Should I cut the middle of the night feedings?

[aj's mom]

DD is 4 months old and I have her on the 3 hr easy but I think we might switch to the 4 soon (we just started the 3 hr easy last week).  Therefore, she gets fed 5 times during the day, one dreamfeed at 11pm and then she routinely wakes at 2 and 5am for feeds. 

She eats very little during the day - she is very distracted and no matter what I do or where I go she won't take any more in after about 5 minutes of feeding.  She might latch back on but won't suck -just kind of chews. 

At night I give her a bottle of EBM and she takes 6 to 7 ounces but I have no idea how much she takes during a daytime BFing session. 

Have the 2 and 5 am feedings become a habit or does she truly need to be fed then?  How can I go about cutting out one or both of these feedings if so?

Thanks!!

[shells]

I think that four months is still a little to young to be going all night with out a feed. I know breast feed babies can take night time feeds for some time. As for my experience I cut out the dream feed at around four months because it was making no difference in her night time waking. She is seven months now and just last week stopped her middle of the night feeding on her own. I think that if you wanted to try to cut a feeding I would play around with the dream feed and see what happens.  All babies are different you have to find something that works for you. I don't know if this will help you, just my experiences.

[First Time Mom]

I used to do a dream feed at 11:30pm and my dd used to wake at 2 and at 5 in the night so I eliminated the df but now instead wake her at 10 for a final evening feed (eats better than when dfing and goes right back to sleep). We gave her a paci at her 2am feed on a few days and she went right back to sleep without the feed so for 2 weeks has only woken at the 5am mark as the 2 was more of a habit. I squeeze an extra feed in the evening so she has a total of 7 feeds between 6:30am and 10pm. Last night she actually went the entire night w/o a feed so all babies are different and some can go the night w/o a feed. DD is just over 3 months and she's a small baby at 10 1/4 pounds so I am surprised she skipped her feed but who knows if she'll continue.

As for the 4 hour EASY, let her patterns dictate the switch. I found my dd has a long nap in the morning so her 2nd feed is 4 hours while the rest of her feeds in the day- 3 hours, then because of my extra feed, one is 2 hour. It can be a gradual change to 4 hour.

[JacobMarksMummy]

Your DD sounds perfectly normal, my DS happened to wake at those exact times for feeds until around the 6month mark.

LO's do tend to eat better at night when they are tired and there are no distactions. Have you tried feeding your DD in a dark quiet room in the day, it usually helps with the distaction levels. Don't forget she may well have got more efficient at eating too as this is also another reason for shortened feeds. However the chances are she is eating well you just don't realise it as it is very hard to tell how much milk she is taking from a breast.

I wouldn't worry about cutting night feeds until she has started solids in a few months time. She'll be getting more intake in the day and solid food takes longer to digest than BM so eventually she will last all night. MY DS is 10months and now goes from 8-5am without nursing (not without waking up though  ) I never had to force him to drop feeds it happened of his own accord.

Any more questions please ask, I hope you mind is put at rest