Sleeping through the night w/o feeds

[mystichaze]

Baby boy will be 5 mos on the 3rd. He's been sleeping through the night (around 8-10 hrs) after we transitioned him to the crib at about 4 mos. If he woke in the night, he'd go back to sleep without a fuss (some cooing) and would wake himself in the morning. We got his 4 mos shots a few weeks ago and our pediatrician didn't seem concerned when we said he was sleeping through the night. We had an appt with a different ped for a quick question (unrelated) and I asked if 10 hours was too much sleep. She said no, but babies need to wake every 6 hrs for a feed. I immediately felt terrible, like I was starving him! Maybe I was being naive, but I thought if he was hungry he would wake and cry as this is what he usually did before. When researching I found conflicting info, ex. only 4 hrs between feed until 6 mos (couldn't find any actual papers). I've been waking him before the 6 hr mark to feed, but wanted to see how some of you handled sleep around this age. Any links to research would also be helpful.

 

[lizmoshes]

@mystichaze For all that is holy and sacred and of any value in this world, DO NOT WAKE THE BABY TO FEED!!!

At 5 months, he will absolutely wake when he’s hungry (ie during growth spurts), so do NOT feel bad!

~ signed, mom of a 3.5 YEAR OLD who rarely sleeps 10 hours but was only sleeping 1-2 hours at that age

 

[racheldiane]

@lizmoshes Only wake to eat if it helps you get a longer block of sleep! I always did a dream feed just before I headed to be so I could take advantage of the baby’s being full and sleeping longer.

 

[danslionden]

@racheldiane We do this with our 11 week old. If we let her wake herself, she'll go from 7pm-5 am and wake up starving, but then she's awake for the day. If I wake up at 2:30 for a short feeding, she'll sleep to 6:30/7.

 

[pednurse2b85]

@lizmoshes Echoing this mama. If baby is gaining well, do not wake!

 

[daddylopez1963]

@mystichaze A baby that age will wake if hungry. I have never heard that 6hr recommendation (have never heard it at all past the time that baby has regained birth weight). Assuming there are no other health concerns I would dismiss this as bad advice and listen to your original pediatrician.

And more anecdotal, both my kids started sleeping through at 10w and are both perfectly healthy and happy. They’re just great sleepers!

 

[ldingle]

@mystichaze Lots of babies that age sleep that long or longer (11-12 hrs) without feeds. Both of mine did. Official guidance is that you need to wake baby to eat until they have returned to birth weight. Here’s Mayo Clinic, for example. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-...er-health/expert-answers/newborn/faq-20057752

Weight gain along their curve is the gold standard of whether your baby is eating enough. If weight gain is fine there is no concern at this point. And if the baby was hungry in the middle of they night they WOULD wake and let you know, very loudly and angrily.

 

[trekdad99]

@mystichaze Once baby got back to birth weight, my doc said that waking baby was no longer necessary unless there were weight gain problems. Baby will wake themselves if they are hungry enough. Starving a baby via neglect of unrequested night feeds would be very difficult!

 

[findingpeace14]

@mystichaze My baby started sleeping through the night at ONE month and I freaked out, but she was gaining VERY well, so nobody was worried at all. I did notice that she ate more frequently than most babies during the day (generally every 2ish hours until she was about 8 months old), but when you did the math, she was taking in about as much as she would have if she were waking to feed. My doctor said don’t fix what isn’t broken - enjoy that extra sleep!

 

[addai]

@mystichaze Count your blessings and let baby sleep! As long as they are a healthy weight of course.

 

[%D7%A0%D7%95%D7%A6%D7%A8%D7%99]

@mystichaze My daughter was doing 12-14 hours a night by 12 weeks old, and my son was doing 11 hours a night by 9 weeks old. Both are happy, healthy children (now 3.5 and 1 year, respectively).

I was told once they regain their birth weight, you can let them sleep as long as they want!

 

[butterscoth]

@mystichaze I don’t have research but many babes sleep through by this age. As long as weight gain is okay it’s usually not an issue at four months. I’m curious to see what others say!

 

[bige]

@mystichaze Yeah, if there are no weight issues I’d let baby sleep. Mine would sleep from 9-7ish; we would do a dreamfeed at 11 when I went to bed, but she otherwise slept through-so she’d go about 8 hours without a feed. More like 9-10 on daycare days as she’s refuse the bottle from my husband and wouldn’t take it until she got to daycare. EBF and weight gain was totally fine.

I agree that if baby is staying on their curve, there isn’t an issue. Sleep went to shit for us at like 9 months for a while(travel+growth spurt+???), so trust me, once you’re out of the initial super sleepy newborn phase, baby will let you know when they are hungry.

 

[mystichaze]

@bige What is a dreamfeeding?

 

[lasiilea]

@mystichaze Feeding the baby while they're semi sleeping. For example, I put my twins down around 7pm for bedtime feed. Then around 11pm I'll pick them up for a dreamfeed/small bottle. They drink it half sleeping, and sleep the rest of the night until around 7:30am.

 

[katrina2017]

@mystichaze You feed baby as your getting to bed. Don't necessarily even wake them, just top them off to, hopefully, get more sleep.

 

[bige]

@mystichaze What the other commenters said. My baby would nurse without really waking up.

 

[socrateswife]

@mystichaze Are you breastfeeding?

The only possible concern I’m certain of, is supply can start to drop once your baby starts sleeping through the night.

FWIW the best key terms you’ll be needing for any personal search queries is “infant sleep consolidation”