How do I know if he is night waking because of hunger?

[melrobnate]

Hi.  I'm confused on when I should feed for night wakings and when I should hold off.  My LO just turned 4 mos and we just started the 4 hour routine.  He had been sleeping from 7-7 with one night waking at 6ish and I could put him back to sleep pretty easily.  Yesterday he woke at 3:00 and I had a hard time putting him back to sleep.  I went ahead and fed him.  I was wondering if I should have tried harder to put him down instead of feeding him.  How long do I try to put him down before feeding him in the middle of the night?
THanks!
Melinda

[macsmum]

how much did he take? i would say if he took most of a normal feed then he was more than likely hungry.

Emma

[melrobnate]

I breast feed and he took a full 15 minute feed.  I guess he was hungry.  Are there any hunger signs I can watch for before actually feeding him?  My question is how do I know when I should just feed and when I should try pu/pd? 

Thanks!

[macsmum]

well trust me i am no expert but u could try to resettle, if re wakes within the hour then i would guess hunger!
is he taking more feeds in the day too? if so could be a growth spurt! if not try to increase his calorie intake in the day and see if that helps!

another thought when did u change to 4 hr routine? could be that he wasnt ready maybe try 3.5hr easy

u could just ignore me though as i have tried everything and my ds is 5.5mths and atill waking

i am sure the mods will have some good advice for u.
Emma

[linfran]

I would agree with Emma - if he takes a feed it's probably hunger but I would watch over the next few nights to see if and when he wakes again in case there's a habit thing going on.

My lo has been unsettled at night (5 mo) with teething and I try and offer the paci first - reaches the parts his fingers don't!!!  If he cries again, or if his cry sounds a bit like a cough (which is what he sounds like when he's hungry) then I try a feed.