Are your 4 month olds still feeding during the night?

Cassie - posted on 10/21/2012

Do you know when it is ok to START putting baby cereal in their bottles. They say 6 mos but I think since my little girl only takes four oz. And cannot take anymore I should start giving her a little mapo. Do u have a suggestion?

Cassie - posted on 10/21/2012

NNo, mine just stopped. And I'm on here trying to figure out why. But she just stopped like this passed week and she was born June 21 2012

Robyn - posted on 10/17/2012

whats dream feed?

Robyn - posted on 10/17/2012

YES mine for sure was waking up 3 times a night and drinking 8 ounces each time then I would burp him and he would fall asleep for a couple hours then BAM! up again. I introduced pablem throughout the day and more toward end of day in his baba and now he sleeps for 10 hours straight but he is also 6 month old now. Process of elimination basically, find out what works to fill him up and in time he will sleep better, there is light at the end of the tunnel i promise!

Lorraine - posted on 10/16/2012

my son is nearly 4 mth & eats 4-5 (sometimes 6oz) 6 times a day, & usually sleeps anything from 8 or 9 at night till usually till about 4 in the morning... if he's hungry feed him, you know yourself if hes hungry.

Christy - posted on 10/09/2012

my 4 month old does not wake up at all during the night...but he is eating 6 oz per bottle of formula , and I also add a few teaspoons of rice cereal to his bedtime bottle which I think helps him stay fuller...but if baby isnt ready for it there isnt much you can do...you just have to meet the needs of your lil one

Nicole - posted on 10/08/2012

My first question to you, does he put himself to sleep, meaning is he able to self soothe? or do you have to rock him to sleep or let him fall asleep with the bottle? My daughter woke every couple hours when we were rocking her to sleep. I tried the same thing you did, would have my husband go on there and rock her or hold her but she would scream until I nursed her. I figured she was hungry. However when we started letting her self soothe, she only woke twice a night. Turned out the other times she just wanted the comfort of nursing. I had no problem feeding her twice a night (usually around 2 am and again around 5 am) Unlike your doctor, my doctor and most books I read said that it was perfectly normal for a child that young to wake a twice a night. Then at our 4 month appointment, the doctor said we could introduce cereal to her. What do you know? that first night she slept from 9pm-6:30am. Then I decided to give her a little cereal at lunch too and now she is sleeping 12 hrs each night without a feeding. I do see her on the monitor throughout the night and she wakes, like all babies do but because it is not a hunger issue and she knows how to soothe herself, she is able to go right back to sleep.

As his mom, you need to do what you feel is best for your child. If you think he is legitimately hungry, feed him!! Soon enough he will be getting plenty of solids during the day and therefore will be able to make it though the night without eating for sure. At that point maybe you can approach it as a different issue other than hunger, but until then. Just meet your babies needs, he is still very young.

Abi - posted on 10/04/2012

I am also breast feeding my 3 month ol son, he's been waking every 45 mins to an house since he was 2 weeks old. The past two nights he's been feeding/ comfort sucking from 12am-5-6am. I'm sure he wants to kill me!! Like you I've tried EVERYTHING to get him back to sleep even a bottle nothing works!! Let me know if you find something that does please?!

Abi - posted on 10/03/2012

My 3 month old has been waking every 45 minutes in the night for a feed for the past 2.5 months so I know how you feel. He also only sleeps for 15-30 mins 3 times a day! Our doctor recommended trying different things but nothing works and trying to let him cry it out doesn't work either, up to an hour later he's still screaming even when I'm right next to him. It's hard work isn't it?!?!

Mumtaz Shifa - posted on 08/23/2012

yes he does. My baby is 4 months and 2 weeks and he wakes up every night at least twice and only the bottle can sooth him. Just like your baby he has been strictly on formula from 3 months and he drinks 4-5 ounces of milk every 2 hours. Some baby's are just hungrier than others. He is very active during the day so I think he needs the extra energy.

Belinda - posted on 12/28/2009

Hi, I have been reading most of the replies so not sure if you will read this one or not!! There are so many of them!!

I agree with mostly everyone on here...every child is different, their needs are different...yada yada yada.

I still feed my 4 month old, however i give him a dreamfeed at 10 - 1030pm, which he guzzles like he hasnt been fed for 2 weeks!! That works for me as i am still up at that time at night anyway. I dont hear a peep from him till after 5am....but where i live the sun starts coming up at 430am so i think that plays a part in the sometimes early wake up calls!!

Try the dreamfeeds, and if you know your child is hungry...feed her. End of story, i get sick of people trying to tell me what i should do and what i shouldnt. I appreciate all the hints and tips, but at the end of the day...mothers know best. xx

Janel - posted on 12/27/2009

All babies are different. My son has been sleeping through the night since 12 weeks only. Some nights he will wake up for a feed and other nights he sleeps until 7am. It think you should consider changing your paediatrician, there is no reason why a four month old should not feed when they are hungry. I think that with holding food from a hungry child creates food issues at a later stage.

Hanna - posted on 12/27/2009

Try either giving less formula at night time until you ween him off, or trying water instead!

Katelyn - posted on 12/27/2009

my daughter just turned four months and is still feeding during the night atlest once or twice! sometimes after a lot of effort she will go back to sleep but not always. i recommend a sound machine. its very soothing and keeps my daughter asleep much longer at night.

MEGAN - posted on 12/27/2009

MY lil guy still eats twice a night. He goes to bed at 7 ets at 1 and then again around 4

Melissa - posted on 12/27/2009

my 4 month old wakes every 3 - 4 hrs for feeds in the night. when he was 2 months he slept throught for 2 wks now hes not. hes heaps more active so i guess more food needed. was told to put him on solids to help sleepin through the night. he loves the food but still it waking for food.

Anna - posted on 12/26/2009

I have 5 children and they ALL have been different as far as sleeping thru the night. I breast fed them all for at least a year. My oldest slept thru the night at 2 months and my third woke up every 3 hours till after a year. My 4 month old wakes only 1 or 2 times at the moment but I think it's a personality thing.

Jacqueline - posted on 12/26/2009

My baby sleeps 11 hours through the night and isnt even 4 months yet. My daughter had the same problem where she couldn't eat more than four ounces or she would throw up everywhere. She has GERD or reflux. We elevated the head of her crib to relieve some of the spitting up. We also added rice to her formula to make it a little thicker and she has no problem sleeping now

Becki - posted on 12/26/2009

Yes my baby girl is just over 4 months old she drinks 5oz every 3 hours during the day and still almost every night wakes up for a bottle around 3 or 4am.

Sarah-louise - posted on 12/24/2009

My little girl is sleepin right through but she was even when I was breastfeeding. She has 7oz bottles all day and has baby rice in a morn and a small amount of dinner at lunch. Be careful that he isn't teething because my little girl is so she gets her teething salts before bed too. Hope this helps. Merry Christmas xx

Alexandra - posted on 12/23/2009

Hi christina,

Just for the record, a "baby sleeping through the night" means that they sleep for 5 hours straight. My little girl, is fully breastfed at present, and sleeps through the night. Have you tried setting a bed time routine for your little man, so that he knows that its different from day sleeps and night sleeps. Try keeping things really quiet at night, and calm. it is natural for him to still be waking up at night, just remember that its normal, and that most babies wake up during the night.

Yudit - posted on 12/22/2009

My baby Maayan is breast fed and sleeps a 10 hour chunk at night. My older 3 kids (1 breast fed, 1 formula and 1 mixed) did not sleep thru till way after their first birthday! Do what works for you and your baby, every baby is different and they have not read the child care books!

Julia - posted on 12/22/2009

Our pediatrician has told us that they now recommend introducing solids (1 meal) per day and then slowly introducing onto further solids so that by 6 months there are 3 solid meals per day and morning tea and afternoon tea is breast milk. To be honest, the one thing i have learnt while being a parent is every child is different. Just because one parents child is sleeping through doesn't necessarily mean that there is a. anything wrong with your child because they are not or b. they are developmentally at the same stages as others. Our little one still wakes for a night feed although I have supplimented (with suggestion of the pediatrician) a formula feed just before i go to bed at 12.30am - she manages to go through until about 5-530am. before i did that trick, she would wake at 230/3am after having last feed at 1130am. And then wake another time at 6/630am. Wish u well. Merry Christmas :)

Maricar - posted on 12/22/2009

Yes, but she doesn't really wake up. When I offer my breast she feeds with her eyes closed.

Arianne - posted on 12/22/2009

Mine is exactly the same. He still eats about 5oz every 2-3 hrs. We put him down for bed around 8-9pm and he usually wakes up around 12am-1am and then again before 7am to eat. My pedi told me not to worry about it. They will decide when they are ready to eat more and cut out their night time feeding.

Barbara - posted on 12/22/2009

wow my son same thing!!! he's up every 2-3 hours a night. i know its exhausting. people tell me to just let him cry but thats not an option for us, we live in an apartment!

Christine - posted on 12/22/2009

No, Savannah stopped feeding during the night about a month and a half ago. She is 4 months old and she eats about 6 to 7 ounces at each feeding. She only has 4 feedings a day, starting at 5:30, every 4 hours. She does really well, goes to bed around 7:30 and sleeps through the night until 5 am. She is a healthy baby and takes 2 good long naps during the day. She weighs about 13lbs 1oz. I generally followed the Babywise book.....since this is my first the book really helped!

Keri - posted on 12/22/2009

Maybe get a second opinion. I do think all babies are different and it just takes time to get into a routine, that they will continually change, until they are set in their ways. Hang in there, you're doing great!

Lisa - posted on 12/21/2009

Have you tried swaddling? My girl was waking up all the time until I started swaddling her, she now sleeps through then night has has been for months now. I also have a fan running through out the night, it's not pointed at her but it is running, the white noise helps her sleep too.

Corey - posted on 12/21/2009

my baby just turned 4 mouths and at lest 2 out of the 7 night during the week he wants to eat during the night, most of the other time he want to be suggled.. I have founded that have some short of white nose (i.e. the tv on timer, cd player, or the fan) will put my lil man back to sleep. Hope this helps

ANNA - posted on 12/21/2009

Christina,

The only way to stop the night feedings is to let him cry it out. The older they get the harder it will be to do it. I know it sound bad but they don't need to feed every 3 hours during the night, this is more a bad habbit now. I did it with both of my son's and I started when they turned 2 months, it never took longer than a week, but you have to be tuff and not give up. I would just let them cry... no rocking, no diaper change, do not show then you are there at all. My boys never cried more than 15-20 min on and off... eventually they will stop waking upwhen they learn they will not get any food. My son is 4 months old now and he goes to bed at 7:30pm , then at 10:30pm I breastfeed him and then at 5am.I hope eventually the 10:30pm feeding to go away. We'll see..... Good luck to you!

Felisha - posted on 12/21/2009

I still nurse my son. He gets up once a night still for a feeding. But usually after 6-7 hours of solid sleep first. I have been giving him cereal lately around 6pm and that seems to help him sleep a bit better. I know they say not to feed them every time they wake up. But for my son, when he wakes up that one time....if I don't feed him and put him back to sleep, I get to go back in there an hour or so later. Feeding him is the only thing that gets him back to sleep for a few hours.

Tanya - posted on 12/21/2009

my son samuel is 4 months old but he can go through a good 12oz of milk with in an hour he normally sleeps a good 12 hours a night. why dont you have a go at giving your son a 4oz bottle then an hour later give him another 4oz he might just need to let it settle my son does wake during the night but he goes to bed very early normally so he gets up early

Ramya - posted on 12/21/2009

My daughter's nearly 4 months old as well and completely breastfed and she definitely wakes up atleast twice through the night.I guess each baby is different and do what you feel is right for your little one.

Melissa - posted on 12/21/2009

My four month old daughter was sleeping through the night, almost 8 to 10 hours. However, around 3 months she stopped sleeping through the night and started waking up around 2 or 3 am. I have tried letting her soothe herself back to sleep, giving her cereal at night and allowing her to eat (I breastfeed) a little longer. I also have her on a very regular routine, bath time, eat, and sleep. I figure she should grow out of it eventually. Good luck!

Angela - posted on 12/21/2009

My daughter started sleeping thru the night at 9 weeks...my twin boys ( 4 1/2 months) are still getting up once a night to eat. Each baby is so different. Do what you need to do to get thru the night. We have started cereal and that hasn't changed the night time eating. It is worth a try but not always the miracle people say it is. My boys take 6 oz. bottles during the day..somewhere between 30 and 36 oz. When they are ready to sleep thru the night they will. Good luck and just remember...this too shall pass!

Jolene - posted on 12/21/2009

I do Breastmilk, formula and pablum now. my little guy is 18 weeks. He will sleep from 9 at night until about 3 before he wakes up. I often try to see if he will go back to sleep without eating by rubbing his belly. Try not to pick them up because as soon as they smell you they will want to eat. See if your husband will go try and put them back to sleep that may elimate the middle of the night feeding because you are not present to demand the milk. I also used a shirt with my smell for comfort and a machine that makes heartbeat sounds. I find that has helped cause when he wakes he still kinda feels like I am present...

Tiffany - posted on 12/21/2009

My little man has been sleeping through the night since he was about 10 weeks but was waking up around 4am for a feed. Have just started him on a new routine where he feeds 4 hourly during the day, goes to bed around 7, then has a dream feed about 10pm and sleeps till 7am! He also has some solids during the day.

Belinda - posted on 12/21/2009

Of course !! Two or three times a night at the moment for Donovan. Just listen to your baby. My daughter had two feeds at night for what felt like forever. But eventually, by around 12 months she dropped them and learnt to sleep through.

Claudia - posted on 12/20/2009

yes, my son alexander still feeds in middle of the night.

it really all depends, but its mainly once, sometimes twice.

there have been a handful of times where he suprised me & slept from around 8 til 5:30 or 6am. but those have been far & few between.

i've read that its completely normal to still have middle of the night feedings at this age.



however, i notice that there have been a couple of times where for a few days in a row, he wakes every hour or two and not necessarily for food all the time? i have NO idea what that was all about... milestone development perhaps????

Dee - posted on 12/20/2009

This is my exact problem. She is waking up every 1.5 to 2 hours screaming for food. I try to walk her to sleep, give her a pacifer to sleep, anything but she doesn't want it. =( I have no idea what else to do or to help her sleep more then 1.5 hours at a time.

Sharon - posted on 12/20/2009

I had the same problem my daughter breastfed for the first 2.5 months and she will only eat 5 ounces but she does sleep from about 8 pm till 4 am I say try burping more ogten so there is room in his lttle tummy it will be hard at first but it really worked for me I started burping my daughter at every ounce she ate and she wass able to eat more less often.

Megan - posted on 12/20/2009

My 4 month old sleeps all night without feeding but my 6 year old woke up a few times a night for food till about 9 months and i did nothing different with either of them. Just depends on the baby i guess.

Rebecca - posted on 12/19/2009

My son does still wake up once (or on occasion twice) during the night to eat. He would get so hungry day and night that he'd keep trying to drink formula until he puked it up, then want to eat again, so we ended up starting him on rice cereal early. It was the only way to get him full! We mix it up in a bowl with his formula to make it kind of on the thin side and give him some in the morning when he wakes up, and some about half an hour to an hour before bed and it seems to help him sleep longer. He gets his cereal, and then if he wants it, his bottle. We usually manage to get him down for bed at around 10:30pm, he wakes up for a diaper change and usually to eat around 2:30 or 3 (but doesn't eat a lot), and then sleeps through til 7 or 8. Without the cereal he would be up every 2 hours and eat until he made himself sick. We're actually adding another serving of cereal during the afternoon now because he's started doing the overeat-puke-eat thing during the day now, too.

Brittany - posted on 12/19/2009

my daughter sometimes wants a bottle at night, i was told by a old friend of the family who is a nurse, once they have at least 12 or 13 lbs its easiest for them to sleep thru the night. its bcuz they can regulate their body temps. my daughter is drinking 6 to 7oz of formula now, but she cries even during the day for food.

Katy - posted on 12/19/2009

My 4 month old eats 6oz every 3 hours until about 9pm and then she goes to sleep and sleeps until 830am.. I have had to step away from what my doc has said for her because she is a spitter and on a certain formula. So i have to give her juice already and i feed her a jar of solid food a day also... She has been sleeping through the night since she was 3 weeks old and before that she would only get up about every 4-5 hours. Good luck!

Jennifer - posted on 12/19/2009

all babies are different!! I feed my 4 month old solids twice a day and 5oz at every feeding and he gets up once in the middle of the night and is up and ready to go at dawn! I know it is exhausting... i am hoping he will start to sleep through the night soon.

Sunny - posted on 12/19/2009

Some nights my daughter will eat once during the night, but not all nights, though she eats 6-9 ounces per bottle, even with a little bit of cereal or step1 foods through the day!

Angela - posted on 12/19/2009

My son just started sleeping through the night about 2 weeks ago, but he has occasional nights where he wakes up to eat. I have found that putting him in his crib and having bedtime music on all night keeps him asleep longer. Also for me he use to sleep with me and eat every 3 hours but now that he is in his crib he doesnt want to eat every 3 hours. Sometimes I think when he wakes up in the middle of the night that he doesnt need to sleep since he goes all night other nights but for my sanity I feed him in bed with me. He is still nursing but does get bottles during the day with formula sometimes. It is hard to say when babies should break the eating habit at night b/c everyone is different. I have been told so many different things about cereal and when their stomachs are big enough to sleep through the night. It is hard when you hear all the good stories from people I know it just depends on your child.

Shaquanna - posted on 12/19/2009

My son will be four months old on Christmas Day and he eats an 8oz bottle every 3-4hrs. I breastfed him until he was almost 2 months old then I started formula. He started sleeping through the night right after he turned 3 months old. He sleeps during the nite though. He gets about 10-12 hrs of sleep each night,