Dropping the middle-of-the-night feeding

babydontforget

So, my babies are now sleeping 10-11 hours at night, straight through but for one mega feeding right in the middle. As an example, last night they went down at 8, woke at 1:30 to eat, went back down at 2, and woke at 7 for the day. 

At this middle-of-the-night feeding, they're very hungry. So I'm unclear about how/when they're likely to drop it. I've tried to really get lots of calories into them during the day (they eat every 2-3 hours during the day), but this middle-of-the-night feeding is consistent, and they're consistently hungry for it.

I'm excited about the progress we've made, but I sure would love for them to go straight through. Ideas? Did it just happen for you one day, or did you do something to try to coax it along? If the latter, what?

leebi07

We're still not fully through the night.  They will usually sleep anywhere from 5-7 hours at a time.  We usually put them to bed after their 8pm feeding, but what helps us is that my husband will give them a bottle before he goes to bed around 11pm.  This will hold them until 5-7am.  We're looking to drop that feeding but haven't been able to yet.

jennie13

my 11 weekers are at the same spot, and I don't think there's anything else you can do except wait for it.   Being at one overnight feeding is fantastic at this age.   My DD dropped it consistently around 3.5/4 months, before that she would do a night here and there but it wouldn't stick.   She started waking again for nursing during growth spurts and teething and I had to do Ferber to end it. 

babya2010

jennie13:

my 11 weekers are at the same spot, and I don't think there's anything else you can do except wait for it.   Being at one overnight feeding is fantastic at this age.   My DD dropped it consistently around 3.5/4 months, before that she would do a night here and there but it wouldn't stick.   She started waking again for nursing during growth spurts and teething and I had to do Ferber to end it. 

This is where we are right now. About a month ago we'd be getting 11/12 hours straight through but it was really hit or miss. Maybe once or twice a week back then. I think we're approaching our '4 month wakeful' because the babies are waking up more often, 2 nights ago they went down at 8 and were up at 12, 2, 3, 5 and 6:30. Talk about tiring. Last night they went down at 8, bottle at 2:30 (both guzzled 6oz), right back down and up again at 7:30. They'll sleep when they want! The worst part is knowing they *can* do it. Sigh. I have a feeling we'll be Ferbering in the future, but probably not til after 6 months.

benkari

Around 3.5 months, at our pedi's recommendation, we went from 3.5 hours between feedings to 3 and within 3 days they were all STTN!