Increased night feeds at 3 months

[sezzolou]

Since around 7 or 8 weeks old lo has been on 1 night feed doing a good 8 or 9 hour sleep stretch and having bottles on demand around every 3 hours during the day (7oz). About a week ago (he's now 14 weeks) he changed to 2 night feeds again only having a maximum of 5 hours sleep before waking for his feed and is still taking around 6-7oz every 3 hours during the day.

The HV came to do his 3-4 month check yesterday and suggested I move him onto 2nd stage milk. I never asked but wasn't sure if she meant hungry baby milk or follow on milk.

I'm not sure about this yet. Has anyone experienced an increase in night feeds at this age and how long did it last? He won't take more than 6 or 7 oz per feed at the minute and he does spit up quite alot after feeds.

 

[BabyHopes1974]

Do you think he's going through a growth spurt? Also, I thought you shouldn't givr milk until one year?

 

[sezzolou]

Do you think he's going through a growth spurt? Also, I thought you shouldn't givr milk until one year?

I was thinking growth spurt but it could be that he's just taking abit less in the day so he's making up for it in the night. He was finishing 7oz bottles but the last few days he's only having 5-6oz a time.
By 2nd stage milk I think she either meant hungry baby or follow on milk (which is given after 6 months so he's too young for that). Then again she did also say to try letting him sleep on his tummy as most babies prefer it (hes only 14 weeks).

 

[noon_child]

Your HV seems to be on a different planet. While parents can chose how they raise their kids for their own family circumstances and cultures, a health professional should not be recommending tummy sleep (SIDS risk) for a baby because he is "only" sleeping for 5hrs at a time!! That is a normal (actually quite a bit more sleep than normal) routine that ensures that when he needs more milk, he gets it. Neither stage 2 or hungry milk is appropriate in this situation.

If you are happy giving him these extra night feeds just keep doing it. It isn't a sign that anything is wrong, it is just a sign that he is a growing baby whose needs will vary from time to time.

 

[MindUtopia]

At 3 months, my daughter was definitely still having 2 feeds a night, 3 if you count the one before we went to bed at around 10, but then usually again at 1am and at 4am. Your HV should not be suggesting using hungry baby milk. It drives me up the wall how uneducated and non-evidence based HVs seem to be. If a HV recommended tummy sleeping to me (which is strictly and completely against NHS guidelines), I would have reported her and filed a formal complaint. It's amazing people like that get to keep their jobs! Anyway, there's no reason to use hungry baby milk (it's basically 'diet milk' and your baby doesn't need to go on a diet) and I would stick to first milk. If he's hungry, he just needs to be fed, and he's eating a perfectly reasonable amount for being only 3 months.