waking baby at night to FEED.... - Infant Care (up to 18 months old) Message Board

friday13 · 05-03-2006, 12:57 PM

Hello -

My little angel has been driving me nuts (she is 13 weeks) and has been (for the past two weeks) going to bed on her own schedule at 7-730pm and then waking up at midnight and 4am and then 7am ..... ugh. HELP!!

I don't mind that she settles in for an early bed time - but I would rather she skip that midnight feed! SOOOOO my question is... is it OK in your opinions to wake her at say 945 - 10pm at night to feed her and try to reset her clock a little?

That way she would eat at 7pm, 10pm 3am, 7am... ish??? I don't wake her in the mornings etc. - I have always let her wake, eat on her own schedule - but this is killing me.

Thanks for all of your opinions!!

soon2bmommy · 05-03-2006, 01:34 PM

I've started waking DS up between 9 and 10 for a feeding instead of him waking up at midnight also. I just started doing it the past few nites and so far it has worked GREAT. This morning, he didn't wake till 4am when usually it's awake at 12 then awake at 230 or 3... I plan on doing this as long as it works!

baby#2 · 05-03-2006, 01:36 PM

With my first we set his schedule for him to be convenient for us. We still do this and I never got more sleep in my life than when my little guy was 4 weeks on! I highly recommend getting her on a schedule that suits you sooner than later or you will have some hard habits to break later on. The more set they are on a pattern/schedule the harder to get them to change.
I personally think it's perfectly okay to do what you have to to get the result you are more comfortable with! Just remember gradual is better than a sudden change when it comes to babies.
Good luck!

friday13 · 05-03-2006, 03:48 PM

soontobemommy - how old is your little one? mine is 13 weeks....

Gayle0000 · 05-03-2006, 04:12 PM

I agree about waking up baby to eat. That was recommended to me by both the Ped and Lactation Consultant. I got lucky and never had to do it...but I certainly would have if my DD's internal clock needed a little tweaking.

If you want to change bedtimes, feedings, etc. you can easily adjust the time by 10-15 minute increments each day until you get to the desired bedtime or whatever time you're trying to change. That worked for me when I changed DD's bedtime at 4 monts old, and DD didn't even know what was going on.