Getting 3 1/2 month old to sleep more than 2 hrs at night.

[Lfreese417]

My 3 and 1/2 month old will not sleep more than 2 hrs at night, sometimes if I am lucky he will sleep 3 hrs before waking up. When he wakes up he wants to eat and then go back to sleep. He will go to bed around 8 and will be up for the day around 630-7. He has been eating just about every 2 and 1/2 to 3 hrs during the day, but I feel like at night he needs to eat more. He doesn’t take very long naps during the day for me either unless he falls asleep in the car seat. Friends said I should try giving him rice cereal before bed to see if that helps him sleep, but I am just not sure I want to try that. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you,
Tired mother lol

[creations]

Hello and welcome to BW forums

Please do not give your LO rice cereal at this age.
Recommendations are for LOs to be only fed with milk (either breast milk or baby formula) and nothing else up to 6 months.
Rice cereal contains little to no nutrition.  It fills baby's tummy but without giving the calories needed. Your baby is waking to feed because he needs the fats and nutrients to grow well, if you replace any of his feeds with rice cereal (or anything other than breast/formula milk) you will be denying him the fats and nutrients he needs for healthy growth and development.
Introducing solids too early can lead to other health problem, sleep problems and routine problems.

Instead I think it would be more helpful to understand that eating frequently at this age is absolutely normal.  His tummy is very small so he needs to eat often.
Some babies might go a little longer between feeds, yes, but it might be a surprise to know that "sleeping through the night" is actually only a 5hr stretch, once per night.  This longer stretch will come as your LO's tummy gets a bit bigger (when he is a bit older) and will happen naturally.
It is fine at night to feed him right away and put him back to sleep, there is no need for any A time in the night.

Honestly his feed times both day and night look normal to me.  I know it is tiring and it might be more frustrating to hear from friends that their babies were different but you are giving your baby the best possible start in life by giving these feeds when needed - and offering only breast or formula milk until 6 months.

With regards to naps and day time sleep you can either post your routine here (do you follow the EASY routine?) or post on the naps board.

Hope this helps