Author Topic: Hungry at 4:30 AM--How do I add those oz. during the day?  (Read 1802 times)

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Offline Livingmom

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Hungry at 4:30 AM--How do I add those oz. during the day?
« on: September 13, 2005, 22:53:10 pm »
I have a 15 week old dd who slept through the night for about a good week and a half back in August and has taken to night wakings again. She is on a 4 hour feeding schedule but only wants to drink on average 4 oz. per bottle. She gets fed at approximately 7am, 11am, 3pm, 7pm, a 10:30 df, and then of course she wakes anywhere between 3 and 5 am to eat and will usually down 5 oz.

Now from what I have read of the BW books it means that you should try adding that night bottle throughout the daytime feeds. So if she is taking 4 oz. at 4:30 am, try adding 1 more oz. to each bottle during the day. We offer 6 oz. to her almost all the time and sometimes we are lucky if she takes 4 and we do NOT want to make her take more because she is a VERY spitty baby. She spits up a great amount of each bottle upto an hour after she eats--but that is a whole other issue (I think).

Do you have any suggestions? Am I on the right track? Do I just have to live with the night wakings? Is there another way to get the oz. to her during the day time?

Thanks!
Judy
Mom to Zoey (DOB 5/31/05) and Zander (DOB 7/24/07)

Offline PaulaPR510

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Hungry at 4:30 AM--How do I add those oz. during the day?
« Reply #1 on: September 14, 2005, 01:08:17 am »
perhaps the night waking is out of habit, not necessarily hunger. Try and keep a record for a couple of nights. From what I have read, if it's around the same time everynight, it might just be a bad habit. But if it is at different times, then perhaps it is hunger. If it is habitual, try wake-to-sleep. My DD was getting up at around the same time every night because I would BF her back to sleep. After I found Baby Whisperer, never again! I use PU/PD if she does get up in the middle of the night and I do NOT feed her because then she will get into the habit again.
Also, have u tried feeding her other things during the day... baby cereal, perhaps? Maybe that will help w/ the adding of calories to her day.
Good Luck!

Offline Livingmom

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Hungry at 4:30 AM--How do I add those oz. during the day?
« Reply #2 on: September 14, 2005, 01:42:25 am »
Thanks for the suggestions. When she wakes it isn't always at the same time--so I don't think it is habitual waking. We have tried just letting herself resettle when she wakes, but her noises eventually turn into her hungry cry (the one with little coughs). As for feeding her other things--I wasn't sure when that should start--like how old shoud they be? I was going to wait until her next doctor appt. (Oct. 4th--she'll be 4 months old then) and see what he thinks. :?

I think her night wakings started happening again when we switched to the 4 hour feeds--she only gets 4 feeds + Dreamfeed during the day. I wonder if we did a cluster feed in the evening it may help? I don't know.

We'll see how it goes.  :D 

Thanks again!
Judy
Mom to Zoey (DOB 5/31/05) and Zander (DOB 7/24/07)

Offline Noelle

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Hungry at 4:30 AM--How do I add those oz. during the day?
« Reply #3 on: September 14, 2005, 01:54:56 am »
Hi Judy,
Have you tried using a pacifier or pat/sssh during the night wakings? How does she put herself to sleep normally? If she is an angel/text book I would definitely try one of those (my babies were angel/textbook and it worked with both  :wink: ).  And yes, try clusterfeeding too...in a way, I still do with Zoë  :D

How much was she taking per feeding before switching to a 4hr?  I wouldn't recommend starting solids quite yet, though it's up to you and if you feel she is ready.  Six months is the recommended age, no sooner than 4 usually unless reflux or other issues (I did 4mos with both of mine...should have waited with Zoe).

 :D
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Offline Deb_in_oz

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Hungry at 4:30 AM--How do I add those oz. during the day?
« Reply #4 on: September 14, 2005, 03:28:47 am »
can i ask why you are already on a 4 hr schedule for feeds - is it because of the spitting up??

if you switch back to a 3 - 3.5 hr feed schedule you will get 1 extra bottle into her - and she might just continue to take 4 oz per feed = 4 oz or more extra

so you woudl feed 7, 10:30, 2pm, 5:00, 7:00 (last 2 are cluster feeds) - you can offer bottle then bath then bottle then bed, then try the DF closer to 11 and see if that makes a difference. if she wakes up earlier just start at that time and you can space them better (ie 6:30, 10, 1:30, 4:30, catnap, 7pm + DF)

Olivia had slept through from 10 1/2 weeks until 12 weeks, then had 3 mo growth spurt.  it took until 4 months for her to sleep through again but then she never looked back so be patient with your lo.  nigt wakings for food are extremely common until 6 months and even after 6 mo are normal (just less common). i woudl not offer any solids until 6 mo - if she won't take more than 4 oz bottle i am betting she will not jump onto the solids and it is better for her to wait.  Olivia only occassionally finishes a bottle so apart from offering her a full bottle at DF (we used to offer 6-7oz because she only took 3-5) we just continue to offer usual amount for feeds and hope for the best (she takes between 4-8 oz per feed and it varies every day, she has always been this way)

you are doing all the right things and if she slept through before i imagine she is just getting back on track from 3 mo GS (i assume that already happened, because otherwise this sounds like a GS to me). if she wakes at different time in the night and takes 3-4 oz (since her "usual" feeds are 4 oz) than i woudl assume it is hunger.
Debra - a New Yorker living in Australia married to a Brit

dd1 - Textbook/Angel, born July 2003
dd2 - Spritied through & through, born Feb 2005

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Offline Livingmom

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Hungry at 4:30 AM--How do I add those oz. during the day?
« Reply #5 on: September 14, 2005, 11:44:26 am »
Thanks Debra for the comments/suggestions. We put her on a 4 hour schedule because she wasn't eating well at 3 hour intervals--it was as if we were trying to feed her and she just wasn't hungry. Then of course she would just spit up her whole meal (it seemed  :shock: ). So we moved it to 3.5 and then 4 hours just came naturally after that--she is a healthy, happy, growing baby, with plenty of wet diapers and she always saves the poopy ones for her daycare provider  :lol: --so I am not worried on that end. We may try to go back to 3.5 but. . . .

She slept through the night last night. Not even stirring between 3am-5am. She woke up happy (and a little hungry). So I think that everything is going well. We will just have to live with the times that she does wake up at 4am. She did take 6oz. of AR Formula at both her 3pm and 7pm feedings--and she also spit up a lot of that--but it is progress.

Thanks!
Judy
Mom to Zoey (DOB 5/31/05) and Zander (DOB 7/24/07)

Offline Deb_in_oz

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Hungry at 4:30 AM--How do I add those oz. during the day?
« Reply #6 on: September 14, 2005, 11:52:27 am »
I am glad to hear that it is going well.  obviously when she is able/happy to take more food she will sleep through .... so i hope it continues for you.

you can keep the 3.5 hr EASY up your sleeve if you need it (or even just offering the last 2 feeds closer together as a cluster if need be..., but only if it actually results in more oz)

sounds like you are doing a great job and have a happy baby!! hope you have a good night again!
Debra - a New Yorker living in Australia married to a Brit

dd1 - Textbook/Angel, born July 2003
dd2 - Spritied through & through, born Feb 2005

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Offline Livingmom

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Hungry at 4:30 AM--How do I add those oz. during the day?
« Reply #7 on: September 15, 2005, 01:21:56 am »
I bet it has been partly due to growth spurt. Get this. . .she had a 6 oz. feeding at around 3 pm today and then was hungry at 6:45 and took almost 9 oz. in a very short period of time and DIDN'T spit up  :shock: then to top that off she went down to bed easily and happily. She must sense that mommy is really busy at work and needs things to be easy at home or something. I hope that she keeps it up.

Thank you everyone for your help!
Judy
Mom to Zoey (DOB 5/31/05) and Zander (DOB 7/24/07)