Formula fed cousin - help!

[elisheva]

My cousin in ffing her 4 month old. Baby started sleeping through the night at 2 months...

Now she's waking and won't settle without a bottle. They've tried pain relief in case it's teething but I honestly think the poor kid is hungry. A 4 mo old shouldn't be going 8-10 hours without eating, right????

My three were/are EBF so I'm not sure how to advise her. If anyone can speak from experience I'd be happy to hear it.

[annettemarie]

I'm going to move this to Life with a Babe since it isn't a breastfeeding topic.

[lizziebits]

My EBF 4 month old is now waking up a million times per night after going stretches of 7-8 hours beforehand (she started doing super long stretches around 1 month, I think). She nurses, but I don't think it's hunger waking her up ever 1-2 hours. In fact, I'm sure it isn't. 4 months old is just a time when babies wake up a lot, I think.

So yeah, I don't think a 4 month old going 8-10 hours without eating means they are going hungry. But -- from your post it sounds like shes not going 8-10 hours anymore, anyway?

[Abraisme]

I agree with you, if she won't settle without a bottle then she's hungry. It's totally normal for sleep to "regress" a bit around 4mo, plus she might be going through a growth spurt and really need the extra calories.

[PatioGardener]

Yup, sounds like 4 month sleep regression to me.

[octobermom]

A 4 mo old shouldn't be going 8-10 hours without eating, right????

not necessarly my completely breastfed only baby (5 months) rountinuly goes from 7pm-4am and often till 6am and shes done this from just a few weeks old. Making up by being a constant daytime nurser..
However littlones go through many growth spurts and 4 months isa common one likely he just needs an extra feed when his body is ready to sleep longer it will..

Deanna

[cristeen]

Sounds like the 4 month sleep regression. But yes, some babes can go that long without eating. Mine can't - even at 11 mos, he's up at least 3x/night for a bottle.

[JordanKX]

At 6 months we had to switch to formula.. up until then DS was definitely at the boob during the night, and certainly still at 6 moswaking up and wanting a bottle. Paci didn't do it. It wasn't *just* teething (although that was part of things, sure). He was hungry. 8hrs is a long time. I think it's perfectly natural for a babe to wake up wanting a bottle at 4months.

Comfort or nourishment, still the same thing with it being a bottle.

[staceychev]

After STTN from about 2 weeks on, my LO (aged 5-1/2 months) is waking a lot. Though she's not formula fed, so I can't comment on that, I can tell you that she's getting very very active during the day and is moving and rolling and jerking her arms and getting up on her hands and knees in her sleep. I seem to remember this with DD1 as well; it's like she's so ready for physical milestones that her body is practicing them all night long... and waking her up in the process!

[JavaJunkie]

My formula fed child slept through the night from around 2 months until she was 6 months. Then she woke up to eat until she was around 11-12 months.

[busymama77]

My little guy is a FF babe and has been since 2.5 months - he'll be 6months next week. Before, he was EBF and woke up 3 to 4 times at night. Once we went to FF, he STTN a few times, but once he became really active, he was up once or twice wanting a bottle. Now, he's SUPER active, on his knees in his crib, scooting around, learning to sit up, so his body is burning tons of calories, eventhough he eats 19-24oz during the day at daycare!

[Quinalla]

Could be a growth spurt, he could be shifting more of his calories to night eating, and yes I do think a baby can be hungry, not all babies are, but some babies definitely are, even on formula. When they do give the bottle, how much does he eat? If it is more than 1/2oz, then yeah, probably hungry, if only a little, then try a pacifier (though the probably have).

[SeattleRain]

I'm not sure we're understanding the question. Are you concerned because the baby is waking up and wants a bottle and her parents aren't giving it to her and that doesn't seem right? My baby is FF and he sleeps from 8pm to 4am every night, gets a bottle from daddy and sleeps until 7am. We would giving whatever he wanted whenever he woke up, so he's definitely not starving between those 8 hours. While I would love to cut out that 4am feeding and have him sleep straight through for another 3 hours, I suspect that feeding is here to stay for a long time. Just like EBF babies, they can wake for hunger feeding and comfort feeding, its hard to tell which it is I would suspect. I'd probably just give her the bottle if that's what she wants.

[newmamalizzy]

Well, there's an easy way to tell - if she sucks down that bottle, she's hungry! My almost 5-month old FF baby did exactly the same thing - slept through the night most of the time from 2 - 3 months, now wakes every night for a bottle about 5 hours after going to sleep, then sleeps another 5 - 6 hours before needing her morning bottle. I was reading posts on a more traditional board recently and lots of people were saying "she used to sleep 8 hours in a row so I know she can do it" in reference to the 4 month sleep regression. Dangerous logic, I think! Calorie needs grow as baby grows, so if baby hasn't changed her daytime eating, she'll start taking more at night.

[marsupial-mom]

My formlula fed bay is almost 8 months and has never truly slept through the nigh. He regularly wants a bottle once or twice in the night. He's hungry.

[JudiAU]

Totally normally to need a formula bottle in the middle of the night at that age. Normal to need more than one actually.

[dizzysmom]

Originally Posted by JavaJunkie

My formula fed child slept through the night from around 2 months until she was 6 months. Then she woke up to eat until she was around 11-12 months.

Same here, except my 12 1/2 month old is still waking at least once a night. As soon as she's fed, she goes back down. I know she's hungry when she's waking up, and it has gotten worse since we have started transitioning her to cow milk during the daytime.

[Blessed1]

My breast fed baby slept through the night since about 1 month and now at 11weeks she sleeps about 8hours a night. Dr. said it was okay because she is gaining weight and is healthy. I guess every baby is different.

[happysmileylady]

My younger one started sttn at 4 wks old, and at that point, she was exclusively BF. At about 2 or 3 months, we were doing a mix of BF and breastmilk in a bottle, along with some formula, transitioning to all formula around 6 months. She continued to sttn 90% of the time, through the whole thing. My oldest however was FF from day one, she wasn't sttn until KINDERGARTEN.

So, it's my experience that STTN doesn't have a thing to do with formula feeding or breastfeeding. And whatever advice you give shouldn't be based on how they choose to feed the little one.

Like others have mentioned, if the baby is sucking down a bottle, he's hungry, regardless of what's in the bottle. And, at 4 months old, it's common to start waking up again in the middle of the night.

[laughingfox]

If she's waking and won't settle without a bottle, then certainly she's hungry and needs to be fed.