night feeding

[nilly]

out LO is 3.5 months old and weighs 17 pounds (big tummy:)). he has sleep through the night a few times, but would love to make it a "constant thing". i don't think that he wakes because he is hungrey, although his waking times are always different. i have tried to sh/pt him to sleep, sometimes up to 45 min, (he isn't crying the whole time, just making little sweet sounds like he is trying to go back asleep, but seems to need my help). i know that tracey suggests in her book to get him up, and let him suck on the paci, but we had to wean him off the paci at 11 weeks, and i don't want to reintroduce it. should i just shorten his night feeds? also, he doesn't eat the full 10min like he usually does before he  is done at night. any suggestions would be great.

oh, he is on at 3.5 hour easy ..... give or take! eats 5-6 times including night feeds.
 nic

[binxyboo]

I take it you are nursing since you are talking in "minutes". I think one night feed at least is very reasonable at this age, esp as you are headed into a growth spurt soon. As they get older they get more effecient, I know Riley sometimes would eat for 5 mins maybe (I didn't really count it) and be full, just really down to business nursing and back to sleep. So I would do full feeds and see if he settles straight back down to sleep. I never did diaper changes unless absolutely necessary at night either.

[nilly]

i should have mentioned that he has always only feed once since he was born, and yes he is BF. he always falls right back asleep no problem, was just wondering how to make it more consistant, as i know he has a big enough tummy to make it through the night.

[binxyboo]

I will set someone else answer that, I really wouldn't change a thing as I think it all sounds amazing right now!

[Layla]

I've always considered anything from 5hrs at night "sleeping through". Honestly at 3.5 months, even though you say he has a "big tummy", he may very well need to be fed twice and by 6 months probably once. After 6 months, once he is on solids and they are well established, you can start looking at eliminating night feeds. Especially if he is BF as breastmilk seems to digest faster than formula. I BF mine until 7 months and we had nightfeeds as well.

Have you tried a dreamfeed and cluster feeding before bedtime to maybe help him sleep longer?
Jasmine has also done the occasional sleeping straight through (maybe twice at 4 months) but I never counted on that being it. If he eats and goes back to sleep, thats ok as he is not treating the breast as a prop. How often does he wake for a feed?

Layla

[RachelC]

At 3.5 months you cannot expect him to make it through the night all the time.  I agree that since he is a bigger baby that he may need that night feeding.

Take a look at this link from the breastfeeding FAQs:

https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=55035.0

You also want to keep an eye open for a growth spurt, which can happen at anytime, but very common at the 4 month mark

[nilly]

thanks for all you thoughts, i guess i should just be happy with the way he is sleeping at night. last night was 8hours, it just is never the same.

thanks again, nic

[RachelC]

If it were always the same, I would start to think that it was a habit.  Since it is random, he is waking from hunger.