Krissy39
Any suggestions for why she may be waking and how many night feeds I should give her?
Hi Maree,
We have been using the controlled comforting settling technique for our 5 month old daughter and it works really well at getting her to go to sleep in her own cot but she still continues to wake on average 4-5 times each night. Im just wondering how often at this age should she be fed during the night. At the moment I have been feeding her every 3-4 hrs and using the settling technique for all her other wakings but Im not sure if she should be fed this often or not. She doesnt fall asleep while feeding either I always resettle her while awake in her cot so she shouldnt have a sleep association. Any suggestions for why she may be waking and how many night feeds I should give her?
Jane ...
Answer:
Hi,
At 5 months a total of around 5 feeds/24 hours is generally sufficient. Most babies still need at least 1 night feed until around 6 months of age and then drop to 4 milk feeds after they have started solids at 6 months. To feed 3-4 hourly overnight is a little generous, this is more typical of a newborn’s feeding behaviour. If she has a dummy, consider if it could be impacting on her overnight wakings. This can make them wake initially and then because they’ve woken and have been fed on the previous nights, this sets up a pattern of what is known as “learned hunger” so they learn to expect it rather than really need it. Get her weight and growth checked, if she is legitimately hungry you will need to feed her, perhaps she needs her quota/feed amounts adjusted or increased through the day?
For her to be waking so often overnight must be challenging. You can’t actually control her waking or even how she settles. It is only your responses to these which are under your own control. At this age babies will often have a longer, continuous sleep overnight but if she isn’t doing this, don’t be concerned. Try not to feed her when she wakes at night as a first response. Make sure she is feeing well through the day, if she is breastfeeding try to offer her both sides, if bottle feeding ensure she is having most of her bottles otherwise she is likely to make up for these amounts overnight.
Take her to your CHN for some specific advice regarding her feed amounts if you are bottle feeding,
Cheers
Jane
At 5 months a total of around 5 feeds/24 hours is generally sufficient. Most babies still need at least 1 night feed until around 6 months of age and then drop to 4 milk feeds after they have started solids at 6 months. To feed 3-4 hourly overnight is a little generous, this is more typical of a newborn’s feeding behaviour. If she has a dummy, consider if it could be impacting on her overnight wakings. This can make them wake initially and then because they’ve woken and have been fed on the previous nights, this sets up a pattern of what is known as “learned hunger” so they learn to expect it rather than really need it. Get her weight and growth checked, if she is legitimately hungry you will need to feed her, perhaps she needs her quota/feed amounts adjusted or increased through the day?
For her to be waking so often overnight must be challenging. You can’t actually control her waking or even how she settles. It is only your responses to these which are under your own control. At this age babies will often have a longer, continuous sleep overnight but if she isn’t doing this, don’t be concerned. Try not to feed her when she wakes at night as a first response. Make sure she is feeing well through the day, if she is breastfeeding try to offer her both sides, if bottle feeding ensure she is having most of her bottles otherwise she is likely to make up for these amounts overnight.
Take her to your CHN for some specific advice regarding her feed amounts if you are bottle feeding,
Cheers
Jane
Answered:
11 Mar 2010