Feeding FAQ: 0-8 weeks – Breast Feeding

At 7 weeks my baby sleeps through, but is waking at 6am

Callum slept through from his 10.30pm feed until 7am for the first time a few days ago. He had woken and grizzled for a short spell at 4.30/5am but settled himself back again. Since then he has managed to get to 6am but then wakes and is genuinely hungry. Is there any way to get him through to 7am?
I also struggle to get him to wait for his 10.30am feed. I use a dummy to distract and calm him (as I do at 6pm to hold him off until after his bath), but I am concerned that I may be causing a problem with this approach. He is very sleepy at this feed and often falls asleep, so I put him down, strip him off and try to wake him up to take enough feed before the 11.30am cut off point. Is this an issue? Can I do anything to make this feed less sleepy and for him to take his milk all in one go? I am concerned that his shorter times on each breast are affecting the fore and hind milk quota he receives. Do I need to encourage him to take more to get this balance correct?
He is very sleepy in the morning and until today I have let him have 1 hr at 8.30/8.45am and then get him up at 9.45am. But I have begun to notice he stirs a lot during his lunch time nap. Should I encourage him towards 9am and only let him have 45 mins to help him sleep better at lunchtime?
He weighs 11lbs 7ozs and breast feeds at 7am, 10.30am, 2.30pm and 6pm. He takes 5-6ozs of formula at 10.30pm.
Using Gina’s books have given me great confidence in being a Mum so I would appreciate any help in this.

You have done extremely well to get Callum so well settled and sleeping such a length at night in 7 weeks.
It is quite normal when a baby first begins to “sleep through” to only get to 6am. The way to deal with this is give him one breast at 6am and settle him back to sleep until 7.30am. After expressing at 7.30, offer him the second breast. This will get him to 10am. Although it can be a nuisance to split this feed, giving him one breast at 10am then allowing him a time of kicking until 10.45am, before offering the second should help. Read the notes which follow on from the 6-8 week routine in The New Contented Baby Book p154-5 to see how this will work. Getting Callum to stretch his feeding out should be a natural process and whilst using a pacifier at this time helps, it could easily turn into a habit which you probably want to avoid. It would be easier and calmer for you both if he was happier at this time, so try to split the feed for a few days and see if this also helps him helps be less sleepy and better able to take a full feed.
At Callum’s age his sleep cycles are changing and he may become restless and need to learn how to re-settle himself at lunch time.
If it becomes more of a problem than now, look at the website for the Lunchtime Nap article which addresses the issues which can arise at
http://www.contentedbaby.com/members-only/Lunchtimenap.php

Again, with regard to the 9am nap move it forward by a few minutes every few days and see if Callum is ready yet to go down nearer to 9am. If he is resettled after his 6am feed to 7.30am, he should be able to stretch this out a little all by himself.
At 6pm it would seem that you have stopped splitting that feed, but Callum obviously needs quite a bit of comfort to get him past his bath before a full feed. You could try going back to the 5/6pm split feed and see if he is happier at bath time. This should be an enjoyable time of day for you both, and if Callum is not so hungry he would probably enjoy it a lot more. You may only have to do this for another week or so before he is ready to go through to 6.15pm. Allowing for your baby’s individual needs may mean a little adjustment to the routine he is currently on. He will be able to stretch himself for longer periods when he is ready to do so.
It is good to hear how well you have done using Gina’s books and methods. You have certainly made a great start.