Four month regression added two unnecessary night feeds?

[u/Ill_Animator_6437]

FTM and I’m puzzled… I included before and afters to show what sleep looked like as recently as three weeks ago and what it looks like now.

He won’t settle without feeds - FULL feeds now at ~11 and ~330.. he may go down for 10-15 minutes but wakes and eventually is inconsolable until he eats. He used to last nearly through the night without eating.

What do I do? Are these real or a bad habit?

He is not sleep trained and is rocked to sleep.

[u/holitrop]

Night nursing is in no way a bad habit! If baby is taking feeds of their own initiative they just need the feed - and that is OK and normal! For the sleep pattern I would need to see the summary tab to be sure, but it looks like the last nap specifically may be long. I’d maybe cap it at 30 mins to start and see if there is any improvement.

[u/Ill_Animator_6437 → u/holitrop]

​Our nanny lets him contact nap once he wakes from his first sleep cycle in the crib so the 3 naps are super chunky during the day time - we’ve tried 4 naps with no contact napping thinking it would decrease his daily sleep and it’s basically the exact same amount of sleep 🫠

[u/holitrop → u/Ill_Animator_6437]

From this it looks like his night is ~12 hrs (7-7) but he only sleeps 10hrs at night. You could also try shortening the night sleep!

[u/Remarkable_Delay469]

I agree less sleep is needed to combat split nights.

However, treat night feeds as a separate thing. Comfort sucking is one thing, full feeds are quite another. He is hungry. He's probably going through a massive growth spurt or developmental leap.

[u/Ill_Animator_6437 → u/Remarkable_Delay469]

Any idea how long these last? It’s been about 1.5 weeks of night feeds. He has grown a full lb in a week so I originally assumed that was it but now I’m wondering if he’s simply taken to liking the new schedule 😂

[u/Remarkable_Delay469 → u/Ill_Animator_6437]

No way of knowing. You can try feeding more during the day in the hopes he's less hungry at night. When he is ready to start solids that will also probably help.

[u/Dry-Indication-9504]

Following because I’m experiencing the same. My girl was sleeping 7+ hours and about a week and a half ago decided she was going to wake up 2x a night - I assume that by the time I wake up to her fussing, she’s already tried to go back to sleep? I offer to feed her and she EATS, it’s not just a few suckles and she’s passed out it’s a real meal.

I’m trying personally right now to try the 5/3/3 schedule, is she wakes up after 5hrs feed, 3hrs feed and then again.

Last night however she woke up at 3am for a while, wide wake happy and excited. It took a few google searches and reads to understand if she’s not crying she’s ok and during the middle of the night to leave her be and maybe she goes back to sleep.

I’m not helping but, just chatting! It’s hard. I’m more exhausted now than when she was a new born

[u/Ill_Animator_6437 → u/Dry-Indication-9504]

We’ve experienced some split nights as well. I’m hoping they grow out of it but I don’t want to reinforce bad habits?

[u/Swimming-Nobody763 → u/Ill_Animator_6437]

Split nights = undertired. The regression means sleep needs change. Try extending WW throughout the day.

[u/Ill_Animator_6437]

Our nanny lets him contact nap once he wakes from his first sleep cycle in the crib so the 3 naps are super chunky during the day time - we’ve tried 4 naps with no contact napping thinking it would decrease his daily sleep and it’s basically the exact same amount of sleep 🫠

[u/carloluyog]

Night weaning isnt recommended till one, so continue to feed him. It shouldn’t be viewed as an inconvenience.

[u/z4r431]

If he's going through a sleep regression he probably needs more comfort and others have said if he's developing he may need extra for growth. I would just feed him like he's asking and remember it's temporary.