My son of 10.5 weeks is still waking in the night and needing a feed. What can I do to push this on?
My 10.5 week old son is still waking around 4ish and taking about 4oz.
Should I use ‘hungry baby milk’ at 22.30 feed?
My son is fussing a bit over his 5pm milk only taking 2ozs, is this alright or should I reduce his 5-6ozs at 2.30pm? He then takes 3/4ozs at 6.15pm.
My son feeds at 7.15am, 5ozs, 10.40am 6ozs, 2.30pm, 5-6ozs, 5pm 2-3ozs, 6.15pm 3-4ozs, 10.30pm 5-6ozs, 4am 4ozs.
He naps at 9-9.45am, 11.50-2.15pm and 4.30-5pm.
If you have to wake your son at 7am and he is beginning to lose interest in his 7.15am feed you will know that he is ready to begin to cut back on his 4am feed.
As you want your son to sleep through from 11pm to 7am without waking it is important you don’t try to cut back on his 4am too quickly or before he is ready to go with out it. Have a look at the advice given on pages 149 and 153 of The Contented Little Baby Book about getting a baby through the night.
The split feed at 5pm/6.15pm should stay in place until your baby sleeps through from 11pm -7am. The reason is that, having already fed at 5pm, he will take a smaller feed at 6.15pm and so be really hungry for his 10pm feed. If you feel that your son is not really hungry at 5pm try offering him 1oz less at 2.30pm and see if this encourages him to take 3ozs easily at 5pm and still feed again at 6.15pm.
Your notes indicate that your son is awake from 10.15pm to 11.25pm starting his late feed at 10.30pm. As your baby will fall into a deep sleep after 10pm and be harder to wake, try starting the waking up process at 9.45pm. You may find it is easier to bring him round and fully wake him at this slightly earlier time, before offering him his feed. Use the split method for this feed as described in the bottom question and answer on page 86 in The Contented Little Baby Book. Give him 3-4ozs once he is fully awake and then let him have a time of quiet kicking. Offer the rest of his feed once you have changed him and taken him into his room at 11.15pm.
Most babies under the age of 4 months need a spell of time awake between 7pm and 7am. Giving your son a split feed in late evening, encouraging him to be awake for over an hour, may help him take a good feed and push him on a little longer in the night.
The use of milk for “Hungrier Babies” has been discussed on the message boards. Look at the message posted by the Team in the thread “SMA White, hungry baby food, any thoughts” which can be found in the Feeding section.