5 month night feeding ?

[Tor]

5.5 month old boy, can someone tell me when to feed at night and when to just pu/pd.  Alfie is eating well during the day but not taking so much milk, I have listed his routine below, he has been on EASY since about 3 weeks, I stick to the routine, I breastfed til 4.5 months then introduced some formula, I have just dropped the final breast feed.  He is 18lb

Wakes between 6.30 - 7 I wake him at 7 if not awake
7.15 5oz bottle
8.15 2 heaped spoons of baby cereal with 3oz formula
9 - 11am sleeps
12 4oz formula somtimes doesn't want it.
12.15 home made vegetables 3 ice cubes, with 2oz formula, petit felious yogurt, home made fruit 3 ice cubes
1.15 - 3 sleep
4.30 4oz formula
5.15 tea same as lunch
6.45 bath etc
7.15 7oz bottle
7.30 asleep
11 7oz dream feed.

He is a really good happy baby that hardly ever cries, he has been sleeping through the night for about a month but only about 4 or 5 nights a week, the other nights he wakes between 4 - 5, I have a three year old who always gets up at 6 so I feed Alfie just so I can get a bit of sleep before my 3 year old wakes, I did try not feeding him for a few nights but it means I am up from 4am.  I go back to work in two weeks and really want to get this night thing sorted.  Should I just feed him - he then drinks about 5 oz and goes straight back to sleep or pu/pd?  He doesn't have any props to get to sleep.

It's difficult to leave him to cry at night because my 3 year olds room is right beside him and although in the middle of the night it won't wake him at 5am it would and then I would have them both up!

Any advice would be helpful.

Thanks
Victoria

[Colin Macs Mom]

Hi Victoria,

I split your post off the original topic you added to so that you will get the proper attention.

At 5.5 months it's normal to still have a night feed. It sounds like you're doing really well and he's a good sleeper. When he's ready to eliminate the night feed he won't take as much and will eat more slowly and be disinterested.

[Tor]

Hi thanks for 'splitting' it!

Your message has confused me though as I thought by now he should not be having a night feed, in the book it says he is not classed as an infant and should not need a night feed.

Last night I pu/pd from 4am til 5.20 when I gave in and gave him a bottle as it was waking my three year old, he took 5oz then slept, I woke him at 7am, I am worried that by keeping him awake at night by not feeding him it will disrupt his daytime routine because he will be so tired?  I usually wake him after each nap, he is just starting to wake at the right times too!

Thanks for your reply.
victoria

[Colin Macs Mom]

It does say that in the book, and there are some babies who are done with night feeds by that time. The reality is though that most still need a night feed until around 7 months and some even longer. They're all different, and that's why it's important to follow LO's cues rather than a time schedule. Yours obviously still needs that feed and there's nothing wrong with that. If he's hungry then he's hungry and you should feed him.