Baby wakes to feed 4+ times a night

[inneedofadvice12]

@gentleminh I am certainly no expert but I have read a huge amount about baby sleep. There is a point in time when babies start developing object permanence. Therefore whatever you do to get them to fall asleep or get drowsy is what they want when they wake up. When they can sleep on their own at bedtime, they can do the same at night.

In your case I feel like baby needs to be taught how to sleep independently ASAP. She needs to go to bed fully awake and learn how to put herself to sleep. Look up the resources on how you can do this. There are gentle methods like 'responsive settling' or quicker ones like Ferber or CIO. She probably won't be hungry in the day until the night feeds are decreased. Look up 'reverse cycling'.

At the same time as independent sleep training, start putting limits on what you feed at night. E.g. start with feeding only every 2.5hrs overnight, eventually getting to 5/3/3 which is what most people go with at this age. Outside of those times, you would settle with your sleep training method. Hopefully over the course of a few days, she will switch her feeds to daytime.

 

[tedmozbie]

@omaheart How frequently is baby eating during the day and can you try to feed more frequently? I would try to increase calorie intake during the day so LO doesn’t need so much at night

 

[omaheart]

@tedmozbie She feeds every 2-3 hours, I’ve tried increasing the volume but she just refuses.

 

[catinherhat]

@omaheart Babies have small stomachs and it’s very normal for them to wake to feed at night. Albeit you can try to reduce the number of feeds down to 1, maybe 2, depending on how much your baby eats during the day? Age? Formula vs breast?

 

[omaheart]

@catinherhat She is 5.5 months old and takes 4oz of expressed breast milk per feed. Do I just choose which feeds and leave her to cry the rest?

 

[ramy6et]

@omaheart If she is between 4-6 months and her weight has doubled since birth, you can safely wean them.

 

[omaheart]

@ramy6et Thanks for your reply. What do you mean by weaning? Do I just leave her to cry when she wakes? Do I just eliminate all feeds cold turkey?

 

[ramy6et]

@omaheart No you can slowly wean. Your goal is for them to take all the calories they need during the day and not need to feed at night. This process should not take more than 7-10 days. Slowly reduce each feed by an oz, eventually she will either give up the feed or you will have to let her cry for a night or two. I did this with both of my kids. My first son was weaned at 5 month and my second at 4 months. They both cried only one night and that was it and they never woke up again for another feed. But you got to be able to stomach it because both my kids did cry for an hour, on and off. Check with her pedi first and if you are serious and they give you the green light go for it.

 

[chaitealatte456789]

@omaheart Can you provide more info? How old is the baby? How many ounces does she take during the day and then at night? What do her day naps look like?

 

[omaheart]

@chaitealatte456789 Apologies! Clearly I’m so exhausted I forgot basic details! She is 5.5 months old, takes 4oz of expressed breast milk. All her naps are contact naps - 3x a day, probably about 1-1.5 hr each.

 

[chaitealatte456789]

@omaheart Looks like you’ve gotten lots of responses already but to me it sounds like it boils down to her waking because she needs the nighttime feeds. 4 oz isn’t a lot for a 5.5 month old. You could talk to your pediatrician on a safe plan to night ween and increase her daytime ounces/calories