Based on your experience, how many times per night do breastfed babies wake to feed at 5-6 months of age?

Question

My son is still waking about every 2&1/2-3 hrs. to feed at night and sometimes, the frequent feedings seem to cause gas issues (where he can't fall asleep immediately after the feed-pulling up legs, crying).

Answer 1

I have breast fed 4 babies. In my experience, all babies are different. My youngest was a very sleepy baby and slept through the night even as a newborn. During the day I had to wake her to nurse every 2-3 hours. By the time my older 3 were 5-6 months old, they generally only woke 1 time to nurse in the night. The last feeding of the day was always around 11-midnight. Each would sleep 5-6 hours, wake to nurse and go back to sleep for a couple more hours. I don't think what you are eating is causing your son's stomach distress. I think it makes sense that he is over-feeding and is perhaps waking up out of habit and not necessarily out of hunger. Try taking an extra minute to go to him when he cries at night. Gradually increase the time you go to him and when you do, make the night-time visit very perfunctory. Don't turn on any more light than necessary to take care of business. If he wants to nurse, let him do so far a little while, but not a full feeding. If he doesn't have a night light, try one. If he has one, turn it off. Change him only if necessary. When he is nursing, don't interact fully with him, speak very low and infrequently. Or just hum. By 6 months, many babies don't actually need night time feedings for nutrition, but wake out of habit. It is a good time to let him learn some self-soothing techniques. Try a pacifier at night instead of nursing if you feel he is getting too much in his stomach to allow him to sleep well.

Answer 2

oh jeez. ruby started that at 6 months. by 9 months, she woke every hour -- just to be rocked. i did it for 3 months, well, 3 1/2 before i finally gave it and realized it was not going away but getting worse. she was exhausted, i was exhausted -- and she was only getting more dependent on me to keep her asleep. so i tried everything, and ultimately used the ferber method. she is now a champion sleeper. we were very methodical and gentle in our approach, and it worked miraculously. it was a revolution. there was a little crying, though. we tried every other method first, and ultimately those approaches were harder on her. however, since 6 months is the youngest age at which this method is appropriate, and since there is a chance this will improve on its own, i recommend the following: get the book "solving your child's sleep problems" by richard ferber -- the revised edition -- and read the relevant chapters. it will explain soooo much about infant sleep and infant sleep disruptions. and, of course, it will outline the approaches to helping your baby sleep. by the time you read what you need, you'll know if you need to use any of the approaches or not. it's a great book to have, anyway, as it addresses problems all the way through childhood. i really, really recommend you get it. also, remember where we were -- every hour all night long. and ruby loooooves her crib and tells me when she wants to go to bed now! so if you have additional questions or need support, please feel free to email. good luck. edit: feeding her more will NOT keep her asleep. however, until 9 months old she may need to have 1-2 overnight feedings. so, yes, you can expect 2 wakings until then. not 5 however -- not 5.

Answer 3

My 5 month old son eats twice during the night. Sometimes he wakes up more but I think it's because his tummy hurts. But most of the time I just feed him twice. Good Luck your baby could be in a growing stage.

Answer 4

Based on my experience, about 5 times a night... every 2 to 3 hours, sometimes more. About half the time he goes back to sleep with no problem, if not, it is because he wants to be held in our arms longer.

Answer 5

My baby is four months and it varies from day to day, sometimes she will only wake up once a night, usually she goes to bed at 10 wakes up around 2am and then again about 6 am and sleeps till 8am.

Answer 6

Something in your diet is causing the gas. Isolate the gassy vegetables and wait a few days before you try another one. My 2 year old daughter is cosleeping and still nurses at night.

Answer 7

Depends on the child. My daughter would wake up maybe once. My son would sleep throughout. Burp him and he will go to sleep, also give him a little bit of gripe water.

Answer 8

I can't express enough how great information from Le Leche League is!!! I read the book, The womanly art of breastfeeding, and it was great! you can get the book online or just about anywhere you get other baby stuff....

REMEMBER, BREAST IS ALWAYS BEST!!!

also, contact your local le leche league group! they can be an enourmous support system for you!

Good Luck!!!!

Source(s):

http://www.lalecheleague.org/nb.html?m=0...

Answer 9

yep every two or three hours, sometimes i get lucky (like twice a month)and get to sleep for about 5 hours or longer if i let him, but i wake up because my boobs are hard.