Night Feeds

I never cut my babies off. Even if it was for comfort at night, I sucked it up. Other people arent the same, but they are only small once and if they wanted to nurse I let them. My daughter did until she was about a year, my 2nd was about 7 months, and my youngest was closer to 6 months. When they seemed ready, my husband would go in and rock them to sleep...but I never stopped that on purpose :o). If you are ready though, maybe have your husband help you?? Good luck!

Per our Pediatrician, for the 1st year of life, a baby needs to be fed on-demand, 24/7, and especially during growth spurts... which another one will be upcoming around 6 months. Intake thus has to keep pace with their growing/development. The first year, is a 'building block' time for baby and the nutrition they need....
Also that breastmilk/Formula is a baby's PRIMARY source of nutrition... not solids and not other liquids... during the 1st year of life.

My kids as babies, had GINORMOUS appetites... and nursed a lot. I went by their cues.
I did not believe in, that a baby does 'not' need night feedings at this age, at night. I nursed my kids, on-demand... even during "cluster feeding' periods. And I always went by my kids' cues... for feedings. Around the clock.
They both grew like weeds, were 'lean' babies, and were in the 97th percentiles for growth/weight all around...

Next, make sure you are producing enough milk... or his intake will not be on par... and he will still be hungry.

A hungry baby, will wake and feed. And need it.
Your baby, as you said, wakes to feed. Thus, this is a direct hint to you... that he needs it. He is hungry. A hungry baby cannot sleep.

Also, teething is occurring, so that is hard too... on the baby.

Also, it is not a "rule" that a baby will sleep all night.... 'sleeping through the night' for a baby, means sleeping for 5-6 hours straight. It is not on the adult level of sleeping length.
LOTS of babies, do not sleep all night at this age. It comes naturally as they get older.... your baby is still real young...
they wake at night. Its normal. My kids as babies, nursed every 3 hours or LESS.... and I nursed by their cues. During growth-spurts, it was more... and they fed from both breasts, per session, drinking me dry... even though I had tons of milk.

If you do 'wean' him... I would not do it when he is: teething, going through a growth-spurt, or ill. Wrong timing.

all the best,
Susan

What I did with my first was when he was getting really sleepy and it was about to be his "last" feed(not counting the middle of the night feeding) I started making sure that he stayed wide awake the whole time so he could really get full instead of dosing off halfway through. Also because he would pass out long before I did I would wake him up for one more feeding before I went to bed for the night. A friend of mine told me as well that if I wanted the feedings in the night to cease then I needed to stretch the amount of time between feedings during the day as well.
That really helped with my little one. Plus the whole only change them when it is really needed and dont talk to them so they know its just a feeding and not playtime.
good luck, hopefully you will soon be getting more snooze time.

My oldest naturally got off the night feeding at around 4 months without much trouble and he was pretty lean. One night he just didn't seem that interested and the next night I stopped nursing him and just rocked him back to sleep. That is one thing you could do. It will take him a few days to adjust I am sure.
My chubby second baby however was a different story. He was always feeding around the clock and by 4 months he was still nursing once sometimes twice with no end in sight. When things got bad he would be up every hour or so, and though I tried to not nurse him, he would just scream until he got what he wanted. And this was when he was 5 MONTHS OLD!!! My two boys have VERY different personalities.
My problem with my second was that he was in our bedroom still. My oldest moved to the nursery at 6 weeks old. But with number 2, I was nervous to have them both sleeping in the same room. I had wanted to wait until my youngest was sleeping through the night before I moved him into the nursery. But I realized that he wasn't sleeping through the night BECAUSE he was still in the room with us. He could smell the milk on me and the smell would rouse him out of a sound sleep.
Wouldn't you know as soon as he started sleeping in the crib he stopped waking up for milk and night weaning was much easier.
If your baby is over 14 pounds he probably doesn't need that night feeding. But if it is not causing you any problems, it will probably go away on it's own. If not, just cuddle him when he wakes up and it will naturally go away in time.

My baby is 3 months and he sleeps for 10-14 hours at night. I feed him more often during the day. I breastfeed and I demand feed and he's a little more demanding during the day. =)

Are you breastfeeding? If he is a lean baby, his metabolism may demand more frequent feeding because he is using the milk up more quickly. "should go at least 5-6 hours" is a guideline...not an absolute.

My daughter was a frequent nurser. Never went more than four hours for the LONGEST time night or day. I had PLENTY of milk and she was a very efficient nurser, but she was processing it really quickly.

One thing you might try that often bought me 6 hours at night was a "dream feed". I would rouse my daughter slightly right before I went to bed and top her off. It was often enought to keep her asleep for several more hours. I would also cluster feed in the afternoons/evenings to ensure she was completely full.

I also agree with trying the pacifier though it often only bought me and hour or so before I had to nurse her anyway. I co-slept so it was really just made more sense to nurse her...we both got more undisturbed hours of sleep.

You might try putting just alittle bit of milk in a bowl, or there are bottles you can get with bigger holes in the nipples, and try feeding him a small thin bottle of ceral before he goes to bed.....it won't take too much.....and you'll have to experiment to see how much he will take and how thin to make it for him......but I had to do that to my son at 3 or 4 months old.....he was hungry all the time!!!

I would start out with baby cereal before you go to baby good like fruits, which I also mixed up for him in the bottles..........I'm sure they are better now than they were when my kids were small.....

Give it a try and good luck. Oh, and no, it's ok while he is teething.

I wouldn't worry so much about your little guy gaining enough weight, unless the doctor has told you that you need to be concerned. I would try and let him go a bit longer at night and see how he does. He may eat better for you if you let him wait the extra hour or two. I wouldn't put off the transition. You can start tonight! Trust me, you will be SO much happier and more rested with the change in his feeding times.

I'm somewhere between the "always feed them as soon as they wimper" and the "let them tough it out" camp.

At this point, he's indicating to you that he does require the night feeds. If he wakes to eat and goes right to sleep he's hungry. That's not to say that you can't do anything about it. Have you tried cluster feeding closer to bed time? I fed my son every two hours for the 4 or 5 hours before bedtime, even if he wasn't indicating that he was hungry, to kind of "tank him up" for the night. Also, has your son started solids? I'm probably going to get verbally assaulted here, but if he's really hungry, he might be ready for more food during the day. There isn't a direct connection between cereal and sleep, but if he's eating more during the day, he'll likely need to eat less at night.

Finally, have you tried not feeding him and just rocking/shushing/giving a pacifier? If he gets hysterical, he's probably actually hungry. If he's willing to calm down, then great! Honestly, though, this might not work, and probably will lead to more sleep deprivation for you, at least for a little while, as you spend more time getting him back to sleep than you would have if you just fed him.

My advice? Give him some tylenol or motrin, and keep feeding him for now, and up the daytime feeds. If you still have this problem in a month, try more hardcore sleep training. Good luck. I promise this won't last forever (even though it feels like it will, I know).