to suck to get back to sleep at night.

[lololove]

During the day, he gets pussy when he is sleepy then I put him down on bed and give him a paci. He is pussy & cranky but falls asleep after a while.

Recently I changed a night feeding method.
- 8pm feeding putting him down
- 12pm DF
Then he wakes up 3-5times like 2am 4am 6am.
And I give him a paci and let him cry without feeding.
He cries 10mins to 30mins(first night was a challenge..) but he slowly goes back to sleep quickly.
(Or, he doesn't even cry but pussy when he wakes, then he goes back to sleep right away after I give him a paci)
Then I try to feed him at 7am.

Actually he woke up fewer times this way than I fed him whenever he wakes.
Do you think this method ok to baby(mentally & physically)?

[*Ali*]

Hi, I'm so sorry for my delayed response.

No, I wouldn't recommend refusing night feeds at this age and leaving him to cry 😢 BW is vehemently against leaving babies of any age to cry alone as it breaks the bond of trust between parent and baby. Crying it out is very stressful for baby and the stress hormones can be harmful to brain development. The only reason it appears to work is that they give up on the hope that anyone will come and so they stop crying to reserve energy.

It's perfectly normal for a baby of this age to need feeding every few hours at night. Night feeds are important to your supply especially during growth spurts when baby is sending the message to your body to increase supply to meet the higher demand for milk at this time.

[*Ali*]

Also what do you mean pussy? I think you have chosen the wrong word. Did you mean fussy perhaps?

[Shiv52]

Just wanted to agree with Ali. At 4 months all mine had a DF and probably 2 NFs most night. It's really important for supply to feed at night too