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Sleeping through the night

clabgustclabgust member
in Breastfeeding
just had LO 4 month well visit. While I love our pediatrician, she said something that seemed crazy to me. Wanted to see what others do. 
She asked if he was sleeping through the night. I said some nights he will sleep a 6 hr stretch while other nights he nurses every 3 hrs. She said I shouldn't be nursing when he wakes up or he will always need that and will not learn to sleep. I was shocked he's only 4 months. While I know he should be sleeping maybe 5-6 hours at a time. I haven't thought of not feeding him at night? What's everyone's input on this topic.
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Re: Sleeping through the night

  • karlimonsterkarlimonster member
    edited June 2016
    That sounds crazy to me! At my son's 9 month checkup I asked the doctor about sleeping through the night since I was getting the feeling he just felt like eating, but didn't actually need it. He said he could have started at 6 months and gave me some earplugs, hahaha. Since we moved and things were changing we ended up not doing it until 10/11 months. I definitely felt like we could have done it sooner and will give it a try sooner with this next one. (It ended up being much easier than I anticipated). If you're like me you'll be able to tell when your kid is waking up just cuz and know it's time to make a change. 
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  • krissyberbkrissyberb member
    4 months is crazy. My son started sleeping through the night (about 10 hours) at 9 months. If he's sick or we're in a new place all bets are off. 
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  • taysuntaysun member
    I think it's your personal preference. I will ever not offer to feed my DD. After a while I would offer a pacifier first but if she doesn't want it I feed her. DD is just about six months old and still nurses/wakes up anywhere from 2-5 times a night. 
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  • 4N6s4N6s member
    It sounds like she's just trying to help not create a "monster!" At 4 months, she or he doesn't need to be fed every 3 hours, they're just wanting it for comfort. If you can get them to sleep longer and know when they wake up after 3 hours, they won't be fed they'll sleep longer in theory. 

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  • Ceridwen77Ceridwen77 member
    edited June 2016
    My DD will be 7 months this week and still wakes 3-5x a night. She's also a peanut (16th percentile in weight), so I'm going to feed her when she wakes. I spoke with an LC who said that some LC's/doctors do recommend not feeding during the night starting at 4mo. She stated she had a different opinion and that was to stop night feeding at 6mo. So essentially the advice you were given was not out of left field, but personally I wouldn't agree with it. At the end of the day though you have to do what's right for you & your family.  
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  • SmrBrd2012SmrBrd2012 member
    4 months is still a little early but I know it is occasionally recommended to cut down some of the night feedings at that point. I was reluctant to as well but I did notice that my son really wouldn't be drinking much when he woke up and I would nurse him. He would basically fall asleep within a minute or so. At that point I realized he probably didn't need the feeding. However, it also comes down to if you want to quickly get him back to sleep or not. I did, so I continued to do it for a couple more months.
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  • A&LmommyA&Lmommy member
    edited June 2016

    It all depends on what you feel comfortable with. Both my kids were/are bigger babies, I demand feed and they never took pacifiers. My daughter didn't sleep through the night until 22 months, then 2 months later she weaned herself. I know that's not what you wanna hear though haha. I know at one point that it was just for comfort and she still sleeps in bed with us at 2.5 yrs old. At the time its horrible waking up that often but I look back and I love remembering how her eyes rolled back when she nursed. At 4 months, she was 16 lbs, 5 oz. My lil man wakes every 2 hrs like clockwork and I just follow his lead. He's 4 months and I think he weighs more than 18 lbs but is proportioned. I feel like I have to feed him to keep up with his growth. We'll get the official stats tomorrow at his Dr appt.

    Update: Just got back from his Dr appt. He is 98% for weight and 72% for height. At that age, my daughter was 86% for weight and 75% for height.

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  • nackienackie member
    Our pediatrician said something similar at our 4 month appointment earlier this month.  Right now we're trying to get him to go back to sleep without nursing if it's been less than 4 hours, but sometimes that just doesn't work and he actually is still hungry
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  • emilyalsoemilyalso member
    I know some people follow VERY strict schedules, and would probably say not to feed during the night. (Others would say absolutely feed on demand around the clock!) My 'rule' is that since some nights, LO sleeps all the way through and does fine, I don't think its a problem to feed him when he does wake up since I know he can make it without as well. 
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  • ivyvines6ivyvines6 member
    My LO is 14 weeks and has been sleeping through the night since the ten week mark. He started with five hours, and now he's going about ten each night... Pediatrician said it's fine because he's in the 90% for height and 98% for weight. The only problem I've had so far is waking up engorged! It's perfectly acceptable for your baby to sleep through the night by four months, but don't feel pressured to make your baby adhere to a schedule that doesn't work for them. Every baby is different, and if your LO needs those night feedings, they need those night feedings!
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  • SDaniels19SDaniels19 member
    At 6 mos my son still feeds once at night, somewhere between 2:30 and 5 am.  He is not lacking for weight either, has always been 95th percentile. If he wakes up before that we put him back down with a paci. We started this when he was falling back asleep at the breast without hardly eating anything, that was my cue that he was just comfort nursing and not hungry. There is such a wide range of normal, do what feels best for you. A friend of mine nursed her son whenever he woke up through 11 mos and he STTN now at 13 mos so it will not necessarily create a problem- I would just use your best judgement on whether or not LO is actually hungry and go from there. 
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  • BestmomideasBestmomideas member
    My pediatrician told us that my son could go through the night without nursing at 6 months, not 4 months.  I think babies would still need to be nursed if they woke up in the middle of the night at 4 months because they don't get any solids yet or are just starting solids. 

    Autumn
    BestMomIdeas.com
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