For You Breastfeeding Mamas!

I don't think his pattern is uncommon. Most babies have one long stretch of sleep in the night (which gradually increases). My pediatritions actually considered 6 to 7 hrs sleeping through. I don't know what his feeding schedule is at daycare, but you can ask them to decrease the amount of time between each feeding and see if once he gets more calories in during the day if he can make it longer at night. My first ate every two hours at night for what seemed forever. My second slept through very early. I didnt do anything different with them. I always fed on demand. He may just be pacifying himself....but most breastfed babies do. I always figured I was up either way, to breastfeed or put a paci in.

Best of Luck!

my son was in his own room by 3 months but i still got up with him 3-4 times a night until he was 7 months old. I was tired but i didnt mind nursing him if that is what he wanted. at 7 months old he decided he was fine on his own and started sleeping straight through. Enjoy the time he wants to be with you it is gone before you know it. it seems he has a totally normal schedule to me :)

consistently I see this with my daycare. One thing that helps....is something you're not going to want to hear. You are functioning as the pacifier. Breastfed babies smell their mamas milk while co-sleeping & that triggers them into wanting to eat. Typically, they only eat a little, just one side (a fact proven by these moms when trying to supplement with bottles- the babies drink only 2oz or <). Soooo, in a sense, you are the trigger & the solution...all-in-one.

Just yesterday, one of my Moms spoke with her pediatrician, & the dr's response was, "if you want your child to sleep thru the night, without 2 hour feedings....then you know the answer: move him out of your room. At the very least, move him to the other side of the room. Until you can do this, your child's sleep will be disrupted....rippling thru the family's sleep as well."

My daycare Mom did not want to hear this....& yet, she knew from her previous children that this held true. This is her last child & she's not ready to let go....

As for that evening feeding, make it more cereal than other food & move the bedtime to a later timeframe. That way he's going to bed on a very full tummy....and since he's 5 months old, he's going to require less sleep. Good Luck!

That sounds about right- At night you are more relaxed and let down easier/ faster so he might be filling up his little tummy with one side. Then it takes two hours to break down the milk and he is ready for a refill. At this age they should only do one long stretch of sleeping a day and my guess that is probably at daycare with all the excitement and no Mommy to nurse from might as well nap.

I have a 4 1/2 month old and have similar issues as you. I think breastfed babies just want to be close to their mamas! :-) Anyway, here's my rough schedule (because I feed on demand too and I only ever do one side because I have SO much milk if I do both sides, his diapers reflect too much foremilk).

6 am nurse
10 am nurse and down for 20 min nap
12 pm nurse and down for 30 min nap
4 pm nurse and down for 20 min nap
8 or 9 pm nurse and falls asleep for night
2 or 3 am nurse and sleeps in bed with me for the rest of the night (if I try to put him back in his pack-n-play/cosleeper by our bed, he will wake up in about an hour to nurse again until I just let him stay in our bed).

My kiddo is funny because we both fall asleep when he's nursing, but sometimes I will suddenly feel this little mouth searching (not awake) and he will relatch himself, take a few swallows and then stop again! This is my 2nd baby and he needs to be sucking on something so much more than his brother did (my first loved nursing, but in between times, he didn't need to have something in his mouth...he only sucked his first finger four about a month and never took a paci). I have tried doing the paci at night instead of just letting him nurse again beyond the needed 2 am feeding, which sometimes works and sometimes does not. During the day, he sucks his first 2 fingers, but it is like he forgets about his fingers at night!!!

My only suggestion for you (because everything sounds pretty typical for a breastfed baby) is that maybe feed the baby once more right before you go to bed and maybe that will eliminate one of the other nighttime feedings for you! I have to say, I love snuggling with my little one in bed though as I FINALLY got my cuddle baby (brother is Mr. Independent!)!

I'm breastfeeding my almost 6 month old daughter. We also co-sleep. I still breast feed on demand. I'm a SAHM, so I don't really worry about sticking to a schedule too much.

Our rough schedule is this

6:00 am--nurse from one side for about 10 mins. Fall back asleep till 7:00
7:00 am--wake up
9:30 am--nurse for 15 mins
12:00 pm--lunch of cereal and baby food fruit mixed, nurse after till she falls asleep
3:00 pm--nurse a
6:00 pm--dinner of baby food vegetable mixed w/ baby food meat. Probably about 1/2 jar of veg and 1/4 jar of meat (Second foods), nurse
9:00 pm--Nurse again. Sometimes she falls asleep and sometimes she doesn't
11:00 pm--nurse for a few minutes to fall asleep after diaper change
3:00 am--nurse one side for about 5 minutes, then back to sleep.

I would probably add another bottle in your night time routine. Maybe wake him up when you go to bed? It could be teething too. It's SO hard when they're this little cause they can't tell you what they want! If he sleeps better next to you, then I say just pull him into bed with you for the remainder of the night. That's what I do and it works out well for me. I nurse her laying down in the middle of the night. Most often, we both doze off while she's nursing. She will pull herself off the boob and roll away from me and sleep till morning. Works for me :)

my 3rd child (all 3 have been breastfed) will be 5 months in 1 week. This is a "normal" day for us:
6-7pm nurses and goes down for the night (in crib in her room, we stopped co-sleeping around 4 months of age)
nurses once or twice before 3/4am (sometimes as early as 9pm or as late as 3am)
nurses again around 5am
sleeps in my arms in the rocker until 6/7 am

She naps throughout the day but usually no longer than 45 min. at a time. Sometimes her night feedings are on both breasts but usuaaly just one as she falls back to sleep.

Hope this helps. don't doubt yourself, you know what is best for your liitle guy and you!