10 wk old sleeps from 6pm then wakes at 1am...need advice please!!

[juicychops]

My 10 week old son has a bottle about 6 in the evening but then doesn't wake up for another one until about 1am. Shall i continue this and hope he starts to last longer, or shall I start waking him at about 11pm for a bottle so that he hopefully sleeps through longer?

[sansouci]

Difficult one. It really depends on the baby but I would suggest trying to feed him at 7 pm and then feeding him again at 11. Things should start straightening themselves out v. soon. Meanwhile, I recommend The New Contented Little Baby Book by Gina Ford as a rough guide -- don't expect to follow it to the letter as all babies are different but it helped me a lot! Good luck.

[juicychops]

Thanks. Il try that. Hopefully he will get better soon

[sansouci]

He will... and so will you. Courage, ma chère!

[QueenEagle]

I am a recent convert to the "dreamfeed" technique as seen on the baby whisperer - something I'd never heard of before.

My 14 wk old ds4 would have a bottle about 6ish then his bath around 7 or so and fall asleep by 8pm. About 9.30 I gave him a dreamfeed which simply means feeding him whilst he's still asleep.

Gently put your finger on his chin to pull his mouth open, after a few seconds his tongue will start to mimic a sucking action. This is when you stick a bottle in his mouth and he should start to feed. This has worked a treat with mine. Not sure if it works with breastfeeding tho.

[juicychops]

Its nice to hear that it works well. well, here goes nothing... im gunna give it a try

[beansprout]

I would dream feed, ie anticipate that he will wake up hungry and get some food in before he does. I dream feed my son - pick him up and he just opens his mouth and feeds in his sleep. Don't need to wake him up as he can smell the milk.

Great that he can sleep for 7 hours without a feed though - good basis for you!!

[juicychops]

Last night i tried dream feeding my DS at bout 10.30pm he kind of woke up during though but went back off to sleep once the bottle was gone. but then he woke up again at 3am. How comes he can sleep 7-8 hours in the evening but when it comes to night time its 4 hours at the most! I think he does it on purpose cos he knows im so so tired!!

[TracyK]

Don't worry about it your ds is still tiny! my ds started sleeping 13 hours a night at about 12 weeks old. He did this for a couple of months and then started waking up for milk. His waking routines fluctuated every couple of weeks. Sometimes waking once, sometimes waking 3 times. Just be prepared for the wakeful times and enjoy the sleeping through ones.
Get to bed as early as you can and nap during the day.
Cluster feed before bed, so feed at 5, 6 and 7. Dream feed at 11.
Also babywhisperer used to advise - see how much milk is taken during the night (use ebm or formula) and then force that extra amount during the day. is if he takes 4 oz during the night - find ways to get that 4 oz in during the day iykwim.
But just relax - 4 am is a usual sticking point with a lot of babies up till about a year.