Night Feedings

I'm having some of the same issues myself, and am beginning to wonder if I should start cereal for her now. I can tell you what helped me with the fussy and overtired moments, though. Put him to bed earlier -- 6:00 pm! I know, it sounds crazy, and way too early, but it makes a huge difference. My daughter won't even let us put her to bed later than that, she put us on this schedule. If I start the bedtime routine around 5:30, she doesn't freak out from being overtired and overstimulated and will go down to sleep like an angel. She was sleeping until 3 and 4 am when she went to sleep at the new earlier time, then right back to sleep again until 6 or 7.

I hope for the both of us that these little ones get some more nightime sleep soon!

Your son's sleeping schedule sounds a lot like my little guy's sleeping schedule at that age. He would go to bed around 8 then wake up around 11 when we went to bed and eat, then sleep til 4:30, 5:30 or sometimes 6 am for another feeding and then sleep in til 9 or so. And have 2 2 hour naps during the day too. I always fed him when he would wake up at night... I just NEVER felt right leaving him in there to cry just because I wanted him to sleep longer so I could sleep longer... if he is hungry he is hungry and should be fed. As he got bigger he first dropped the 11pm feeding, and later dropped the 5 am feeding, on his own. He is now 14 mos and sleeps straight from 8 pm to 8:30 or 9 am every night and basically NEVER wakes up. He's been doing it since he was like 9 mos old. If I were you I would just let your baby decide his schedule and feed him when he wakes up during the night because it most likely is because he is hungry. He is still a bit too little to start manipulating you guys just for cuddle time ect. I NEVER let my baby cry it out ever until he was atleast 7 1/2 mos old and had shown me that he understood that his bed was for sleeping. And by cry it out, it was more like "fuss it out" because I couldn't just leave him in there screaming, but if he was fussing his way to sleep that was another story. Your little guy is most likely hungry. Follow his lead and it will avoid big struggles! Good luck!

Oh, and PS: My litle guy fusses when he is tired too. Its how I know when he is ready to go down for a nap during the day or bedtime at night. When he starts gettig cranky its time, and then when I put him down for a nap he s generally ready to go, may fuss for a few minutes but usually goes right to sleep. I never set a schedule for him during the day... it fluxuates according to his moods and tiredness, although it actually IS very regular, he is the one who sets it, not me. when he wakes up at 9 he is usually ready for a nap by 11, then will sleep til 1 or sometimes 2, and then usually he is ready again for another nap by 3:30 or 4, sometimes 4:30, then when he wakes up from that one, he has dinner at 6:00-6:30 and goes to bed for the nght between 8 and 9pm depending on his mood. The 8-9pm bedtime is the only thing that we really stick to by the clock, but he is usually fussy and ready to go to bed by then too. But anyways, he sets his own schedule, and it works out great. And we don't struggle with him over it - he picked it so it works.

i didn't read everyone else's responses because they are long (which means you probably got lots of good advice). i just wanted to say that i did crying it out with my first child. i did not want to give in and i would let him cry a long time. i now believe that wasn't the best way to do it. now with my 3rd baby, i let her cry 3-5 minutes at a time, then go in and comfort her. if after 3 times of this it's not working, she is either still hungry, not tired, or still needs comfort from us and we give it to her. i wish i'd done it more like this with my first child. he has always been the harder one to train to sleep (didn't stop waking at night until he was 2 1/2), so we were trying to be firm and teach him discipline. but in hindsight, i don't think crying it out helped. it may have actually made things worse for him at the time. just my 2 cents. good luck!

How much does he weigh, and is he adequately fed during the day (b/w 24-28 oz)? If he is healthy and is eating 24-28 oz plus maybe a little cereal or whatnot during the day, then I'd say he's ready to sleep at least from 8-6. I would do this to start: Feed him at his usual 7 or 8 (the same time each night). Then wake him up and feed him at 10 or so (again, the same time). Allow him to drop that 3 am feed. Try the pacifier if he wakes up and other suggestions these gals have given (There's a lot you can do, I just don't want to go into more detail here). Once he drops that feed, move that 10pm feed back by 1/2 hour until he hits where you want. By 6 months, a healthy baby who's getting enough nutrition is capable of sleeping 11-12 hours. If you keep feeding him in the middle of the night, well, you know the answer!

At five months, I wouldn't suggest the cry it out method. He's not old enough yet to self soothe (in my opinion, and I remember my pediatrician saying not to before 6 mos).

You can try a couple other methods. If it's just the bottle he wants will he take a pacifier? Does he just want to be held - or even reassured. You don't have to get him out of bed, maybe just rub his back and let him hear your voice to see if that won't get him back to sleep.

You could also try to give him more than 6 oz at night before bed to see if it will hold him over a bit longer.

They also go through growth and eating spurts, maybe this is one of them. Finally, at 6 mos you can try cereal - which may satisfy him longer. You can ask your pediatrician about the timing on that one.

Good luck - sleep issues are fun. Just remember all babies are different, and you are the mother. Follow your insticts and do what is right for you and your baby.

I'm no expert (kids are 3 and 1), but I have learned that parenting is trial and error,just keep trying and follow your insticts about the advice you get. There is no "right" way...

I would try to see if he can go without the 3 or 4am feeding.
About this age babies will wake up and stir but they will usually fall back asleep. My daughter did the same thing at around this age and rather than get up right away to feed her I listened. Most of the time she would fuss a little bit and with in fifteen min to a half an hour she would be back asleep. If she started really crying and not just fussing on and off then I would get her up and feed her. Most of the time she would just wake up talk to herself and coo and maybe fuss a little but but then fall back asleep.
If he is just starving then maybe he is going through a growth spurt.
At this age my daughter was still taking three naps a day still. Even now, I find that if my daughter doesn't get her naps then she is too tired and cranky to eat well, which usually equals more interrupted sleep at night. When she has napped well she eats better and then she sleeps better at night.
Hope this helps

One thing you might try is to wake him up before you go to bed for a bottle. It might eliminate the 11:30 feeding and help him sleep longer. I assume you feed him before bed. If you haven't started him on cereal yet, he might really be hungry. I waited until my kids were 6 months before I started them on solids due to food allergies, but talk to your pediatrician about when to start him.

My other thought is to ask if he is eating enough during the day. Does he eat more at night than during the day? Maybe if you feed him more often in the day, he'll need less at night.

Is he on baby food or rice cereal yet? Some rice cereal mixed with formula closer to bed time might help him sleep longer and be more satisfied. If he is eating the full 6 oz, I would say he needs it. My son is 4.5 months old and he eats a mixture of rice cereal and baby food before bed, has a 6 ounce bottle, then usually wakes up for one 6 ounce feeding in the middle of the night. My husband and I don't have it in us to let him cry it out...so if he wakes up a little earlier than normal, we give him his pacifier and usually he will go back to sleep. We just do trial and error on a lot of things!! Our pediatrician did tell us for him to go 6 hours at a time at night without eating, is very good.

Everything I have read says that cereal doesn't make them sleep longer, so don't wait for that milestone. I would suggest three things. The first, make sure that he is eating at least every three hours during the day. If/when he is doing that, you can be sure that he is getting enough during the day and you can start weaning the night feedings. To begin with, all night feedings should have low lights, don't unswaddle, or uncover, no talking, feed, and put back down. Then select one of the feedings (I suggest the middle, so that you can get a bigger chunk of sleep, but that is just me), and let him cry for 5 minutes, then get up and feed him. Then expand it to 10 minutes. He may just go right back to sleep. When you have successfully eliminated one, the others may eliminate themselves, or you can go through the same process. 5 months is not too young to self soothe. You may still have some periods when he will be going through growth spurts, but if you increase the feedings during the day, it will help eliminate them at night. Good luck, it's tough, but worth it for both of you!