Feeding FAQ: 8-12 weeks

My 10 week old baby is waking at 6 after sleeping through from late feed at 10 30pm, which is great. However he won’t wait until 7am for second breast and is then tired by 8am and hungry by 9 am which throws off the 9 o clock nap and the 1030 am feed.

He also will take all naps in his Moses basket but always wakes after 40 mins at lunchtime and will not re settle. So I take him out for walk at this time and he can sleep full two hours but I get no rest.

I am also wondering about moving him to a cot as he’s outgrown his basket. Should I also move him to his own room at the same time?

My son is fully breast fed. He takes 40 minutes for feeds at 6am, 10am, 2.30pm and 10pm. At 5/6.15pm he will take 20 minutes and 30 minutes.

He naps at 8-9am, 12-2pm and 3.30-4.30pm. He settles at 7pm.
Team Response

Since my 8 week old son had his first vaccinations, he is refusing a bottle. I need to get him to take bottle feeds during the day since I go back to work in 3 weeks. He refuses the 10-11p.m feed for 3 nights now. And for the past three days he screams at the sight of a bottle during the day. We have tried every room in the house, every position but he just wouldn't let anything touch his lips except my breast.

He breasts feeds at 7.15am, 10.40am, 2.20pm, 6.10pm, 10.40pm when he takes 70mls expressed breast milk and 4am. He weighs 6.44kgs [14.3lbs].
Team Response

For the last 2 weeks after a few minutes of the 6.15pm feed my 8 week daughter starts screaming as if in pain. We have also noticed a lot more possetting during this period and she has had a lot of hiccups since birth. She has suffered from bad problems with wind since birth so we started infacol with every feed at a week of age which really helped. No other feeds are affected and my diet hasn't really changed. It means that she scream for up to half an hour and when the symptoms seem to ease she is too tired to then feed properly. I am still doing the split feed as the feed after the bath is becoming less and less successful. Consequently her sleep has occasionally altered. Since a week old she has only woken once in the night, but when these symptoms started she woke twice a few times. I am a GP and wondered if it could be reflux so started Infant Gaviscon after the 5pm feed. This did partially seem to help and the screaming settled a lot quicker, there was even 2 nights of no waking from the 10.30pm feed until 6.45pm. However, over the last 3 days it has got worse again. I was concerned about the length of time it was taking me to express in the evenings but have tried the suggestion of expressing at 8pm and 10pm which has made it a lot better. I would be very grateful for some advice as to what could be causing this new problem.

My daughter breast feeds for both feeds at 7am, 10.15am and 2.30pm. She feeds at 5.15pm form one side. I am trying to reduce this feed to 15minutes. 6.15pm Breast feed, remainder of first breast and second, lots of screaming. 10.30pm 4ozs expressed milk. 3am Feed from both sides. This time has varied form 3-5am and twice she has gone through.

My daughter naps from 9-9.45am, 12-2.20pm and 4.30-5.00pm.
Team Response

I am concerned as to if my daughter is receiving enough breast milk. She is generally happy, content and rarely cries, but, during her lunchtime sleep, she usually wakes after 45mins. Sometimes she will resettle, sometimes needs to be fed and is genuinely hungry, despite not wanting to have any more milk at her 10.30am feed. This is our main problem.

She also cries very hard as she falls asleep, at each daytime nap, just for a minute or two.

She is often quite sleepy after feeds, and has longer daytime naps than recommended.

My daughter wakes at 4am, with hunger. I am wondering how I can encourage her to be sleeping through, as I am up until 11.30pm with her, doing the late feed, then, feeding her at 4am. I have also got a toddler to care for during the day, so I am getting very tired.

She seems generally content, but I am concerned in case she is not getting enough milk, although I know I have a fast letdown and I am producing lots of milk. How do I stop the waking from hunger during her lunchtime nap, when I can’t get her to take anymore at 10.30am?

At present she is fully breast fed. She takes full feeds of 8-14 minutes at 7.10am, 10.25am, 2.30pm, 10.20pm and 4am. At 1pm she may take 4mins, 5pm 4mins and 6.15pm 7mins. She weighs 15lbs.

My daughter naps at 8.25-9.45am, 11.20-12midday, 1-2pm, and 3.30-4.45pm. She settles at 6.30pm.
Team Response

I am experiencing great problems with the amount of time my 8 week daughter feeds for. She will feed for 5-10 minutes, then stops and refuses to take any more milk. We have ended up almost demand feeding.

If my husband tries to feed her at 10.30pm she will only take 1.5-3ozs. She has started to demand a feed between 3-7 times during the night. Feeding for 5 minutes only, as she does not properly wake. It is impossible to wake her fully. I have tried all Gina's suggestions, but my daughter just gets very distressed but not waking.

Last night, I did not feed her at all during the night. I resettled her with a dummy [she has not had one before] and she went straight back to sleep. This happened three times. I woke her at 6.45am. She would only feed for 10 minutes. At her 9am nap today I had to settle her with a dummy, which she did easily. Normally she settles easily at this time as I have just fed her. I am worried that she is not getting enough to eat if I make her wait until the next set feeding time. I haven’t had her weighed but she is very chubby and in 6month clothes. She weighed 9lbs 6.5ozs at birth. I have lost my confidence so please help.

At present she feeds at 6.50am 3 mins, 7.03am 2mins, 7.35am 1min, 7.51am 1min, 8am 1min, 10.25am 8mins, 10.35am 1min, 10.50am 3 mins, 12.05pm 7mins, 2.25pm 5 mins, 2.35pm 4mins, 3.25pm 5mins, 5.17pm 5mins, 6.15pm 9mins, 10.20pm 8mins, 10.47pm 5mins.

My daughter naps at 8.55-9.30am, 10.50-11am, 11.15am -12midday, 1.45pm to 2.15pm, 4-5pm. She settles at 6.40pm until 10.15pm. At night she settles from 11pm-1,45am, 1.50-3.00am, 3.10-4.20am and 4.30-6.45am.
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I have just been introduced to the CLB book and trying to put it into practice. Any tips for starting with a 9 week old baby? She goes to sleep after a feed between 7-8pm at the moment. She was sleeping until 3am but then started waking at 10-12.30pm, 3am then 6-7am. She feeds from one breast, but there is still milk remaining if I squeeze the breast. She is a very unhappy baby during the day; she is not content even after a feed and a fresh nappy. She cries a lot during the day. Should I be bathing and feeding her earlier? She does seem very unhappy when I bath her and this seems to be due to tiredness. At bedtime she will feed and fall asleep then when I put her down in the moses basket, she stirs or wakes but does settle to sleep on her own as she does during the night after feeds. She is now too big for the basket really and for the past few nights I have put the basket in her cot to get her used to her nursery and ready to go into her cot. She is putting on weight well; her nappies are still fluid but there are plenty of them. Sleeping during the day can be hit and miss. Feeding during the day is about every 3 hours but they can be earlier or later.
Team Response

My son was a very contented newborn. He fitted easily into the routines; breast-feeding went fine. At 4 weeks he started getting very upset: crying a lot, no dirty nappies for 48 hours, hysterical when lying down, vomiting profusely, dehydrated. We took him to the GP, and he spent 48 hours in hospital being monitored, tested, and was put on a drip; he was diagnosed with severe reflux. He's had two follow-up appointments. He is now on Gaviscon, Ranitidine (0.45 ml thrice daily) and Domperidone (2.2ml thrice daily).
He is much happier now; being sick doesn't upset him nearly as much. But he is still very sick, and it's almost impossible to stick to a routine. On a good day, we nearly get there, but have to spend longer feeding to make up for occasional large vomits than the routine suggests. On a bad day like today, the routine is utterly hopeless. He was very, very sick today, and was feeding non-stop between 6pm and 1am to make up for the milk he'd lost, and then fell straight to sleep at 1.30am when I put him to bed. My milk supply is fine on average days, too abundant on good days (I express then, a lot) and can't cope on bad days, so we top him up with expressed milk. On a day when he was hardly sick at all, I had expressed 25oz, which gives an idea of how much he's sick on bad days, I think. On the worst days (an average of once a week) he's sometimes on a cycle of feeding and vomiting for up to 12 hours, with short naps in between from sheer exhaustion.
How can I introduce any kind of routine? How can I make sure he gets enough sleep without him getting dehydrated and hungry? (And me too, I'm utterly exhausted). I think he gets chronically over-tired; he's sleeping on average only 9 hours a day including naps, and once he is really tired, he fights sleep as if it's an enemy. He's gaining weight at an average 3oz a week now, so he's not getting too much milk, if anything, not quite enough. His latch and so forth are fine - he takes a full feed in about 30 - 40 minutes, if he's not sick or exhausted.
I've filled in the forms, but because his intake varies so much depending on how ill he is, they aren't particularly helpful. This was for today.
Feeding and sleeping: 7am, full breast feed 45 minutes, 8am profuse vomiting, 8.15am full breast feed 50mins, 9am 1 hr nap, 10.15am breast feed 25 minutes, 2pm full breast feed 40 minutes, vomiting on and off small amounts for next two hours, whingy with tiredness, dozing off. 4pm nap of 1hr 40 minutes. 6pm feeding on and off for 7 hours, vomiting on and off, dozing on and off. 10pm expressed breast feed 6ozs, 12am expressed feed 5oz,1.30am went to sleep in his cot, a little sick, sheets changed resettled and went back to sleep.
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During the day my 8-week-old daughter will not feed for long enough to keep her satisfied until the next feed. For the first few weeks she fell asleep after 10mins, then for the last couple of weeks she has been feeding for about 10mins then starting to struggle and jerk her head away, taking my nipple and stretching it (ouch), letting go, then frantically searching for it again, yelling if she can't get it quickly enough, as if she's ravenous. Then, after a swallow of milk, she wrenches her head away again, and so on, almost as if she doesn't like the taste. This goes on until she loses interest altogether. I've tried switching sides (although the breast she's on is not empty) but the same thing happens. Why is she doing this? Her intake is nowhere near what it should be, as within an hour she's yelling for food again; daytime naps all have to be preceded by a top-up, otherwise she will yell for food before I've left the room. Even that doesn't guarantee an uninterrupted nap. I'm very concerned that she has learned the wrong sleep association but she has always had this problem and I don't know how to get her out of it. Incidentally, she is fine in the evenings, although is very hungry after her bath and is rarely satisfied after 45 minutes on both breasts, but will not take a bottle top-up from me (only my husband if he's home in time). I usually have to give her a few more sucks on an almost-depleted breast at about 7.30 before she settles until the late feed: about 4-5oz of formula, which my husband gives at 11 o'clock. That usually takes her through until 4 or 5, although in the last 2 weeks she has slept through twice, waking and settling herself at around 3-4am, without my intervention. As we live in the USA, my daughter goes to the paediatrician every month, and we do not have a baby clinic or health visitor. The paediatrician, when I mentioned her eating habits, said that her feeding would get more regular between 8 and 12 weeks: I'm not convinced.
At present she feeds 7am, 10-15 minutes one breast, 7.20am perhaps 2 more minutes, 7.50am 2 minutes, 8.20am 5 minutes, 8.55am 2 minutes, 9.25am 10 minutes, same breast as before, 5 minutes second breast, 10am -6pm the same "snacking" every hour at irregular intervals until bath time. 6.15pm 20 minutes each side, 7.30pm 2 minutes on fullest breast, 11pm 4-5oz formula, 4-5am 10 minutes one. It impossible to know her overall intake but her weight gain is good. She weighed 8lbs 1 oz at birth and is now 11 lbs.
She naps at 8.50-9.20am, 12-1 pm, 2-2.30pm, 3.45-4.30pm and settles about 7.45pm.
Team Response

Having followed the CLB book since birth, I am delighted that my son is sleeping through the night at 8 weeks. He settles from 10.30pm to 6.30/7.00am. Now I need to make sure that anything I do to address the problems I am currently facing, don't ruin his night-time sleep.
If Callum wakes between 6 and 6.45am crying loudly, I tend to assume that it is hunger and feed him one side. I then settle him back until 7.30 when I offer him the second side. If he wakes at 6.30am and doesn’t finish feeding until 7.15am, should I still settle him back for 15mins? He is often not satisfied at this time with one breast, so should I give him the second and start the day?
By starting his day at 6.30am, he is tried and ready for a nap by 8.30/8.45am. He is woken from this nap at 9.45 but depending when he went down can have an hour rather than 45 minutes. Is that a problem?
The biggest problems I am having though, are with the 10.30/10.45am feed and the 5/6pm feed.
When I get him up at 9.45am, he is content to be washed and dressed but by the time we are downstairs at 10.10am he gets very ratty and wants to feed. I can rarely make him wait beyond 10.15/10.20am.
At 8 weeks the routine states he should be feeding nearer to 10.45/11am, and I am concerned that I am so far off this time. Why can he not go longer than 3 1/4 hrs? At present I give him 15-20mins at 10.15 and than offer him the second breast at 11am. Is this right or should I just ignore the crying and try and make him wait until 10.45am?
He is very sleepy at this feed, often falling asleep after the first breast. I strip him off and lay him on his play mat to wake. I tend to push him to take the second side to make sure he gets enough to get through his lunchtime nap. Is this right?
The lunchtime nap is good and he gets through the next feed and a play until 4.15pm when he is offered juice. He still naps from 4.30-5pm.
Not long after waking at 5pm he is hungry again and I often give him 10-15mins on one side so he can enjoy his bath. He then feeds well and is settled at 7pm.
My husband wakes him at 10.30 and gives a bottle of formula. This can be a struggle as he is sleepy and it can take over an hour. Just recently he has cut back to 4ozs from 5ozs, but still managed to sleep through. Is it ok that this feed is getting smaller?
I am conscious that he seems a long way from achieving the 8-12 week routine in several areas and wonder how to best go about getting him more adjusted to them.
Team Response

My 10 week old baby who is formula fed and weighs 12lbs 5ozs is still waking for a full feed at 3.00am. She is now losing interest in her 7am feed. I let her wake naturally for the late feed so it can be at 11pm. Do I persist in giving water before her 3.00am feed and should she now be having 6oz feeds in the day?

We thought she may be too tired to feed properly if woken for the late feed but should we be waking her at 10pm? I now find it is a struggle to get her to take 3/4ozs at 7am.

Feeding details

3.00am: 5ozs formula
7.00am: 5ozs formula
10.30am: 5ozs formula
2.15pm: 5ozs formula
5.00pm: 1oz water
6.00pm: 5ozs formula
10.30pm: 5ozs formula

Daily milk intake 30ozs

My daughter naps at 8.45-9.30am, 11.45-2.00pm and 4-4.30pm. She settles at 7pm.
Team Response

My 10.5 week old son is still waking around 4ish and taking about 4oz.
Should I use 'hungry baby milk' at 22.30 feed?

My son is fussing a bit over his 5pm milk only taking 2ozs, is this alright or should I reduce his 5-6ozs at 2.30pm? He then takes 3/4ozs at 6.15pm.

My son feeds at 7.15am, 5ozs, 10.40am 6ozs, 2.30pm, 5-6ozs, 5pm 2-3ozs, 6.15pm 3-4ozs, 10.30pm 5-6ozs, 4am 4ozs.

He naps at 9-9.45am, 11.50-2.15pm and 4.30-5pm.
Team Response

I am having problems with my 8.5 week old son’s feeding.
My son is not taking on enough milk during the day and we had no weight gain last week, although this has improved this week. He will only take small bottles and seems quite content on them, and is doing well at night.
When I feed him he will only take about 3oz and then will wind and then will not take any more. I have tried letting him have a 15 / 20 min break but he still does not feed, often he will just gag if I continue to try. He is not in discomfort or pain and is quite happy.
He feeds as follows yesterday:

4am 2oz
7am 3oz
10.45am 3oz
2pm 2oz
5pm 5oz
6.45pm 2oz
10.30pm 4oz
4am 2oz
7am 3oz

His naps during the day are quite erratic but normally sleeps 9am until 10am but often wakes early, then has a long sleep from about 11.30am until 1.30/2pm, and then again at about 3.30pm until 4.45pm. I have a older child who goes to nursery in the afternoon, so my son’s lunchtime sleep is broken between the cot and car seat, when I get home from dropping my eldest off I leave my son in his car seat as when I have moved him he has not resettled. The naps are not always like this and I often have problems getting him to stay asleep in his cot during any of the day time naps. He settles well at 7pm and wakes around 10.30pm when I wake him for this feed. He always wakes up crying and is not content in his cot.

What should I do to encourage him to take proper feeds as he is not reaching anywhere near the amount he should be having. I know I should wake him at 10pm and keep him awake for longer perhaps? But what about the day time feeds, how can I get him to increase the amounts?
He used to feed well, I just am at a loss, and am concerned about his weight gain.
I have taken him to the doctor who says he is fine, as he is having some milk!
He has woken early from his nap after only half an hour so my husband has now decided to take him out, which I know is the wrong thing to do, but we have seem trying for 20mins to get him back to sleep,
So many questions I know but I am convinced the reasons for these problems is the lack of feed.

My son was first fed on Cow and Gate Premium but on the advice of our health visitor we changed to Omneo comfort. My son had been having problems with digestion, resulting in terrible wind which we could not get up and in discomfort which that had him crying most of the time. We had added Colief to the Cow and Gate which seemed to work for a while but then things got worse again, including him pooing a lot and straining.
Since being on the Omneo comfort he has been far more settled and rarely cries unless tired.

I have wondered if he has reflux [not badly], he possets sometimes and seems uncomfortable although this seems to be improving.

My son weighs 11lbs 13ozs. He feeds at the times listed above.

He naps at 9-9.20am, 11.30-2pm 3.15-4.45pm. He settles at 7pm
Team Response

My 10 week daughter was breast fed for the first 2 weeks of her life then I changed to formula. The problem I have is that she will only take 4ozs max of formula at each feed. Consequently she is feeding every 2 hours. I have tried doing split feeds as you suggest but she rarely has more feed when I offer it again 20 minutes later. As a result of this her day time sleep is not working! My son was a perfect CLB baby so I am very familiar with the routines. He is 2 now and feeling very fed up with mummy always feeding the baby.
Her average daily intake in 25-28 oz in 24 hours, however her weight gain is good (8-10oz week).
I have tried giving Aptamil extra to see if this helps her go longer in between feeds but it doesn't.

My daughter feeds at 7am 4ozs, 9am 2ozs, 11.00am 4ozs, 2.30pm 4ozs, 4.15pm 2.5ozs, 5.00pm 1.5ozs, 6.30pm 3.5ozs, 11.00pm 2.5ozs, 5.00am 2.5ozs.

She weighs 15lbs.

My daughter naps at 9-9.45am, 11-12midday, 2.30-3.00pm and 4.15-4.30pm. She settles at 7pm.
Team Response

18.

My baby of 8 weeks wakes every night at 2 and 4am. What should I do?
I have recently joined the site and am awaiting my book from Amazon.com as I live in the States.

I have been following a 3 hour schedule starting at 6am (6, 9, 12, 3, 6, 9, and 11) and cluster feeding from 9pm until 11pm. Each feeding is 30-45 minutes long and he eats about 4-5 ounces. He also plays for anywhere between 30 and 45 minutes after he eats with an hour and a half nap.

My baby wakes every night at 2 and at 4 and cries. Can you help? What should I do until I get the book in the mail?
Team Response

My baby is 8 weeks old and I have just received your book. The routines shown are for breast fed babies. Do I follow the routine as if I was breastfeeding? I look forwards to getting started.
Team Response

I am starting to wean my 12 week old onto the bottle/formula and would like some advice on quantities etc to give her. She will happily take the bottle and I have always given her a bottle at 11pm. For the last three days I have given her a bottle at the 10.30am feed. I have also started giving her a top up from a bottle: c 50ml at 12noon before her nap. I wondered how much I should be giving her as I obviously can't tell how much she gets from the breast. I plan to drop one further feed in a few days time.

I also feel like I am feeding her more often with these top up at lunch and split feed, is this ok or am I encouraging her not to take enough at her proper feed times.

At present she feeds at 6am 20mins, 7.30am 15mins, 10.30am 130-150mls, 12 midday 50mls, 2/2.30pm 30mins, 5pm 20- 30mins, 6.20pm 20-30mins and 11pm 130-160mls. May daughter weighs about 11lbs.

She naps at 8.50-9.45am, 12-12.40pm, 1-2pm and 3.45-4.15pm. She settles at 7pm.
Team Response

My problem is in dropping 5pm feed and moving 10am and 2pm feeds on by half an hour. I have a very hungry baby although he has certainly calmed down over the past 4/5 weeks. I am trying to move on in the routines but he screams for milk at original times and the most I can delay 10am feed by is 10/15 mins and the 2pm by say 5 mins. He has almost a full 7oz feed at 5pm and 6.30pm. I do try to reduce the 5pm feed by as much as possible but he seems so hungry. He won't go down to sleep either at 7pm unless full up. He has occasionally puked up some of 6.30pm feed (sometimes projectile) but happily feeds again after!
I also have a bit of a problem regarding the lunchtime nap as he gets very sleepy at 11am and often falls asleep then, despite all attempts to keep him awake. He will then sleep for about an hour and wake. I have tried staying in the nursery on and off with him till 2pm trying to get him back to sleep which he may eventually do around 1.15pm. Also I tried leaving him to cry but perhaps not often enough. I have tried going out in the car to get him back to sleep from 1-2pm which has worked. I'm not sure what I should persist with. He has his morning and afternoon naps in his pram (proper carry cot) as I am out walking each morning from 8.30 to 10am and he will usually nap well up to 1 hr. He loves the fresh air and is very calm in his pram. He goes down well in his cot too and falls asleep unassisted (as long as full up!).
At present my son takes 200mls at 7am, 10am and 2pm. He takes 100-150mls at 5pm and 100-200mls at 6.30pm. At 11pm 120-150mls. He is now able to sleep through to 6/7am. On the times he has woken at 3am he will settle back with 10-20 ml water/ dummy. He weighs 14+lbs.
My son naps at 9-10am, 11-12am 1.30-2pm and 3.30-4pm.
Team Response

My son had been going to between 5-6.30am for about two weeks with some 7am starts in between. He has now reverted back to between 4 and 5 am. I have been doing the "core night" when he wakes, giving him boiled water - he does not take much and protests quite a bit. I try the dummy and sometimes he settles for 10 minutes. He always seems hungry at this time, sucking his mitts or fingers until eventually I have to feed him. He is taking about 4 oz then a top up at 7.30 of 2-3 oz. Should I up the 10.30pm feed? He is taking 6 oz of SMA white, taking SMA gold during the day. The CLB mentions that we should try not to increase this. I have increased his day feeds last week anyway as he was nine weeks and due a growth spurt.
He weighed 11 lbs two weeks ago, so will probably be about 12 lb this week as he always has good weight gain.
Feeding chart: 5/6am 4-5oz, 7.30am 2 - 3 oz, 10 - 10.45am (split feed) 6oz, 11.45am-1-2oz, 2.15pm 5 oz, 5pm. 4 oz, 6.15 pm 3oz, 10.30 - 6oz
Sleeping - 9 - 9.45am, 12 - 2.15 pm [he is sometimes unsettled but usually tries to get himself back to sleep], 4-4.20/30.
This morning however, I went in at 4.10am when he woke, tried the dummy then left for 5 minutes; he wouldn't settle. I went back in and he took 2 oz water and settled this time with the dummy. He slept until 6.50am, he may have been awake earlier because I had turned the monitor right down as he woke me up every time he woke and started talking to himself. Now I only wake when he starts to get upset. I am not sure if this is a good thing either. Because I wasn't sure what time he woke, I let him have a short nap from 7.30 to 7.45 then fed him his top up as normal.
My health visitor had told me the same about the SMA white, but he has had no problems with it. He doesn't seem to be constipated and at the beginning I think this was making him go longer in the night.
Team Response

My baby is only 10 weeks old and has three teeth, the fourth is coming through. Teething problems are putting getting onto the routines out the window. We have been trying to follow them for the last 2 weeks. Because of his age there is not anything he is allowed to take to help his discomfort.
He weighs 17lbs and has 6 8oz feeds in the day at 8am, 10am, 1.30pm, 5pm, 8.30pm and 4.30am. Following our health visitors advice he is taking a small bowl of baby rice as well.
He naps from 11am-1pm and 3-3.30pm. He settles at 9.30pm.
Team Response

We started the programme when my baby was two weeks old and have now been following it for just over five weeks (he is a few days away from 8 weeks). We now have a good structure in the day, he is up between 6.30 and 7am and he feeds well from the breast for approximately 20 to 25 minutes. He then takes a half an hour nap between 8.30am and 10.00am. He then feeds again at 10.00am, 6oz formula (we have been unable to alter this time to the suggested time for his age). After his 10am feed he is quite sleepy and we struggle to keep him awake past 11.30am, so he has an afternoon nap from 11.30am till 1.45pm or 2.00pm. He feeds well at 2.00pm: approximately 20 to 25 minutes on the breast. We then have social time until 4pm, then go out walking where he naps for approximately 30 minutes. At 5pm he feeds well: 4oz of formula [once again we have been unable to stop the split feed as suggested for his age]. After his bath he has approximately 15 minutes on the breast and is down 95% of the time by 7pm.
Our biggest problem is the night time; when we wake him at 10.30pm he is so sleepy - almost impossible to wake. We have tried turning all the lights on, carrying on our conversation in his room in the hope he will wake, changing his nappy, putting him under his play mat. We have even tried, as you suggested, starting at 10pm and trying to keep him awake till 11.15pm but to no avail. He eventually wakes a little to feed but we are only ever able to give him 3oz - this then has the result of his waking at 1.30am to finish the feed. He will then only settle until around 3.30am; he feeds and then is up again at around 5.30am to feed again! For the last couple of nights we have tried not waking him for the 10.30pm feed and have found that he sleeps soundly until around midnight. At midnight he feeds well before settling back down until around 4.30am. He has a small top-up feed at 4.30am and then settle until 7am. When we allow him to wake naturally to feed I find he feeds and then settles back to sleep very quickly. If we wake him at 10.30pm, he has his small feed but then is awake a few hours later, is very difficult to settle back to sleep and he seems to get more difficult to settle each time he is up (which is every two hours). I have tried cutting back the 5pm/6pm feed but have found that he will not settle by 7pm if I do.
What should be do with regards to the 10.30pm feed? At present it is far easier for us to avoid it - as getting up twice in the night is preferable to three times and he is easy to settle when he is up. However going forward we don't want it to be habit and still be getting up to feed in months to come.
He now weighs 13lbs. He is breast fed at 7am, 2pm, 6.15pm, 12md and 4.30am. He takes 6ozs formula at 10am and 4ozs at 5pm.
He naps at 9-9.30am 11.30-2pm and 4-4.30pm.
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My daughter is doing well on the routines and has been sleeping through the night for the past 10 days from 11.15pm until I wake her at 7am. She settles herself well a couple of times during the night and settles well for all her sleeps during the day. I am currently on the six to eight week routine and am reluctant to move on as she cannot stretch herself to wait for her feed when I wake her at 9.45am. The most I can make her wait is until 10.20am, but that is only if I leave her to have a kick in her cot. The moment I move her, she begins to demand her feed. Also, she will not wait for a feed at dinner time. I still have to split the feed between 5pm and then after her bath at 6.15pm. My daughter also struggles to stay awake a full two hours. I have to work really hard after she has been awake for 1 1/2 hours and sometimes with no success. She is sleeping no more than 4 hours each day.
What do you suggest to help me to get her to wait for her bottle after waking?
Also, should I be moving her onto her appropriate age routine even though she is not managing the structure of the six to eight week routine yet?
My daughter is currently averaging between 930ml to 990ml of formula per day. She drinks about 200ml at her 7am feeding. I then split her 10/10.30am feed when she takes about 140ml and then about 30ml at 11.30am/12 noon (this sees her though until she wakes herself after a 2 hour sleep - I have ordered blackout blinds to stretch this sleep a further 15 minutes/half an hour). She takes 170ml at 2/2.15pm. Then 140ml at 5pm and 120ml at 6.15pm. I currently split her supper: at 10pm she takes about 140ml and 10.45pm she drinks about 40ml of formula and settles until 7am.
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My daughter has never been a great feeder and is quite inconsistent with the amount of milk that she takes at each feed. I have followed the CLB advice and continued to split the 5pm feed which works well. I also give her half her feeds and a good 15-20 minutes inbetween before giving her the rest, however she is still only able to take 4 or 5oz maximum per feed. Her weight gain has not been great since she started on formula at 2-weeks-old and she has only been putting on between 2-4 oz per week. During the day however, she is a contented baby and is sleeping well at nap times and usually settles well at 7pm. Today she cut her lunchtime nap short, but usually she sleeps for 30-45 minutes in the morning, 2 1/4 at lunch and 1/2 hour in the afternoon.
Olivia doesn't appear to be in any pain during feeding, so I don't think reflux is the reason for the small feeds. My main concern is that she has now started to sleep through from the 10pm feed until 7am, but does she still need the night feed that she has now dropped? When she awakes at 7am I can still only get her to take 3-4 oz after 8 hours without a feed! She only takes a small feed of 3-4 oz at 10pm, but is awake for a full hour. On average she takes between 22 and 26oz in 24 hours, so I would have thought she should still be waking at night to make up the shortfall in milk she hasn't taken during the day?
At present she weighs 11lbs 8ozs and feeds at 7am 3.5ozs, 10.30am 4ozs, 11.45am 1oz top up, 2.30pm 4.5ozs, 5pm 3ozs, 6.20pm 4ozs, 10pm 3ozs.
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My 8-week-old son has started to stretch out his nights, and is now waking at approx 4.30am. However, I am a little confused on whether I should give him a half- or full feed at this point. I am currently giving him between 2-3ozs when he wakes in the night; he will then take about 3oz at 7am. I have to wake him at 7am for this feed and prior to his night lengthening he was taking 5-6oz. Once he has the 2-3oz at 4:30am he will go back to sleep; last night he made a fuss for a couple of minutes first. I understand he is possibly moving towards sleeping through from 10:30pm but I want to make sure I am giving him the correct feed.
He currently takes: 7am 3oz, 10am 4oz, 2pm 5-6oz, 5pm 3oz, 6.15pm 3oz, 10.30pm 4oz, night 2-3oz. When he was waking at 3am he would take 3-4oz and then another 5-6oz at 7am. He weighs 11lbs.
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My daughter has been on the routines since she was 2 weeks old and has been a dream baby since then - she really is very contented. She has been sleeping through the night since she was 7 weeks old; she generally gets to between 6am and 6.45am from around 11.30pm. Obviously we were delighted and amazed by this as it was very early.
The problem is that this seems to throw the daytime routine out. We either feed her at 6am and put her back down until 7.30am when we try and feed her again, or we get her up and start the day if it's nearer to 6.30am. Either way she doesn't take enough food - often just 3oz - and we often end up feeding her again just before we put her down at 9am. This means she isn't very hungry for her 10-10.45am feed which throws the daytime nap into chaos, with her waking up hungry within about 30 minutes of being put down. That's even when I try to give her a top-up feed at about 11.45am.
She tends to get back on track in the afternoon and is really good at kicking and playing on her mat, then she has a small sleep in her pram about 4.30pm. I feed her at 5pm, but by the time she's out of her bath at about 6.10pm she's hysterical. Then she has a real fight with the bottle; it can often take us 30 minutes to get her to take her food. Now she has started taking less so she wakes during her 7-10pm sleep too - something she has never done before - we feed her and try to get her down quickly - but if she has another hysterical fight with the bottle again it can take up to an hour to settle her, feed her and get her back to sleep. We get her up between 10pm and 10.30pm when she is generally calm - she takes a little food and goes down well.
It's the daytime sleeps I'm worried about and this new habit of fighting like mad with the bottle - often to the point where she gets too upset to feed at all - even though I am certain she's hungry.
Both these traits are very unusual for her, and the only thing that has changed with her routines is her dropping her night feed. The other thing is that she does seems more windy than usual, but can burp and fart quite happily.

At present she takes feeds at 6.30am 3oz, 8.30am 3-4 ozs, 10.30am 3-4 ozs, 12.20pm 2ozs, 2pm 3oz, 5pm 3-4ozs, 6.15pm 4-5 ozs, 7pm 2ozs, 10.30pm 4ozs, 11.30pm 1oz. She weighed 11lbs three weeks ago. She uses an Avent bottle with a size-2 teat, will move to size 3 this week. She sleeps from 9-9.40am, 12.00-12.30pm 12.45-14.30pm, 4.30 nap.
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JJ is a very good baby, however he is a hungry one. Since birth he has always had more formula than the amount given on the tin. He takes 100-150mls extra a day. At present he is already drinking 200mls at most feeds and his intake is still increasing.
I have two problems I would like to solve. Firstly, his 10pm feed, at which he is awake for 1 hour, is his smallest feed of the day. He would take no more than 160mls and was then regularly sleeping through to 3.30am when I would give him a quick feed. So I tried to phase that feed out. Now he wakes at about 2.30am, when I just turn him onto his tummy and give him his dummy. He sleeps until about 5.30am when I do the same thing to settle him again. Should I continue to do this, or give him a feed, or give him water?
JJ starts the day at 7am and every day has his nap from 9.00-9.45am. I then can't seem to stretch him to 11am. He is always ready to feed by 10am. What do you suggest?
At birth JJ weighed 2.710kgs, at 9 weeks he weighs 5.35kg. He feeds at 7am 220mls, 10.00am 200mls, 2pm 200mls, 6pm 200-240mls, 10pm 140-160mls. JJ takes 110mls of very diluted apple juice at 4.15pm. He naps well in the day, at 9-9.45am, 12-2pm and 15 minutes at 4pm. He settles at 7pm until woken for his feed at 10pm.
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I cannot get Anna to take the remainder of her feed any more. She has been happily feeding from a bottle since she was two weeks old. For the last ten days she will have half a feed (80mls) then refuse to have any more. I try and try over the next two hours to get her to take more, and eventually she will have taken 120mls. I start everyday afresh as I know that she is hungry having fed 3.5-4.5 hours before, but even then the problem is the same. By bedtime the problem is worse as she won't take the full feed and is waking up 90 minutes after going down. This never used to happen.
She is constantly sucking on her hands and thumb, but won't take a dummy or bottle. I think she is too young to be teething (although she is drooling a lot and blowing bubbles). Would this explain her behaviour, or could you suggest what else it could be? What can I do? She is still putting on weight (14lbs) and apart from being a bit grumpier she seems fine otherwise.
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My son Sean, who is almost 12 weeks old, has become uninterested in some daytime feeds. He was taking 5-6ozs at 7am, 11am, 5/6pm and 11pm. But suddenly in his tenth week he began to take only 3.5ozs at the above times and refused any more. I would burp him, change him and let him have a good kick before offering the second half. He would refuse it (screaming) whereas he always used to finish the last 3ozs. So his milk intake dropped from 35-37ozs to 28-30oz which is below the recommended amount for his weight (14lbs 3ozs). I've resorted to doing split feeds during those feeds above, so I now feed him 6/7.30am, 9.30/11am, 5/6pm just so he gets enough to drink and doesn’t begin to lose weight. He takes 3.5ozs at the 2.15pm feed and another 3.5ozs at 11.15pm. But this means I am sterilizing like mad and always feeding! What has happened and what should I do?
During the day he follows the routine as regards naps and sleeping. He settles well at 7pm, sleeps through to 11pm but still wakes around 3-4am taking about 3ozs then.
At present Sean naps at 8.45-9.15am, 10.45-11am, 12.00-2.00pm, 3.15-4.00pm.
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My baby, Mia, is nine weeks old and weighs 11lb 8oz. The problem is that her milk intake is falling. She used to take 5-6oz each feed, but now it is only 2-4oz; she is exclusively formula-fed. I can cope with her feeding during the day, even if she only takes small amounts, but she has now started waking at 2am screaming for food. I know this is because she doesn’t take enough during the day, but I can’t encourage her to drink any more at the daytime feeds. I have tried offering cool boiled water during the night, but this gets her more irate, so I have always resorted to milk. Also, she won’t go to sleep without her dummy. She is a sucky baby and drinks her milk very fast. I am using the slowest teat possible, but still she finishes her 2oz in minutes. With regard to sleeping, Mia falls into a deep sleep when swaddled, but I prefer to put her in a sleeping bag overnight. I wonder if she would sleep better swaddled all night, but I don’t know if this is safe. I feel run-down and sleep deprived; I have tonsillitis at present and worry about passing it on – Mia has a dry cough, but otherwise seems well. I don’t know what to do next and would be grateful for your advice.
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I have a 10-week-old baby boy, Ayton. He weighed 9lb 6oz at birth and has gained 8oz each week and is now 13lb 6oz. I have been breastfeeding him, and giving him a bottle of formula at the 10:30pm feed. He does seem to be a hungry baby, and I have been worrying that I'm not producing enough milk for him (despite knowing he is gaining the right amount of weight!)

I have twice followed the plan to increase my milk supply, which seems to work for a short while before it seems to decrease again. I am also giving him a top-up of expressed milk of 1-2 oz just before putting him down for his lunchtime nap, as he isn't sleeping well at this time. Other than that he sleeps well, and for the last week he had been sleeping from 11pm to 7am, however the last two mornings he has woken at 5am and today he woke at 3:30am.

I have therefore decided that I'd like to start the transition to bottle feeding him. I'm going back to work after 6 months anyway, so it wouldn't be much longer before I'd have to think about it anyway. It may seem like I'm giving up, but I can't help but worry constantly about not producing enough milk, even though I know that is probably making it worse!

I read the section about weaning the baby from breast to bottle, so I know the time it is going to take, the order I drop the feeds and how much milk a baby should need each day according to weight, and I was interested to see how the example you give worked with regards to how the total amount is split.

Are there any guidelines as to how I should split the total amount he needs in 24 hours between each of the feeds? For example is there a rough percentage I should follow? The book mentions it is important to structure it possible so he gets more milk at certain times than at others.

I have no idea how much to feed him at the 11am feed once I have reduced the breastfeeding time for this feed, and likewise so on until I'm bottle feeding him entirely. He takes 7.5oz of formula at the 10:30pm feed if that helps.
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I have two problems. I have been following the routine for five weeks, and while I have needed to adapt it slightly to suit my daughter, she is still feeding very little and only manages short naps during the day. She settles at 7pm, and although she needs to cry herself to sleep, she is down until I wake her for her 10:30pm feed. Lately she has been waking much earlier for her middle of the night feed and will only take 1oz. I don't want to drop this feed as she only grazes through the day. The maximum she takes is 19/20oz on a good day. As a result, I struggle to do anything in the day, as she is so unsettled; she will only nap in her bouncy chair, and even then for no more than 45 minutes. Please can you help? Any advice would be welcome.
At present she feeds at 7.30am 2-4oz, 10.30am 2-3oz, 2.45pm 3oz, 5pm 2oz, 6.20pm 2oz, 10.45pm 4oz and 3am 2oz. She weighs 4.64 kg (10.3lbs). She naps at 8.45-9.30am, 11.30am-12.30pm, 1.30-2pm and 4.30-5pm. She settles at 7pm.
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My two identical twin boys Oliver and George are 12 weeks old. Until recently my husband has been able to get back in time to help me with bath time and the 6.15pm feed, but because of work commitments he will now be unable to do so. My boys get very frantic from about 30 minutes after the 5pm feed, and have recently started getting so cross and tired, that I am struggling to calm them down enough to take their feed after bath time. I initially tried feeding them both in their car seats so that I didn't miss their sleep "window", but they are getting so upset that I really need to hold each one individually. Today I bought bath time forward by 15 minutes, but this still happened. I find it so distressing and upsetting that I'm only able to feed one while the other one gets himself so worked up.
They are both approximately 12lbs in weight and sleep for 45 minutes at the morning nap, 2 1/4 - 2 1/2 hours at the lunchtime nap and approximately 1/2 hour before 5pm. One is sleeping through until 6.45am and the other until approximately 5.30am from 10.30pm. They are still getting their split feed at 5/6pm because I am too afraid to drop the 5pm feed in case I can't manage to get either of them to finish their 6pm feed. I look forward to a response very soon.
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