4-Month-old Baby Nurses at 5:30, 6:30 and 8:30 Every Night

I would start giving him cereal. I think you should give it to him at the same time as you eat. Why not start the family meal now? He seems hungry enough to have a tablespoon or two mixed with formula. My son started at 4 months with cereal. He is healthy, perfect weight, strong and happy. My son went down for the night at 6:30 for a long time and is just now starting to go later. He ate dinner and knocked out fast. I guess that is the way they adjust to food. Every baby is different but I really would try a spoon of cereal and see how it helps him.

Hi Wendolyn,

Did you think about pumping a bottle the night before (after baby is fast asleep) and then saving it to replace a feeding the next day so you don't run out of milk and can perhaps change his pattern of dinner time snacking?

My son will be 6 mos. next week and has gone through similiar episodes, but they change. Their eating habits will continue to change as they grow so I wouldn't worry. Soon enough you will enjoy a warm dinner and sleep. Just remember, this to shall pass. :)

Mine was bottle fed, now a year. She always ate about 6-6:30 and then 8:30-9. So its seems about right. We eat at 5-5:30 and I could eat. We put her in the swing, bouncy seat, or on the floor next to us as she played. We also ate in the living room, this was easier. It works for us and we can eat together. Now, she in a chair and I feed her finger foods, I eat, then I feed her. He/She could also take a bottle on his own, he maybe able to hold it. Just so you can eat. A thought. It gets better!

Keep breastfeeding him! You are lucky to have a baby who wants to cluster feed like this. It is what allows him to sleep longer. And you say you have no milk left. This is untrue. Just one or 2 days of you letting him nurse when he wants at hose times and your body will make what he needs.
As far as missing dinner- I used to have baby in my lap and a dinner fork in my hand. You do what you gotta do. He'll grow up soon enough. Don't rush it. I my eyes, this is normal. That's what my DD did.

hi, can totally understand your frustration, however my belief as a wholistic Nutritionist is that these little miracles (babies) we have know exactly what they need, and i do not agree with the majority that we should control when they eat, as their bodies need the food at certain times for a reason...missing dinner or it being interrupted will not lat forever, there is a reason he needs to nurse when he does
i nursed my daughter whenever she needed it as remember the most powerful immune nutrition comes from your breast milk but also the act of just nursing alone, and the bonding that takes place must be what your baby needs...so adjust to this, and this too shall pass..hey i used to prop her on my breast and eat with the other hand, whatver she needed..and in the long run it was the best for all involved..you know we are beings of always wanting what is comfortable for us, and going out of our comfort zone is hard to do, yes i know, but the path of least resistance really pays off in the long run, it is called being proactive not reactive and the sooner we let go the sooner things work themselves out.

peace & blessings, and my what blessings you do have!
E.
www.nutritionwithellen.com

You should nurse your baby on demand. He makes the schedule, not you.
Also, I would try to breastfeed exclusively until at least six months, before introducing cereal or baby food.

If I were you, I wouldnt eliminate any of his feeds. And I would ditch the formula. It may seem like you are out of milk by evening, and though your supply may drop a bit in evenings, you are never ever truly empty. The more formula you give him, the more you risk your supply. I would recommend having a baby moon with him, where you just settle in for a day or two and nurse, nurse, nurse. This will help build ytour supply back up to eliminate the formula. And for what its worth, once you get used to a "routine" that baby has established, they switch it up on you. So I cant imagine this lasting long! I would just continue to nurse on demand. Sure, cold meals come with the territory at times. But its a small price to pay for a healthy happy baby and a good milk supply. Its normal for them to nurse at times eevry 1.5 hours. You do get a good 5 hour stretch at some point right? He needs to make up for it at some point. You're doing great...just follow his lead. He knows what he needs...if he's hungry, he's hungry, ya know? Good luck!

Hi Wendolyn,
I agree with the posters who suggested not eliminating any breastfeedings and eliminating the formula. Your baby is getting closer to the age of eating solids, but isn't there yet. He is getting bigger and he is hungry. He may also be looking for comfort. Your milk is let down when your baby stimulates the breast, your breasts are never truly "empty" so I would doubt that you're "out of milk" at the last feeding.
I notice that you work part time. Are you out of the house in the afternoons? A lot of babies will "reverse cycle" and not really eat when the breastfeeding mom is not with them, and then cluster feed when she is. A lot of working moms experience this.
Good luck!

cluster feedings are normal at that time of night because you are producing less milk at that hour. My 4 month old went through a phase of going to sleep between 5:30 and 6:30, enjoy it, it doesn't last. It might be easier to change your schedule a bit. Can you nurse him before you eat?

It's called the witching hour. Every single one of my kids did this at the same time! I just learned to eat dinner alot earlier. LOL

Your baby is still young and will probably do this for a while yet. Don't worry, things will even out eventually and baby will be on the same schedule as the rest of the family.

Ours are. :-)

Sounds like you've gotten great advice and info on the cluster feedings. Very normal! By 4 or 5 months an early bedtime should emerge and it's possible that your son is overtired. When my daughter was 4 months, we had to put her to bed at 5:30 p.m. Any nursing she did after that point was in her quiet, dark room and she was immediately put back into bed. She's now 7 months and goes to bed between 6 and 6:30 p.m. and sleeps a 10-12 hour stretch before waking. By getting her to bed when she was screaming for it, we eliminated her need to cluster feed into the night. I still breastfeed her on demand at night, but it's usually just once if at all, around 4am.

I don't think I've eaten a hot dinner at a normal hour in 2 years (I have a 20 month old too)...I work full time and it's either "pull something out of the freezer" that I made in advance and eat at 5pm, or wait until the kids are in bed. Our 20 month old goes to bed at 7pm. Good luck!

It is normal for some babies to cluster-feed at this age. My baby girl did this as well for awhile and then would have a nice long sleep - it could be a growth spurt. Be patient and things will even out. Your spagetti won't be cold forever. good luck!

Your baby smells your food and wants to eat too. Change his feeding schedule so he eats just before your dinner.

well,, hmmm, a couple things come to mind... first - if I was truly gonna eliminate one, it would be 6:30 because usually they don't need that top off... it may help to give him a little formula with the 5:30 feed..then 8:30 is great..orrr move it up to 8:00. There's a chance he's hungry so fast because he's not getting the hind milk (which is the milk with all the filling fatty stuff.) the fore milk is what comes out first which is deceptive... All that said,, in reality he is 16 weeks old.. I would change dinner time for me to 6:00 so he gets what he needs right now (it changes so fast anyhow) and you get hot food. Good Luck.

My son was very similar to this. He would nurse at 7:00, 8:00, and 9:00 at night. An hour between feedings. He was about 7 weeks old when he started this habit. I didn't think he should be hungry, but we'd try other soothing tactics, but nothing worked unless I nursed him. Dad would try to take him and go into another room, but that led only to a crying baby. I couldn't bear for him to cry and cry. So, I would nurse him. After a few weeks, my nipples couldn't take it anymore. I discovered that he just wanted to chop on something, so I gave him a pasafire and that helped to sooth him. It was only a phase, thankfully, and he broke it with the help of the passafire. I hope you can find a break for yourself as well!

Wendolyn,

My son did the same thing. I used to nurse him while I ate my dinner. He won't keep that schedule forever. My son began eating his baby food around an hour before our dinner so I could feed and then nurse him before dinner time. Now that he's 1, he eats dinner with us. :)

L.

There is nothing abnormal about a 4 month old nursing that often. Don't eliminate a feeding, stop supplementing(it hurts your supply), and avoid solids until 6 months(immature gut). You are never out of milk, you can nurse as soon you finish nursing if needed. Your baby knows what he needs, follow his lead. The inconveniences only last a short time. If it bothers you that much try to gently adjust the times of the feedings (or the time of your dinner). I've known infants who went to bed at 5p! so 6:30p can certainly be normal. My first needed to be in bed by 7p or he went ballistic. Just my own two cents:)

I'd be hesitant to give up any of them. Sounds like he's cluster feeding to me. Personally, I'd rather him eat a lot in the evening than get up and eat in the middle of the night.

My guy did this but I switched dinner time instead of his feedings.

If you keep giving him the formula you're never going to make enough milk. I would try nursing whenever he wants to in that period in order to keep your supply up and hopefully soon he'll get enough to keep him filled all through the night.

Good luck!

I don't think that there is a specific time or schedule when a baby should be nursed. I found that with my son when he nursed more frequently than usual it was because he was going through a growth spurt, he was teething, he had gas, or he just needed to be pacified. He wouldn't take a pacifier for the first few months, but when he did he nursed less frequently during the early evening hours. Sometimes I was eating dinner at 8 o'clock or later. He never really had a schedule. Once it seemed like he did it would change. I do think 6:30 may be early for him to go to bed because he may get up extremely early, but if he isn't than it is probably fine. My son is 10 months now and still wakes up about 3 times a night. Who knows when it will end. He is eating more solids now and about to walk so maybe he'll exhaust himself a little more. Good luck!

I have a 4 month old too. She is doing similar things. What I decided was to add a little cereal in the evening. So instead of the 6:30 feeding maybe you could try 1-2 Tbl. rice cereal to hold him over. Then your body will have more milk for the 8:30 feeding and maybe he won't need as much either and you can avoid the formula thing. I know...pediatricians recommend waiting sometimes on the cereal but I think it's helped us. See what happens. He's proably going through a growth spurt.

Where do you pastor? I attend LoveJoy on Genessee.

M.

he's only a baby and I don't think you should be "eliminating" any feedings. You shoul feed on demand. If your concerned about your dinner being cold, change YOUR feeding time, not his. 6:30 could be a bedtime for a 4 month old. My neighbors daughter goes down at 6:30 for the night and sleeps till 6 the next morning. she's 5 months old, but only formula fed. Breastmilk goes through babies alot quicker then formula, hence the reason breastfed babies get hungry quicker.

It's called cluster feeding. My kids did it every evening when they were little little babies. Can you try seeing if the baby can eat more during the day? He's proabbly bulking up for the night.

have you tried eating while b'feeding? I've done that.
good luck. it's not uncommon for babies to cluster feed.

He may be going thru a growth spurt. Maybe try putting him in a carrier or sling while you are eating. Also call a lactation consultant. If you arent nursing enough during the day he may be trying to catch up for the night.
My son "cluster fed" like that as well for a little while -it isnt easy, but eventually it stops. Good luck

Hi Wendolyn,

It sounds very typical--it's called cluster feeding. Many babies do it in the early evening like that. Usually gets worse when they're going through a growth spurt. My experience (and I have 5 and have missed many dinners) is that you just have to accept it; it's what he needs. You can become very adept at nursing and eating one handed--just need to get your husband, or any other adult, to cut your food for you (or cut it all up when you cut your 3 year old's up). This too shall pass! Good luck.

Hi! I'm way late but I recommend attending your local La Leche League meeting or at least, looking them up and speaking to a leader. There's a lot of mis-information floating around and you want to be careful.

There are periods where babies are experiencing growth spurts and during those times, they will nurse more often. You may think you've run out of milk but that doesn't happen. It may not come out as plentiful as when the baby hasn't nursed for say an hour but there's always milk there. It doesn't turn off. As long as the baby is nursing, you'll produce milk. If you eliminate a feeding, you could decrease your milk supply and cause problems in that the baby's demand will be greater but your supply won't meet his demand.

I understand your concerns but just remember, this time doesn't last forever.

If it were me, I would continue to nurse on demand and make use of the microwave. If baby is not on solids forcing them to miss or rearrange feedings may be tough.

If your son is that hungry at 5:30, you will just have to eat a little later or a little earlier. Believe me, I have 4 kids (4,6,8,10) and I still do not always get super warm food because the younger ones need more milk or whatever throughout the meal. Also, since he is 4 months, you could try introducing a little cereal after you nurse at the 5:30 feeding or supplementing with a little formula at that time. That should hold him until 8 or so, and your husband could do that part of his feeding so you can eat. Then breastfeed again later as you have been before he goes down for the "night".

Now here's my theory on nursing when your children are a little older - Not everyone has a bountiful supply of milk, even if you sit and do the nurse constantly thing for a couple days. I know that with EVERY child of mine I didn't, and I tried everything to increase my supply, so if you say you're sort of out of milk sometimes, I know what you mean. Even with my smaller supply I successfully nursed all 4 for as long as I could ( 7months, 13 months, 12 months, & 10 months). It varied with each child at what point I had to supplement my nursing, and I definitely added formula to that last bedtime feeding as they got older if they started waking up more than once in the middle of the night. And yes, the cluster feeding may be a growth spurt so try to stick it our a little longer, but to me it sounds more like the 6:30 is a little snuggle and drift off thing, not really hunger. Sometimes my kids just wanted to suck, so I was a big fan of the pacifier in those situations.

Anyway, that's just what worked for me, so follow your instincts and you'll be fine. Don't beat yourself up if you have to use a little formula now and then. Before you know it you'll be through this phase and on to another.

It's called "cluster-feeding" and is totally normal for a breastfed baby- and necessary for a good milk supply and future healthy sleep patterns for them to do this in the evening.

As far as normal- I think 6:30 is within the range of normal for a bedtime. At this age they change so much that it could be different in a week or two- just keep observing his sleepy signs and respond to his cues!

My second son (now 3) used to cluster feed every night from about 7:30-10:30 PM. And I was nursing. (OUCH) It's something some kids just do. (I called the lactation consultant at the hospital to see what was going on.) Yes, it was annoying. Especially when he'd snack and snooze, but as soon as you moved him off, he'd wake and fuss/scream/etc. We tried bottles to no avail (both pumped and formula). Once we started cereal with him (at four months adjusted, so he was closer to six months of age), the cluster feeding stopped. :-) Looking back, it's just a bad dream, but when I was going through it, it was definitely a nightmare...

im sure you have gotten tons of advice so here is mine:)

i am a huge researcher so here are just some things to consider. DO NOT FEED HIM SOLIDS i.e cereal. if you do any research at all, the first thing to come up is that breastfeeding exclusively is recommending by EVERYONE for the first 6 months. there are several reasons, but the easiest way to look at it is a babys digestive system isnt fully developed until 6 months, but even more importantly, all the benefits associated with breastfeeding(and there are a ton) show decreases with starting solids before.

i would highly advise against eliminating a feeding. the best way to satisfy your son as well as keeping up your milk supply is to feed on demand. with forced scheduling, you could hurt your milk supply, or end up with him not getting everything he needs. he needs a certain number of ounces in a 24 hour period so if your lose one feeding, your may hate the next time more.

this is just a phase, and in another month or 2, he will be doing something completely different. what it sounds like to me is he is just sleepy at 6:30 and nursing to go to sleep. remember, if they take a feeding and are actively swallowing, they are hungry. otherwise, its comfort. i would either try to get him to take more at 5:30, then try to get a full feeding at 6:30. he is falling asleep before he really gets to fill up now, and thats not good. the other option is cluster feeding which is a def possibility.

i personally think its a bad idea about the formula. you arent technically "out of milk" at that time. its more like your body doesnt realize you were needing it since you arent feeding him. if you nursed him at 8:30, in a few days, you would have plenty. remember, breastfeeding is a cycle. if you dont nurse at 8:30, and he goes up to 5 ounces, 7 ounces, ect. you are always going to be supplementing. remember, if you dont nurse him, your body doesnt know it needs to make milk.

well hope you figure this out, but as soon as you do, something else will age. fwiw, at 4 months, i was mostly eating my dinner with my daughter attached right at the tabel. i guess it was like our first attempt at having dinner all together!!! good luck

Hi,

I was just thinking rather than cut out a feeding (not a good idea if you have low milk production) go ahead and feed him a half hour earlier, give hime a few things to chew on if he is chewing and you may be able to push bedtime to seven or seven thirty, a very normal time to go to bed. But remember he is still very little and may not be ready to adjust to your time table. Good luck.

S.

My kids always demanded to be fed every 1.5 hours in the evenings too, just as you described. I attributed it to them "stocking up" for the night. I, like you, was empty at night - not just a little milk, but empty, totally empty. So I too switched the last feeding of the day to formula. No they didn't sleep longer, but my husband gave that feeding so I could reheat dinner and relax a bit.

I really don't think you could eliminate a feeding just yet. Your baby sounds like he needs them all, just like mine. And it will only be a matter of weeks before he will let you know that he only needs one feed before bed. And yes, I think 6:30 is too early right now. For me I prefered to stay up a little later and sleep a little later so the last feed was around 8-9 ish. When he is closer to 12 months 7:00 is a great bedtime.

Remember too that a growth spurt may be occurring and he is trying to increase your supply. It is tough, but try not to control the situation too much because as soon as you get him right where you want him he'll change his schedule again and all that effort will have been for naught. Good luck!

My little one did this too! Like she was powering up for the night ahead. She would nurse almost non-stop from 4 until her 7:00 bedtime.

Your little guy could be hitting a growth spurt or getting his calorie needs met for the day. The 8:30 wake up is probably a habit/comfort feed. To get around it you'll probably need your husband to comfort him back to sleep and expect him to be hungry a little earlier in the morning.

Hi, I also have a 4 month old. My last feeding is at 6:30. If your son is used to snacking he will never biuld up the milk supply you need for him to sleep through the night. I would start a schedule, starting with the first feeding of the day and than waiting at least three hours between feedings. Sometimes a baby seems hungry but is actually over tired. I also have a sleep schedule. He naps at 9:30-10:30 and than 1 -3. He is sleeping through the night, 12 hours. I'm exclusively breast feeding. I hope that this helps. Good luck.

Wendolyn,
I just lost my reply, and concentrated, since I'm in a hurry is this:

http://breastfeedingonline.com/newman.shtml

If you are losing your supply, you need to A) nurse more and B) drink more water. Make sure you eat (and if you have to nibble between meals to keep from going hungry, DO!) balanced and enough, because regular (according to all the hype of having a baby) is and has been out the window for some time now. :)

I have been through losing supply - it has dwindled, and now I am relying on more herbal remedies for increasing it.

Stress will also reduce your supply, and it is amazing how quickly it will go (it did for me anyway). Try to breathe evenly, continue giving the love and attention that your boys need, and focus on feeding your son, instead of waiting on him. It is easy to carry him around (Moses basket is ONE TIME MACHINE WISH I have) or even put him in a play area with a monitor and a mobile for a few minutes.

I wouldn't eliminate any food for the little guy - he's growing. He's going to need that at continually odd times - you can try to schedule all you want, but the human body, while mostly operating on a circadian rhythm, is known for having things happen at INOPPORTUNE TIMES.

You are so lucky he sleeps like a rock - not feeding him what he wants before bed (perfectly normal) may interrupt that, and if you are sleep deprived now, try it for a year. :|

Good Luck,
M.

I feel that whatever the schedule is currently, it will change anyway, so don't work too hard!! Next, baby is probably wanting to nurse at dinner time b/c the aroma of food is in the air, believe it or not. Maybe nurse him while it's cooking, so you can enjoy your hot dinner when he's full. It's probably a good sign anyway, b/c he';ll be hungry for 'table food' when the time comes at the 'right' times of day. Good luck!

Hi Wendolyn,
First, I'd eliminate which ever one didn't fit into my schedule.
From what you wrote, it looks like the 6:30 feed is an habitual comfort feed. So, I'd suggest getting him out of the habit of that and eliminate that one. I never fed my daughter to sleep exactly because of that. I didn't want her reliant on me to fall asleep. But, what I've read about it suggests that you nurse and just before your little one starts to nod off, you pull your nipple out. Do it every single time and soon he'll get used to falling asleep without suckling.

Okay, next, going doing with 1 feed before bed... what he's doing is very normal, and good actually. He's cluster feeding. It's a great way for your baby to stock up on calories before night to sleep longer. Many woman deliberately feed their baby more frequently in the evenings to get a longer stretch after.

We set 7:30 as our bed time for our daughter. It is pretty standard, but it made sense for us too. We're both working parents. But, I've heard many parents do 6:30 and 8:30 as well.

You really can go a few routes here. I'd say think about how you want your night to go, and then adjust his routine from there.

As far as eliminating a feed, you change it in 15 minute increments each day. You can hold off an baby for 15 minutes, longer is a dramatic shift in their day. So, lets say you want to eliminate the 5:30pm feed. On day one, you'd feed him at 5:45 instead. Do that a 2-3 days, then at 6:00, do that a few days, then 6:15, do that a few days, then finally you're at 6:30pm. I'd say, depending on the nature/temperment of your baby, you're looking at a 1-2 week adjustment.

That is how we did it. My daughter would nurse at 3pm, then nap until about 4:30 and nurse again. Then cat nap at 5pm for 30-45 minutes, then nurse at 6:00pm, then bath, massage, jammies, offer one last feed (not to sleep, though), sing songs, and lights out at 7:30pm. She cut out that cat nap soon enough, and her 3pm nap moved to 2pm...blah, blah, it all changes so quickly!

All in all, he seems pretty normal to me :)

i say go for the food! try some rice cereal. I know a lot of md's say wait till 6 months but your little guy sounds hungry! my guy was big - 8lbs 2ozs @ birth so our doc told us to start at 4 months...he was drinking formula for what felt like constantly! it really helped!

hope that helps!

Wendolyn,

It sounds ike your little guy is ready to start eating some foods. My daughter was doing the same thing, I couldn't suffice her appetite at 4 months. My doctor told me to start her on some cereal. I gave her some fruit, like applesauce, with oatmeal, and this seemed to help a lot. I started in the morning after her first bottle. Once she got the hang of the spoon thing, we started in the evening. She seemed much better and started to sleep longer. Good luck!!!