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Less frequent nighttime feedings - 4 months

SmallCityLivingSmallCityLiving member
in Breastfeeding
I have 4 month old twins and my smaller one (around 13.5 lbs) only wakes once to eat at night. My larger twin (17.5 lbs) wakes every two hours and throws a fit if I try to put him back down without eating. I know it could be the 4 month wakeful but I haven't gotten longer than a 3 hour stretch out of him in almost a month (he was going up to 7 hours at one point). Should I assume he truly needs to eat every time and feed him or is there a way to decrease the night feedings at this point?

I went back to work this week so I'm trying to have his childcare provider feed him as much as possible during the day but he definitely isn't as good with a bottle. His sleep has been bad for awhile though so I don't think that transition is causing it. Thanks for any advice, I'm exhausted!!
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Re: Less frequent nighttime feedings - 4 months

  • flclflcl member
    PP's right... it's pretty early to drop nighttime feedings.  My LO is 5 months (and a big guy) and still needs anywhere from 2-4 feedings a night.  During the 4MW, he'd wake up anywhere from 5x to every 45 mins.  We would have H try to get him back to sleep and if LO couldn't, I would feed him.  Hang in there, the 4MW is awful.  
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  • lindseyb624lindseyb624 member
    I found that when I went back to work my LO went through a very wakeful period.  She most likely didn't need to eat so much, but there was nothing else that would settle her so we nursed most wake-ups.  She gradually transitioned to one wake-up (which we're still doing at almost 11 months).  So to answer you question, I don't think he needs to eat all those times, but I'm not sure you will be successful without feeding him.  He could also be having a growth spurt which is making him hungry. Hang in there....I know it's tough and a transition for everyone, but it will get easier.
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  • bzucconibzucconi member
    My LO is just over 4 months and has started waking every 2-3 hours as well.  He was never an awesome sleeper, but we have gone from waking once or twice to this. Ugh.  Does anyone know how long this might last?  I feel bad for you other moms or dads dealing with this as well... but it is nice to know we're not going this alone :)  Good luck to you all!
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  • SmallCityLivingSmallCityLiving member
    Thanks all. It's good to know he will gradually cut back on the feedings again. I worry I'm creating bad habits when I feed him every time. Especially when other people tell me how their four month olds slept/sleep 14 hours straight. It's so hard not to compare with twins too and she is such a better sleeper!
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  • TheBorg7of9TheBorg7of9 member
    theresat858 said:
    It isn't at all healthy for a 4 month old to sleep 14 hours straight - If I were that parent, I would be taking that LO straight to the pediatrician to figure out what was wrong with the child.  At most I would expect a 5-6 hour stretch (medically "STTN") at 4 months old, and I would be ok with a 8-9 hour stretch if it were by LOs lead, but 14 hours is really unusual and probably not the most healthy thing.

    As for waking every 2 hours, have you tried something like Baby Merlin's magic sleep suit, as well as white noise, to try to get a longer (3-4 hour) stretch?  We loved the sleep suit at that age.  It does sound like a bit of reverse cycling if he isn't good at taking bottles at daycare.

    Both my kids began sleeping 12 hours a night around 4-5 months, but I certainly didn't call the doctor! :)
    My TTC History:
    2009: missed miscarriage #1 at 9 weeks (trisomy 16)
    2010: Infertility
    2011: Diagnosis and treatment (low sperm count, anastrozole for DH, clomid for me + IUI)
    2012: Baby #1
    2014: Baby #2
    October 2015: missed miscarriage #2 at 11 weeks (trisomy 22)
    March 2016 BFP#5, due November 2016.

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  • AppleMuffinsAppleMuffins member
    It may not be the most helpful, but dd would sleep 5-6 hours, sometimes up to 7 or 8 when she was around 3 mos. Then somewhere just before 4 months, she stopped sleeping those long stretches and could only last about 3-4 hours tops. Then it went down to 2-3. She's 10.5 months now and is only recently seeming to finally go back to one 5-6 hour chunk some nights, but she's in bed with us the whole time. If she's in her crib, she doesn't go more than 2 hours tops. I honestly think that's just what her body needed though, maybe because she was expending more energy during the day as she started rolling and sitting and stuff like that, I'm not sure. But I know that when she didn't need to eat, she would settle with he paci and some cuddles. When she needs to nurse, then she'll kind of toss the paci to the side. She knows what she needs, even if it makes things a bit harder for me.
    One DD born 9/23/13.
    We're one and done!
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  • kdarden15kdarden15 member
    Hello! My EBF twins who are 4 months are in he same boat, and they don't take a bottle. They are both 16 lbs, and they have been feeding from 2-5 times a night lately, it is so tough. Just wanted to say that I'm in the trenches with you.
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  • basil2basil2 member
    My singleton reverse cycled- I'm sorry to say it never got better on it's own (we had to night wean but he was older at that point). Do what you can to protect his sleep and get him drinking during the day but it may be his pattern.
    Cosleeping is controversial and a personal decision but does help with sleep (for mama). My pattern is to put the first twin to wake up in bed to nurse- I fall asleep on my side- when the other wakes up I put the first back in a crib and switch babies. I'm up 4-5 times a night but it only takes a minute or 2 to swap the babies and fall back to sleep.
    Good luck!
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  • jenn43jenn43 member
    SmallCityLiving said:
    I have 4 month old twins and my smaller one (around 13.5 lbs) only wakes once to eat at night. My larger twin (17.5 lbs) wakes every two hours and throws a fit if I try to put him back down without eating. I know it could be the 4 month wakeful but I haven't gotten longer than a 3 hour stretch out of him in almost a month (he was going up to 7 hours at one point). Should I assume he truly needs to eat every time and feed him or is there a way to decrease the night feedings at this point? I went back to work this week so I'm trying to have his childcare provider feed him as much as possible during the day but he definitely isn't as good with a bottle. His sleep has been bad for awhile though so I don't think that transition is causing it. Thanks for any advice, I'm exhausted!!
    Have you tried squeezing in an extra nursing session?  I cluster feed in the morning and at night (which may be very difficult with twins, granted) so that LO gets more feeds in during the day and fewer bottles while at DC.  I used to get up at 5:30 or 6 with him so that I could nurse him twice before work, but I would always have to wake him up. Then started letting him sleep later, and now he nurses at 7am and again at 8am- he'll actually do a pretty full feed that second time.  We also nurse hourly in the evenings after work- most nights he'll get up once or twice to eat, and that's it.  He's 14 weeks old now, and we've been doing this for a few weeks.
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