Change in feeding patterns

[nlk]

My LO is just over 5 months old now, and up until a few weeks ago was draining 7-8 oz every 5 hours or so (sometimes less).

However recently, he seems to be struggling to finish even 4oz! He's now started waking every 3 hours in the night, crying (he used to just wake up the once, and murmur, and then I would feed him and he'd be back asleep until morning). Even in the night, he will only take a few ounces.

He had a cold initially, which is what I originally put the change in patterns down to. But now he's a lot better, and it doesn't seem to be getting back to normal. It's draining, having a baby feeding every 3 hours without fail, particularly when I'm already back at work. Is this normal? Are other people's LOs doing this around this age? Please tell me it's just a phase. I miss him sleeping for 6 hours at a time!

 

[MindUtopia]

Yes, feeding every 3 hours at that age can be normal. But as it's been a change for him, he's not taking much per feed and his sleep is also getting disrupted, my first guess would be that it's the start of teething. My daughter had a few weeks of exactly the same around 6 months - well, except that she was up every hour all night for a small feed of maybe 30-60 ml at a time. Often frequent feeds are just comforting and help them fall back to sleep when they are otherwise really uncomfortable. If you suspect it could be teething, for us, it also involved really bad poos that caused nappy rash and lots of dribbling, you might try some calpol at night to help with the discomfort. Otherwise, yes, I'm afraid it can be pretty normal, teething or not, still at that age. It's also really normal when they are sick and for a few weeks after even when they seem better. My 2 year old is often up every 2 hours all night when she's sick or still recovering from a cold. The good thing is that there is more than likely a good reason and it will be over soon.