Not finishing all bottles...then Up at 3am

dAsch14 · May 2016

LO has a new habit of not finishing all of his bottles in the evening and then waking up at 3am to eat. It is NOT fun!
He's doing 3 meals of solids a day along with 5-6 bottles of formula. Sometimes in the evening he won't finish one or both of his bottles and then many times he'll be up in the middle of the night and the only thing that will get him back to sleep is a bottle.

We've never "fed him to sleep". He always eats then has a diaper/clothes change, book, and then bed. So its really weird that all of the sudden (for the last 3-4 weeks) he wants to eat in the middle of the night.

It's usually not much either. Maybe 1-2 oz and he's back to sleep, so he's not even necessarily taking what he should have eaten for "dinner time".
Is this the equivalent of waking up for a drink of water?

What's up with this? I don't want to force feed him (doesn't work anyway) but I don't want to be up at 3am either! How do we get him enough that he's not hungry overnight?

lmbrandt · May 2016

We seem to go through this too every few weeks. Last week he would leave ounces behind...his bottle before bedtime is 7.5 ounces, and he'd only drink about 4 of it if we were lucky! Other bottles throughout the day became a battle too, he'd take a few sips and then not want anymore. It seems to be getting better though. No clue if it's teething related, growth spurt, current leap he's in? What was weird is that he ate his solids just fine, but was refusing the bottles.

Kelliek327 · May 2016

I've read that if they are waking up and only eating a little, then falling right back to sleep then they aren't truly hungry, just doing it out of habit or for comfort. Could it be teething or a leap that's causing him to wake up?

Also, a few months ago my LO started to push away his nighttime bottle before he was through with it and try to sit up. It seemed like he was just done with it, but he loves to eat so I was a little surprised by it. I've found that if I let him sit up for a minute or two, then offer him the bottle again he will lay back and keep drinking. I have to do it several times usually throughout the evening feeding. I think sometimes he just wants a little break from drinking to look around, burp, or do whatever even though he's still hungry. Also, when he's sick or getting sick sometimes he seems less interested in eating.

dmbfan46835 · May 2016

Growth spurt maybe? Or teething ornearninfextiin hurting when he sucks? We have kind of the opposite issue of yours. My little shit had 14 ounces of BM last night for his last feeding and still woke at 2:30 for another 5 ounces and then this morning at 6 he was wide away and slammed another 5 ounces. I Had to break into my freezer stash. He's been eating an entire bottle between 2 and 3 for weeks now. And dude is about 30" and 18lbs so he's not a fat kid. No idea where all this food is going. But I'm OVER IT. And my supply cannot keep up at this point.

FatPony · May 2016

^14 oz?!!! Holy moly! How is your baby only 18 lbs!

dmbfan46835 · May 2016

@fatpony I know right?!! He's been in the teens in his weight percentiles since birth. And was only 18 lbs when he went to urgent care for an ear infection last week. If he keeps eating like this I am in big trouble. No way my body can keep up this late in the game!

RobsMrs77 · May 2016

@dmbfan46835 'my little shit' that made me howl with laughter! Hahaha!
I'm not laughing at your situation, just the way you put it. *wipes tear from eye with laughter.
:-D

RobsMrs77 · May 2016

Also meant to say maybe try water? Could also be just habit now, especially as little one is only taking an ounce or two.
Hope things improve!

Not finishing all bottles...then Up at 3am

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