Sleeping (when to back up bedtime)
DS is such an awesome baby and has been STTN since he was 5 weeks old. Yeh, we would occasionally have to sleepwalk across the house to put a paci in his mouth, but he has been a great little sleeper. I hear a lot of people on here say that their babies go to bed at 7-7:30pm, and we just haven't done that yet.
Here are the vitals: DS is going to be 6 months on 11/2. I am EPing and he takes 6 bottle a day (6.5 oz each). In the morning, DCP feeds him 1.25 oz of BM mixed with brown rice cereal. He eats at 6:30am, 9:30am, 12:30pm, 3:30 pm, 6:30pm and 9:30pm. (Yes...that is 40.25 oz a day and I seriously struggle to keep up.) Usually he goes down for a "nap" at 8pm, but we still wake him up for his 9:30pm feeding. He usually dream feeds, wakes up a little when we change his diaper, then back to bed.
We have contemplated cutting out the 9:30pm feeding, but he just does so well on that schedule. What do you all think? Should I wait and cut out a feeding once DS is eating solids?
Re: Sleeping (when to back up bedtime)
How big is your LO? I thought really you should never exceed 32 oz's. Have you talked to your pedi?
Our DD is very much on a similar schedule but its:
6:30 6 oz
9:30 5 oz
12:30 5 oz
3:30 5 oz
5:30 solids (3-4 tablespoons or less depending on DD's mood)
7:15ish 6 oz
DD has been sleeping through the night since she was under 1 month, with a 4 month wakeful and a cold thrown in the mix. In my opinion I would seriously drop the 9:30 feeding and also, dream feeding is not the best as it allows baby to think they should always feel full. Unless a baby is under weight, they shouldn't be fed just cause. If you LO needs it they will wake for it.
That said, I am in a war with DC to not feed LO every 3 hours, but to feed only when hungry. So the above schedule is approximates.
J is 5 months old now and we asked our pediatrician about that at his 4 month visit. We were waking him up for his one of his feedings. The dr advised me that J is at the age now that he does not need to be woken up for his feedings and we stopped it. He was fine. My advice to you would be to try cutting it out and see what happens. If he doesn't wake up crying then he can't be that hungry. I don't think it would change your schedule that much. Good luck!!
It sounds like he's eating a lot. I'd probably start on solids other than cereal (like avocado) since he's almost 6 months.
Just for reference, DD is probably around 16 pounds now (she was 15 pounds at her 4 month doctor visit) and she's been sleeping from about 7 to 6, eating, and going back to sleep for an hour or two longer. She BF every 2-3 hours during the day, and takes 4.5 ounces when we do give her a bottle. She isn't eating solids at all. If she were taking 40.25 ounces a day, there's no way I'd be able to keep up and I'd seriously consider introducing solids that are high in nutrients.
BFP #1 9/7/10, EDD 5/14/11, Violet born 5/27/11.
BFP #2 4/9/12, EDD 12/16/12, M/C Rory 4/24/12.
BFP #3 10/6/12, EDD 6/16/12., Matilda born 6/17/13.
Thank you all so much! I think DH and I have decided that we are going to try dropping the 9:30pm feeding this weekend and possibly starting baby food. We are wanting to avoid screwing up the schedule on a work night!
For reference, DS has been extremely small I guess we have been allowing him to eat a little more in hopes that his weight would increase. He has hovered in the 13th percentile and the highest he has been was in the 18th percentile at his 4 month appointment (13 lbs 7 oz). I think he has successfully started to gain weight because he finally has little baby rolls, but his 6 month appointment isn't until November 4th.
My LO was eating a lot of formula throughout the day so I started him on some purees which he loves. He still eats about 32oz in formula but about an hour before bed-so 8pm he eats a little of the puree and then at 9pm he'll eat 7oz and sleeps until 7am. I find that when I dont do the puree he wakes up at 6 or even 5:30am.
Even when he wakes up at 7 he doesnt actually have any interest in eating until about 8:30am.
I dont think you need to keep waking him up at night if hes sleeping through. You could try stopping and see if it makes any difference.