What does your 4 month old's feeding routine look like?

[caydensmama]

I received Tracy's book as a gift yesterday, have only had a chance to read the first couple of chapters, but I’d like to start implementing EASY right away.  DD will be 4 months old on April 9th and has been on a great 4 hour eating routine, that she started herself, since she was about 2 months.  I've been back to work for 3 weeks now, and my husband’s grandmother is watching DD.  The great routine she was on when I was home has gone a bit off track and I'm not exactly sure what's happening.  This used to be her routine -

5:00a/5:30a - wake up and eat, then go right back to sleep
8:45a/9:00a - wake up and eat, then play until sleepy signs noticed
10:15a - down for nap...used to sleep for 2+ hours (now taking 1/2 hour - 45 min. cat naps)
11:30a/12:00p - wake up and have play time
12:45p/1:00p - eat, then play some more until sleepy
2:15p - down for another 2+ hour nap (this one is staying somewhat the same)
4:00p/4:00p - wake up and play
4:45p/5:00p - eat and play until sleepy
6:00p/6:30p - down for a 1 - 1.5 hour nap
8:00p - play for a bit, then start bedtime routine
9:00p - eat
9:30p/9:45p - time for bed

Now there are some problems I’ve started to encounter.  First - she starts fussing around 2:30a/3:30a every morning!!!  I’ve tried changing her diaper seeing that she hasn’t been changed for 5 hours, I’ve tried giving her the binky back, and I’ve tried patting and rubbing her back - but nothing works.  And to make matters worse, she will fuss every 20 minutes until about 4:00a when she goes back to sleep, only to wake up to eat at 5:00a.  Second - she’s starting to get sleepy around 7:30p every night, so I’m at the point where I’m starting her bedtime routine at 7:15p instead of the original 8:15p.  DD is a great eater - she's strickly formula fed - and eats 5-7 oz. per feeding, and from what little I've read so far - she's a Spirited little one.  I'm not sure if I should start doing a dream feed at 11:00p to see if she's waking up at 2:00a because she's hungry, or if something is happening during the day to make her start getting fussy.   

Any advice is greatly apprecated.  Thank you SOOOOO much!!!

~Tricia

[Lªuren]

His 4month routine like this:

0700 Up
0730 Eat
0800 Activity
0900 Sleep  (although today he went for 3 1/2 hrs!!   Huh another first)
1030 Activity
1130or1200 Eat
A
S
A
1600 usually next E or thereabouts
A
S
A
Bath 1930
Eat 2000
Sleep 2030 in cot (usually awake with winnie the pooh light show on)

This is only 4 feeds in a day, I tried a D/F once and he still woke at the same time in the night - so I never carried on with it.

After reading other sleep posts it seems that a good day routing sets the standard for a good night one. It may be better if you keep a set awake time for your LO and a set bedtime, this also means they have set E times and their sleep (dependant on length) is at roughly the same time every day - they then know what to expect.

It may also be she is over-tired for some naps, sometimes she can stay awake just over an hour sometimes 2, the later is maybe a bit long.


There is also a special topic for spirited babies, https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=40851.0

Lauren

[LilysMum]

7.00 eat
9.00- 9.45 sleep
11.00 eat
12 - 2.30 sleep
2.45 eat
4.00-4.20 sleep
6.30 eat
7.00 sleep
10.00 dreamfeed
10.30 sleep until 6 or 7am

[estherofi20]

DS routine at 4MO used to be:

7:30 wake up and bottle
9:30 wind down
10:00 1st nap
12:00 bottle
1:30 wind down
2:00 2nd nap
4:00 bottle
5:30 wind down
6:00 catnap
7:00 bath and massage
7:30 bottle and book
8:00 bedtime
11:00 DF

He used to wake once for a tuck in his blanket or for his paci

I would try to make his bedtime a bit earlier, 'cause he will wake up at the same hour but at least you'll get more time for yourself
hope this helps! Good luck