How long can my baby go overnight?

[moomin35]

I'm ff and according to aptamil my baby should be having 5 feeds of 150ml in 24 hours. Providing he does this (he seems healthy and is putting on weight etc) then is it ok for him to be going long stretches without a feed at night? For instance I fed him last night at 9pm and then haven't fed him again until now at 4am. This seems ages but he didn't cry out to be fed. Is this ok do you think? Am worried :-(

[Tealady1983]

This is fine don't worry and def don't wake him to feed him your setting yourself up for bad sleeping habits of you do. Be thankful you dc sleeps

[moomin35]

Thanks tea lady :-) Reassuring to see someone else up at this ungodly hour! ;-)

[WildCherryBlossom]

Some babies do take a long sleep at night. Enjoy it! Your baby might feed a bit more and sleep a bit less than average during the day to make up for this long sleep. But I know I would rather have a lovely 7 hour sleep than one interrupted ever couple of hours. Patterns may change over time too. So don't be surprised if you enter a new phase in a few months time where you are being woken in the middle of the night by a ravenously hungry baby.

[WantAnOrange]

There is no such thing as bad habits at this stage! They change so fast and their needs change fast.

It is recommended that all babies, whether FF or BF are fed on demand so look for the hunger cues (are you familiar with these?) and feed when hungry. Trust your baby because he is still a creature of need and will react to what his body tells him to do. So right now, he is telling you he needs sleep at this time (enjoy it!) but that might not last. They tend to go through growth spurts and you might find he wakes up for more feeds in the future then goes back to sleeping through again, and this might happen a few times over the next couple of years which is totally normal and healthy.

[puntasticusername]

Congratulations on your lovely baby! How old is he? At around six weeks of age, night sleep becomes organised and many (not all!) babies start sleeping six hours or more at a stretch overnight. So it sounds as if what your baby is doing is entirely normal and as others say, be glad for it and make sure you use the time to get some sleep yourself! If he's generally content, gaining weight and producing lots of wet nappies then he's getting plenty of milk, don't worry.

[theborrower]

Hi moomin, i think you've posted something similar before. It sounds like your baby is still doing well (gaining weight etc), so try not to worry. Remember, the info about amounts and number of feeds on the tin are guidelines, and some babies will feed more/less often and need more/less. As long as you're feeding on demand and baby is gaining weight, and it sounds like you are, it all sounds good.