Breastfeeding and STTN?

[Zal88]

I EBF my LO and he still only does 3.5 - 4 hours once during the night and he's almost 12 weeks!!!

Is this normal for a BF baby? I know formula stays in their tummys longer so FF babies sleep longer, I want to continue BF so won't switch to forumla just for sleep. Is there a way I can get him to sleep longer? I need some sleep!

Oh and I don't really have a routine, he goes to bed around 10/11pm

 

[sallybee]

My LO was EBF until about 16 weeks and STTN from about 6 weeks til 14 weeks (from 10pm-7am). Then she started waking once. I'm now combi feeding (for unrelated reasons) and she still wakes once.

I believe it's very dependent on the individual tbh. All I do is try to cluster feed her before bed and keep a bedtime routine. She is also in her own room. Xx

 

[tiggy85]

I would say its normal and even FF babies can wake just as frequently.

If it makes you feel better I'm EBF and Luca wakes at least twice a night usually 2am and 5 am. Giving him a dream feed at 10.30 pm does not appear to be making him go longer so I may just go back to his last feed at 7pm as he was managing t o through till 2 ish without dream feed!

I'm sure Luca is waking out of habit rather than hunger but won't do anything about it till he is older. He is also 12 weeks old.

 

[Zal88]

I meant he does one long stretch at night then he wakes every 2 hours, so he's up between 2 or 3 times a night, I was thinking of not picking him up straight away and see if he goes back to sleep, but if he's actually hungry I'll feed him. Like you say it could be out of habit x

 

[tweetyfoo]

I think its down to individual babies, as FF babies wake during the night too

You could try expressing and giving a bottle of expressed milk before bed in the hope of giving him more than he would take during a feed?

 

[Zal88]

Thanks tweety, I've tried that but he doesn't take it at night he just wants boob lol. I think he had a long feed tonight so fingers crossed!

 

[missyeovil]

Aela's the same and she's just over 4 months old. I gave up trying to find a magical way to get her to sleep longer. I've just given her a bedtime routine and let her get on with it. She still feeds 3 sometimes 4 times in the night, I think part of it is comfort. I'm not going to worry about it too much at the moment because as everyone says, all babies are different and one day she will STTN...it may not be till she's 18 and has moved out but it WILL happen one day!! Hope it happens for you soon though...and if you find a miracle solution please let me know! xxx

 

[mrswoody]

Madison used to sleep through then about 6 weeks ago started waking on the night. She now waked between 2-3 times and feeds everytime I'm hoping once we start weaning she will drop the night feeds and sleep longer.
It's a myth that ff baby's sleep through x

 

[jojo_2012]

3.5-4hrs is good especially at that age. We had our ups and downs but at times he woke every hour or so. But being BF night feeds were easy and I'd often dose off before he did. Only since he turned 1 does he occasionally sleep through the night. I wouldn't worry about it your baby is just asking for what he needs.

My 1st baby was FF, he was consistently an even worse sleeper. Plus I had to get up and make bottles and would try to rock him to sleep when with a BF baby you can just latch them on as often as you want.