There are 2 schools of thought on feeding. Feeding on-demand means offering his feed as and when the baby demands for it. While feeding on-schedule means following a strict timetable. Most parents settle somewhere between the extremes. Here's my intent. Lengthen the time between feeds from 3 to 4 hours gradually by adding half an hour to the time he starts fussing...if possible. Feeding him as much as possible during the day so that he doesn't feel the need to make up for calories during the night. Have a major feed just before I retire to bed and avoid a nappy change (again, if possible) during the night feed. In theory at least, those should work. I don't claim credit for having come up with them; in fact, they are straight out of Murkoff et. al's "What to Expect In the First Year". Ironically, I chanced upon this section at a 6 am feed, the second one of the night. Guess if it was a eureka moment for me.
It's too early to say how it's working for me. But last night, minibeanie woke up only once at 5 am and the next time he demanded his milk was at 9:30 this morning. I reckon that's pretty good for a coming to 3 month old baby. Sleep-wise, it's a definite improvement for me :) And if someone says that's good enough, here's food for thought -
"By 4 months, most babies don't really need to be eating at all during the night. (From a strictly metabolic standpoint, babies can usually go through the night without a feeding once they've reached 5 kg...) If the night-waking habit continues into the 5th or 6th month, you can begin to suspect that your baby is waking not because he needs to eat during the night, but because he's become accustomed to eating during the night; a stomach that's used to being filled at regular intervals around the clock will cry 'empty' even when it's full enough to last a lot longer."
Murkoff et. al, "What to Expect In the First Year", 2nd edition, page 255
minibeanie is 2 months, 2 weeks & 1 day old
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