How many bottles at night?

Virginia - posted on 12/09/2008

I breast feed at night still, I was never able to get ride of the 5 am feeding no matter how much I tried. The little guy was just hungry and would no stop crying. However, he has been sick and has stopped eating in the day. Instead of solids and formula, he will only drink breat milk. So, now when he wakes up several times in the night, I breast feed him since I thinks he must be hungry. Should I do this or let him cry and hopefully he will eat more in the daytime??

Rachel - posted on 12/09/2008

Great question! Happens to the best of us...they are just so darn cute and heartbreakers when they cry aren't they? :) He looks like a good eater. I have several questions for you too: Do you breastfeed or give him formula? How much does he eat at one feeding during the day? How many oz. are the bottles he takes at night? You don't want him overeating or not being properly nurished so you might want to ask your doctor if he is eating more than he should be. My daughter was waking up during the night around this age and my doctor told me that he is probably not hungry, and even though I did not believe her, I tried her advice---wait to go into your baby's room until he starts to cry severely, at least 5 minutes or more, otherwise you are only encouraging the behavior. You have to make sure that he is serious about wanting to get up and doesn't just want to be held. (Trust me, they are tricky little boogers sometimes) Secondly, if he does cry and not just fusses go into his room with the bottle ready and do not turn on lights or talk to him (once again, not encouraging the behavior). Simply feed him 2-4 oz and try to get him to fall back asleep before giving him more to eat. I hope these things help. And I did like Gwendolyn's suggestions too.

Gwendolyn - posted on 12/09/2008

Awww try to get him on a set time to feed try feeding him every four hours with a simple snack in between lets say your day starts at 6am try to wait until 7am to give him his first four oz with a bowl of cereal. at 11am give him another 4oz with a jar of baby food. at 3pm give him 4oz with a cookie or puffs, then at 7pm give him a 4oz with another jar of food that means he is getting the proper amount of food and milk your son will be getting two 8oz bottles a day and getting food

Patricia - posted on 12/09/2008

when my girl was a baby i put farax in her bottle at night just a small bit to my her tummy feel full she sleaped right though

Larissa - posted on 12/09/2008

u know your baby, is he actually hungry or is he just trying to soothe....tryt just leaving him, and if he is still crying feverently after 10 minutes give him a bottle, but he may surprise you and fall back asleep after 5.

my daughter also goes through growth spurts and during those times she may need an extra bottle at night, or she is teething and a bottle soothes her....play iit byy ear

Valerie - posted on 12/09/2008

i breastfeed and my 6 month old usually sleeps all night, but a friend who bottlefed told me that she would cut back by one oz every night and her baby was sleeping through the night within 4 nights. did he ever sleep through the night, because my baby woke up crying 2-4 times a night for two weeks untill i figgured out that she was too hot at night, it gets really hot in the room with the changing weather and the heat comming on...

Bethany - posted on 12/09/2008

I definitely agree with Jessica's advice to try calming him and giving him a soother instead of a bottle. That's what I did to get my son to sleep through the night (and that was at about 2 months) as well as the occasional time that he will wake in the middle of the night. Although there is a lot of differing opinions, I think most that I've read agrees that by 6 months babies are capable of going all night without food- they will just eat more during the day. But it's up to what you are willing to put up with and what works for your family. Can you be up with him for an hour to calm him back to sleep? Will he wake up other family members? Are you ok letting him cry a little bit? Have you tried to feed him more during the day? Figure out how much he is eating right now and then divide it by the number of bottles you'd like to give him...

Best wishes as you work on this!

Jessica - posted on 12/09/2008

Hi Melissa,

My son is 6 1/2 mths and takes 2 bottles at night. Is you son eating solids yet? I mean breakfast, lunch and supper? that helps a bit. It slowed my son down. Also I found the formula had to change for me. I went to step 2 (6 mths +). At first I give him water (when he was taking 3-4 bottles) then formula (or breast milk) graduelly (still) sub. water for formula (still giving a little formula if he does not fall right back to sleep.) He then started eating more during the day so he started sleeping better at night. I also find that sometimes when he cries at night if I just pat his back or give him his soother he goes back to sleep. The sucking is soothing, (he will take the bottle if I give it to him but he does not always need it he just wants to suck). I am not sure if it help's I am learning as I go along.lol but if anything else works I will let you know. And please let me know if something works for you as well as it may help me out as well.