When your baby wakes in the night

[BevG]

id say if she was hungry really she would fuss more. Alyssa only had a quick feed at about 3-4am at tillys age and im sure she wouldnt have settled without it as she wont take a dummy and would just get louder if i left her. you know your baby tor and you will figure it out im sure. after all if shes lost a lil more weight then you can feed her in the night as a way to boost her weight and if not then its just more to show that she probably dosent need it

 

[My1stBaby]

I was told a hungry baby wouldn't sleep so if she settles I'd say its not hunger. I was told by 12 weeks you can expect them to go through the night, but some can drop the nightfeed earlier. I personally think you'd know if it was hunger, its usually a really hard loud cry for max, whereas an unsettled cry is a lot softer n calms quickly.

Its really down to what you think, maybe ask your HV? I thought babies could drop nightfeeds from 6 weeks as long as they get enough in the day!

Xxxxx

 

[LaurenMM]

I still struggle with this even now sometimes. Angel goes down for the night between 6pm-7pm and usually she'll go right through to 2am-3am, usually I just pop her dummy back in and she's back asleep almost instantly till 5am/6am. However if it takes longer than 10-15 mins or so I usually pick her up, cuddle her, stroke her chest/cheeks, if that doesn't work then it's usually because she's hungry. xx

 

[Mrs N]

Hungry babies will not sleep (well im sure they wud if they were crying for a day and they just flaked out) so we tend to try for a period of time and if he is still booing then we feed him. However we do know that the majority of the time harrison doesnt need feeding in the night so its only growth spurt times that he needs it!!
xxx

 

[Kbex]

With both my children, including my first who fell to the second percentile, but was happy there I had a three dummy rule. If I had to put the dummy back more then three times then she was hungry. If they took the dummy and went back to sleep I wouldn't feed as then they are only wanting the comfort of food etc. I think habit feeding as a way of settling can develop from an early age and from about 8 weeks they may not be hungry at night.

 

[TORino]

Thanks ladies. I'll stick with what I'm doing for the time being and if it takes ages to settle her then I'll feed.

 

[My1stBaby]

good idea xxx

 

[clairebear22]

Obviously stick with what you think is best hun but I fed Jack every night for 8.5mths until he started sleeping through. He has never ever cried when he wakes (even as a newbie) he just lays there waiting for us to come up to him. He'd always have a good feed when he'd wake at night so I knew he was hungry and he'd fall back to sleep on the bottle afterwards.

I personally couldn't have left him to fuss and moan that young and even now i'm a wimp and never let him cry unless he's in trouble. Each baby is different though and you'll know Tilly best x

 

[jojo_2012]

I get Lewis on the tit before he even knows he's awake, if I'm lucky he never realises he is.

 

[clairebear22]

I usedto do the same with Jack before we moved him into is own room. Except with a bottle because we failed at BFing x

 

[TORino]

Trouble is she fusses and moans whether she's been fed or not for some reason. That's why it's hard to determine whether she's actually hungry.

 

[mum2b410]

mum2b i do that! When i stroke her cheek if she is just tired her eyes close slightly, if she is hungry she will go to suck my finger!! xx

Lol! Glad its not just me who does these random things then!

 

[littlemiss83]

Babies make alot of noise when they're sleeping. When my LO was younger & made these noises i'd take him out & get bottle ready only to find out he was sound asleep we always did it this way - try re-settling, blanket/dummy ect, and see how they are in say....5 minutes. And if needed then feed.

As others said, they'll cry if they're hungry, no doubt about it, esp at that young age. And as you said yourself....you dont want to start bad habits if they aren't totally necessary!

Your also right about reflux any un-necessary milk isn't good.

My LO was up every 2 1/2 hrs thro the night when he was born & when he started missing feeds as he got older, he'd often have a wee wiggle about around the time he'd normally get the bottle, i'd always be at the edge of the bed unable to settle incase I had to get up, anyway, he eventually stopped the wriggling at that time.

xxxxxxxxx

 

[JensBump]

I would feed as would be concerned about milk supply and weight gain - usually I get her before she fully wakes and she is back over in 5 mins.

I read this article the other day - http://www.analyticalarmadillo.co.uk/2011/07/baby-taming-if-it-works-does-that-make.html - it is about sleep training but there was a bit about not feeding at night:

Some babies will conform and bend to a schedule easier than others - perhaps they are of a more relaxed, laid back nature (and often these are the infants that may not complain even if weight gain slows or stops - some may happily take a pacifier instead). Others will continue to wake, cry and try to let their parents know what they need in the only ways they can; sounds and crying, eye contact and body language. Given some experts tell you to ignore the cries and not look at the baby - that pretty much eliminates all the options the baby has.

You will know yourself what is best once you get her weighed - Maisie never took the dummy so food or comfort has to be boob

 

[Hunnie]

If she stirs earlier than 3 I just pop her dummy back in but any later than that and she is genuinely hungry and won't settle unless she has a bottle.

 

[muffinferon]

I feed Logan right away. I said to my husband before sometimes I wonder if I should try to rock him to sleep or something before feeding but he says what's the point of he's going to want fed an hour later and wake up again, so rightly or wrongly, I feed him and I don't mind really. Hoping when I start weaning the waking up for night feeds will die down/stop

 

[aliciabubba]

Why is it harder to settle a baby around the 5am mark? I'm having trouble with Ralph at this time of morning... We have black out curtains so no light is coming in. It takes ne ages to settle him and when I put him down he doesn't sleep just lays with eyes wide open.

 

[mum2b410]

I think its possibly the birds singing and noises starting up outside. We went thru a spell of this but Ethan is now waking around 2 and going back off til 6.30ish when he wants to get up for the day. X

 

[TORino]

Don't know how reliable this is but sometimes if I'm not sure I stroke the side if ethans cheek- hungry babies will tend to turn their mouth toward that side and open their mouth looking to suck......u could try that? I think its good to remember that bf is a comfort thing and not just food so it may b that if she isn't hungry she still might want to bf for comfort. I do know where u r coming from tho and it is hard to know the right thing to do but since she's under 6 months its normal to feed at night so I'd probably just feed her xx

I tried the stroking thing last night after she wouldn't settle.

She nearly bit my hand off.

So a visit to her favourite all night cafe followed... Lol

 

[mum2b410]

Don't know how reliable this is but sometimes if I'm not sure I stroke the side if ethans cheek- hungry babies will tend to turn their mouth toward that side and open their mouth looking to suck......u could try that? I think its good to remember that bf is a comfort thing and not just food so it may b that if she isn't hungry she still might want to bf for comfort. I do know where u r coming from tho and it is hard to know the right thing to do but since she's under 6 months its normal to feed at night so I'd probably just feed her xx

I tried the stroking thing last night after she wouldn't settle.

She nearly bit my hand off.

So a visit to her favourite all night cafe followed... Lol

Lol! Bless her- she wanted mummies golden top!