how do i change ds's feeding "schedule"

[koalove]

5 month old ds has set a feeding schedule that looks like this: (hes ff) first bottle of the day is at about 930-1000 am. next one at 2. then one at 6, 730(at bedtime), 9 (wakes up and goes right back to sleep with a bottle) 11pm, 2am,430-5 am, wake up for the day at 630am (not eating at this time though) then 930-10am again. can anyone see the problem here? i know i should feed him when he wants, and i do, but it would be great if that long stretch without eating from 430-10 would happen when i am sleeping. can i encourage him to shift at all? ide love the last feeding to be at 11pm, and not again until 5 or 6 am. he has no interest in eating in the morning and even that 10am feeding is picky and only a few ounces just to fall asleep for a nap. ideas?? im soooo tired. i need more rest. thanks!

[Ruthla]

I'd be very hesitant to play around with an infant's feeding schedule before they're ready for solids. Could you go to bed earlier so that you're sleeping when he has his big "not eating" time, rather than trying to shift his feeding schedule to accomodate your sleep?

If you really do want to try and adjust his feeding schedule, I'd do it very slowly and very gradually, like maybe stretch out his latest bottle by 5 minutes, or possibly give him less in that late afternoon bottle so that he's more likely to want another bottle before bed, and hopefully sleep longer as a result. Of course, the whole thing could backfire and you could end up losing that long stretch instead of shifting it!

Once he's bigger and eating solids, I'd be more comfortable playing around with his schedule. There's something very different about adjusting toddler mealtimes rather than infant milk feedings.