Feeding more during day will help w/ sleep at night?

Question

I'm trying to get my baby to sleep more consecutive hours during the night by feeding him more (every 1.5 to 2 hours) during the day to fill his belly per some of the sleep books. I've done it for 2 days now and he still won't go longer than a 4 hour stretch at night. How long do I try this method before deciding that it won't work for him and all it'll probably do is cause him to gain too much weight. 1 week? 2 weeks?

Answer 1

Feeding your baby too often can actually lead to snacking rather than eating a full meal. It does tend to be a matter of how many calories are consumed within a 24 hour period, but its more important to focus on larger meals than snacking. My 2 1/2 month old is going about 3.5-4 hours between feedings and eating 5 oz of formula at a time, she's up to a 7 hour stretch at night.

Answer 2

It depends upon how old your baby is. I followed a schedule with my son, feeding him every 3 hours at first, from 7 am until 7 pm, then stretching it to 3 1/2 and then to every 4 hours. He'd also take a feed at around 11pm and one in the middle of the night.

I also tried to schedule in 3 naps during the same period, totalling about 4/5 hours a day.

He's 3 months old now and he's dropped his middle of the night feed, sleeping through from 12 til 7 which is fantastic. He does still wake some nights but usually settles himself back to sleep without any problems.

I found that the schedule has to be flexible though, sometimes babies don't do exactly what we want them to, however, overall we're both doing well with a schedule in place.

Answer 3

I have 3 children, a 10 year old daughter and 7 year old twins (1 boy/ 1 girl). It has been my experience that overfeeding during the day does not increase how long they sleep at night. My daughter slept through the night at 6 weeks old (she was breastfed and didn't start cereal until she was 4 months old) and the twins slept through the night at 3 months (they were bottle fed and not eating cereal until they were 4 months old). I have a few tips for you that my pediatrician gave me. When the baby wakes at night don't rush right in and get him, see if he falls back to sleep by himself. You can also try not letting him oversleep during the day - you can keep him up by giving him a bath or things like that. Depending how old the baby is you can try letting him "cry it out" (don't go in and get him, just let him cry until he falls back asleep). I wouldn't recommend this unless the child is at least 6 months old - my pediatrician said that at 6 months the child wakes up out of habit not out of hunger and letting them cry would be harmless. Hang in there - he'll eventually sleep through the night - one more suggestion - once he does sleep through the night you know he can do it, don't feed him at night anymore after that or you'll create a monster.

Answer 4

Well babies digest the formula after about 4 hours so he's gonna be hungry. How old is your baby? My son didn't sleep all night till 12 months. By then we was off the bottle and started to eat regular food. It's hard the first year but its something you have to go thru.

Answer 5

How often and how much you feed your baby depends on his age, as does how long/often he sleeps. If your baby is a newborn, you'll just have to get up at night. And is he waking up hungry or with gas? If it's gas, there are drops you can buy to take care of it, they seem expensive but you'll only ever need to buy one bottle since you use only one drop at a time. For now you're on his schedule, I know it's hard, but that's how it is. My daughter didn't sleep through the night for her first month or more. And check with the doctor if you're breastfeeding, especially if you're on the pill- they can dry up your milk and maybe he's not actually getting enough.

Answer 6

you are not helping in your method but you have the right idea, do not feed more in day you will overfeed and they will want to eat at that shcedule all night, the bottle you give right before bedtime put some baby cereal in it like Gerber's rice cereal, , this will help them sleep longer,

Answer 7

you should goto your Dr