Feeding and bedtime

OK, so our pediatrician suggested that we move to a four hour feeding schedule rather than the three we were on. We've tried it for the last couple of days and not only do they get really fussy for about an hour before the 7:00 feeding (which they had stopped), they also wake up around 2:00 ravenous! Do any of you (or did you) do a four hour, four bottles schedule at four months?

Also, since they are getting their "last" bottle at 7:15ish we have moved their bedtime up to then - when were yours going down at four months and how long were they sleeping and did you feed them in the middle of the night?

Sorry so many questions - I am just kind of at a loss because I feel like they are now not getting enough (6-7 ounces at all three feeds, 8 ounces at one) and we are back to having fussy babies when before they were pretty content until their 8:30 bedtime. The earlier bedtime (7:30) has not changed when they wake up at night and they may need that extra time but I just don't know if they are gettting enough calories.

Thanks for your help!

 

It sounds like that they might time to adjust to their new schedule. Also have you tried giving them more in the bottle to see if that helps? Maybe ease them into a 4 hour schedule, starting with every 3.5 hours? Mine at 4 months were still hungry every 3 hours, so we kept it that way. Bedtime was around 7:30 and they were STTN then, so it might just be that yours might need the 2am feed for now and then eventually won't need it. Good luck!

 

My girls have always been on a 3 hour schedule. At 4 months they were sleeping 6:30 or 7pm-6:30 or 7am, no night feedings. I have tried to get them to go farther between feedings, but they are miserable. It seems to just work for us.

 

QUOTE(itsnancycozzi @ Jan 8 2009, 05:53 PM) [snapback]1138389[/snapback]
It sounds like that they might time to adjust to their new schedule. Also have you tried giving them more in the bottle to see if that helps? Maybe ease them into a 4 hour schedule, starting with every 3.5 hours? Mine at 4 months were still hungry every 3 hours, so we kept it that way. Bedtime was around 7:30 and they were STTN then, so it might just be that yours might need the 2am feed for now and then eventually won't need it. Good luck!


I would try to ease them into the schedule like Nancy suggests. If that doesnt work, then I would say they still need to eat every 3 hours. Mine really never did get to a 3 hour bottle only schedule. Sometimes it just doesnt work out.

 

I also tried to go to a 4 hour schedule recently, via a 3.5 hour interim schedule, and mine protested the 3.5 hour so much I went back to 3 hours after one day. Mine aren't big eaters, only doing 5 to 6.5 ounces/bottle so I think they need the extra bottle. At 4 mos we were doing seven bottles/day with the last bottle at 8:30pm and one 2-3am feeding, starting up at 6am for the day. At 4.5 months we did CIO to drop the 2am feed, and at 5.5 months they started going to bed around 7:30pm, and now our last bottle is around 6:30pm, so we're doing five bottles a day, every 3 hours.

 

Thanks guys - part of my dilemma is working around when my daycare is able to feed them which is anytime but between 11:00 - 1:00, which makes it difficult to figure out a 3 hour schedule. We could go back to what we were doing which is feed them at 5:00 and then again at 8:30 but they seem to do better with the earlier bedtime - gosh, this is so hard! Mom2Ca how long did you have to try CIO to drop the 2 AM feeding? Natalochka - that is awesome that they slept through the night at four months, how much were they getting in their bottles?

 

I was never able to force mine into a 4 hour schedule. They got there when they were ready... so at 6 months or so. They never drank more per bottle when we moved to 4 bottles though, so they pretty much lost 6-8oz a day when we did.

For your night time problem, mine started skipping the 10pm feeding around 4 months, even STTNed for a while, then woke up around 1-2am until they STTNed at 7 months... I never had to make them CIO. We just fed them when they woke up. I'd talk to your pediatrician about it, mine said even at 6 months that if they were hungry at night we should feed them.

Oh and mine have always gone to bed around 7pm, more or less an hour some days.

 

On the first night of CIO both babies woke at their regular 2am time and cried off and on for about one hour. The second night, just one baby woke at 2am and fussed on an off for about 45 minutes. The same baby woke on night three and fussed for about 20 minutes, off and on. Night four was quiet all night long, and has been since with no relapses. It was brutally hard to do! Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child really helped me, as well as the book and online seminar by www.MomsOnCall.com. Both of the authors/creators of Moms On Call have twins, so they know how to do schedules, etc. and seem to follow the HSHHC principles. I would check with your pedi to make sure your babies can handle missing that feeding. HSHHC said some babies need the middle-of-the-night feeding up to nine months.

I've found that mine will take a bottle at 2.5 hours very well, so you might try doing that to fit your schedule around the 11-1 time when the daycare can't feed. I'm not sure when your first bottle starts, but you could do 7am, 10, 1, 3:30, 6, and 9. That would squeeze in an extra daytime bottle to make up for the 2am bottle if you drop that one at some point.

 

QUOTE(Fossie @ Jan 8 2009, 01:47 PM) [snapback]1138824[/snapback]
Natalochka - that is awesome that they slept through the night at four months, how much were they getting in their bottles?


We were lucky because our girls started to STTN early - 10-12 weeks. But at 4 months they would eat anywhere between 4-6 ounces in each bottle (they got 3 formula feedings, and 2 ebm).

QUOTE(Mom2CA @ Jan 8 2009, 06:58 PM) [snapback]1139190[/snapback]
I've found that mine will take a bottle at 2.5 hours very well, so you might try doing that to fit your schedule around the 11-1 time when the daycare can't feed. I'm not sure when your first bottle starts, but you could do 7am, 10, 1, 3:30, 6, and 9. That would squeeze in an extra daytime bottle to make up for the 2am bottle if you drop that one at some point.


I think that might be a good idea....mine will also take a bottle at 2.5 hours well...GL!