Ask:
I am curious to know whether people demand feed or routine feed and whether or not this affects sleeping through the night. I had read that routine feeding helps kids to sleep through faster as they are eating more during the day so they need less at night. My 3 and a half month old feeds 3 hourly and has been sleeping through from about 8 weeks. (ie sleeping from the 11 oclock feed to 7. (We get her up and feed her while she is asleep at 11) I don't know whether this is coincidence or whether routine feeding tends to do this. What are other peoples' experiences?
Answer:
We demand feed on a routine. What I mean is, at the beginning we fed ds when he was hungry, but never let him go longer than 3 hours for the first 8 weeks. This got him into a routine pretty quickly and it was so great!! He started sleeping through the night at 10 weeks, and who knows if it was related to the routine, but I am certainly a big proponent of it! Other parents I know who have done the same have had similar success, but then some purely demand-fed babies also sleep through the night at 6 weeks or so.
Now he is 5 1/2 months and we're on a pretty flexible 3-4 hour routine, although sometimes he's starving after 2 hours (growth spurts??) and that's ok too. He's a great sleeper for naps and nighttime, and I think it has a lot to do with having a routine.
Answer:
I nursed both my boys on demand, however, once I felt like they were setting their own routine, I pretty much started following that routine. There were exceptions of course. Like mama-abroad said, if my baby was hungry "early" then I fed him. Both my boys were sleeping through the night by 8 weeks (which kind of surprised my pediatrician)...which as I recall was before they settled into any real feeding routine of their own. By sleeping through the night I mean straight through for 10-12 hours. My friends who schedule their babies feeding times have generally had similar experiences though.
Answer:
In the beginning, we do it on demand. By about 6 weeks I try to get some sort of schedule, but still demand feed when needed/wanted. I think having some sort of schedule is what helps babies sleep through.
Answer:
I'm not there yet with my little one, but ... when you all say "sleep through the night" do you mean a real 7-8 hours or do you still wake the baby up to eat?
Answer:
My grandson was fed on demand since he was about 2 or 3 weeks old. He goes about 3-4 hrs between feedings (still) He is 4 mo now. At night he has his last bottle at 8pm or 9pm then goes to sleep for 11-12 hrs.
When he wakes up he is calm and wide eyed... he does most of his "talking" at that time
Both my kids were the same way, I have been very blessed.