advice needed on logisstics of night feed

[jennyh]

Hi all

I am trying to phase out the 3am feed so rather than feeding my baby religiously at 3 I am now just waiting to see when she wakes. The problem with this is that she is now waking anywhere from betwen 2.30 and 4.30 and is hungry so she cries. It then takes me a few minutes to get her bottle ready as she will only take milk warm at the moment, cue more crying therefore tricky settling!!!!

Does anyone have advice on what I can do to make it easier and stop her from waiting so long? I am thinking of buying some kind of thermos thing that I could keep the whole bottle of water inside then I could just add the powder, or anyone know a really good zip up insulated bag thing?? Excuse my ignorance but she has only just started demanding milk warm and I'm not quite sure the best way to do it.

Jenny

[supergolden88]

Why dont you continue feeding her at 3am as before but gradually reduce the amount she takes? Are you still giving a feed at 11? How old is she?

As for logistics you could buy ready made formula cartons and have a thermos handy to warm them up in bottle.

[buggie]

...why not use a carton for the night feed - could have it ready in the bottle in the fridge and see if she'll take it cold or have the carton/scissors/bottle to hand and try her with it room temperature.

Had to give bugglet EBM top-ups after each feed for several weeks and within days stopped warming it and she took it really well, especially if she's waking hungry she'll be happy to get the milk not what temp it is!

[Fuschia]

Use a carton. It's not safe to make a bottle up except with hot water to scald the powder

[Fuschia]

You can keep water at the right temp in a thermos but doesn't sound like you will want to wait for it to cool or leap out of bed to run it under the tap

[jennyh]

I have always used cartons and only just started using powder as her digestion is better and she can take it without having issues! i have plenty of cartons and would be happy to use them if it was easier. Its frustrating because she always used to take the milk at room temperature but then my OH introduced warm milk at bedtime and now she spits out the milk if it isn't warmed! I def want to try and get her used to having it at room temp but not sure when she is screaming in the middle of the night is the right time, then again perhaps you are right, she may just be grateful for it!

I just wanted to have it ready without needing to warm it but I think i will have to carry on as I am for the time being as not sure there is an easy option!

She is nearly 13 weeks and has a big dream feed at 11, I was giving her another dream feed at 3am but it was starting to interfere with her 7.30am feed as she wouldnt take much on waking. I just want to see whether she is actually hungry at 3am or whether she is just taking it because it is there. She is definitely hungry for it so still needs a night feed but not sure where to go from here!! If I feed her at 4am then she still isnt hungry for her morning feed! You get so far and then end up taking 2 steps back!

[jennyh]

Forgot to say - she goes between 6pm-11pm and 11pm-4amish so she is comfortable with 5 hours between feeds and can go for 6 hours but I am loathe to disrupt the pattern of feeding during the day by shifting all the timings. Suppose I am being too hopeful to get her stretching feeds at this stage, she is a big 3 month old and very robust and strong so I often think of her as older and bigger than she actually is!

The midwife suggested that I introduce water at her 3am dream feed from 15 weeks, i had also considered doing what SuperGolden suggested and reducing the amount of milk but its a minefield!!! :)

[supergolden88]

She may going through a growth spurt. Dont rock the boat continue feeding at 3am as you have done. You can try increasing the amount she has during the day if she is willing and very gradually reducing the amount at 3am.

Or you can try pushing the 3am more and more towards the morning feed (by 15 minutes at a time) and reduce the amount.

She is really young still though and probably growing loads

[Pickle]

I think it's perfectly normal to still be having a 3am feed at 15 weeks old, my two didn't fully drop a feed around that time until they were well established on solids (7/8 months). Obviously completely up to you, but in my mind it's better to stick with it as is, if you know baby will resettle easily rather than cause middle of the night stress for you both :)

[jollybaby]

Would you consider dropping the 11pm dream feed instead? Miss jb dropped this feed first by herself. By 8 weeks or so she was Going from 7pm until 2 or 3 am and this sleep got gradually longer over the next few months. None of my nct buddies dream fed either and all of their babies followed a similar pattern. I suppose it may depend on whether you are a late or early to bed type of person. I'm usually in bed by 10 and so wasn't keen on waiting up to feed my daughter. The 3 or 4am feed didn't really bother me as I'd already had a good few hours by then.

[crompo123]

for speedy bottle feeding at night, (along with using a dummy for a minute or so so toddler doesnt wake up), i put just boiled water in a thermos, then put some extra cooled boiled water in a bottle.

when baby wakes up, i mix a small bit of the hot water with required amount of formula (to sterilise it), then shake, then top it up with the cold water (with the formula added, you have to go over the measure...i know from experience how much that is in my bottles, but you can just check the difference in water height when adding the hot water)....

that all sounds a bit complicated doesnt it!? its not though, honest, and it allows you to 'scald' the formula but still have lukewarm milk immediately.

[jennyh]

Thanks everyone. To be honest I wasnt happy to change from a dream feed to feeding on her demand because the growth spurt did play on my mind. I really just wanted to work out whether she needed the feed or not and I think I have definitely found out that she does! i am very happy to carry on feeding her in the night for as long as she needs it, very used to it now! It just occured to me that I didnt know if she did need it when I was force-feeding so to speak!

I think that I am going to start again with the dream feed at 3am as I have been doing, this way I can control how much she has (she wont be so hysterical so can get away with giving her just enough to fill her tummy rather than her guzzling to stop the crying!) then hopefully she will feed better in the morning. Then I might re-address in a while or start trying to cut the amount down if she feeds well during the day.

It changes all the time doesnt it!

[anna75]

for speedy bottle feeding at night, (along with using a dummy for a minute or so so toddler doesnt wake up), i put just boiled water in a thermos, then put some extra cooled boiled water in a bottle.

Wish someone had told me this idea (above from crompo)....