Feeding FAQ: 4-6 months – Formula Feeding

How do I know when to drop the 10pm feed for my 4 month baby?

I was just wondering what comes first: less daytime sleep or cutting out the 10pm feed? For the last 3 weeks (despite interruptions of colds/teething) we have been down to 2oz at 10pm but just lately it seems to be putting her off the 7am feed when she’s only taking 5/6oz – normally she takes about 7oz (I don’t know whether it’s all the rubbish she’s been swallowing). I try to top her up with another ounce or two 30 minutes later just to try and keep her on track (she’s not having breakfast yet).
After putting a post on the message board for some feedback, for the last couple of nights I’ve offered her 3oz water at 10pm just to see if it is the waking time she needs, not the milk, but it backfired as I ended up giving her a watery feed at 4am. She has a total of 9oz Aptamil-2 and solids at 5.45/6.30pm and I felt that should be enough to get through the night.
I was also wondering whether the 30 minutes she’s awake for at 10pm means she wants more sleep in the day (she wakes up very easily at 10pm). She has 30 minutes at 9:15, 2 hrs at 12:15 and then a quick 10-15 minutes at 4:45. She can’t seem to make it to bedtime without this nap. If she didn’t have 30 minutes awake time at 10pm, do you think she would need less sleep in the day? I just can’t seem to find the right balances.
The other trouble is that I have am and pm playschool/group times which messes up feeds and sleeps.
At present my daughter weighs 17 pounds 4oz and is taking: 7am 5-7oz Aptamil-1, 11am 5oz Aptamil and 1 cube of potato with 2 cubes of vegetable puree, 2.30pm 6oz Aptamil 1, 5.45pm 6ozs Aptamil-2 and 1 cube fruit with 2ozs baby rice, 6.30pm 3oz Aptamil-2, 10pm 2oz Aptamil-1.

Being able to go through from 7pm to 7am may take your daughter some getting used to. Have you tried just not waking her at 10pm if you feel that she is ready to drop this feed? As she has been taking only 2ozs for the last three weeks, it might be a good idea to leave her to sleep. If she does wake in the early morning, try settling her with water until nearer 7am. It can take a while for a baby to adjust to sleeping right through and you may have to “push” her a little with water or watered-down feeds, until she manages to get through or resettles herself if she wakes.
Is she in a sleeping bag and well tucked in with a sheet? (so that coldness or startling can be an unlikely cause of early morning waking)
The time that she is awake at 10pm should not really affect how much daytime sleep she needs, now she is 4.5 months. As she is not sleeping for more than 3 hours in the day, she will probably not cut back on her naps any more in the day just yet. In younger babies, keeping them up for a longer spell at 10/11pm can help them sleep a longer stretch in the middle of the night.