3 month old bottle feeding routine, likes lots of cuddles?

Question

Hi, my daughter was 12 weeks yesterday (12lb 11oz) and for the last 7 weeks has been bottle fed (for the first 5 I breastfed on demand). We now seem to be into a little bit of a routine, but I just need some extra advice on demand or routine feeding. I have been following a sort of routine the last few weeks, feeding her every 4 hours, the last 2 days as follows:

wakes 7am'ish - has a 5-7oz bottle, stays awake until approx 8.30am, sleep (in arms - see below) for about 1/1.5 hours,

approx 11am - has a 4-6oz bottle, awake for 1-2 hours then sleep again.

approx 3pm - has a 4-7oz bottle, awake for a 1-2 hours then sleep again. 7pm - bath, then 5-7oz bottle, awake for 1 hour then sleep.

approx 11pm - 5-7oz bottle - upstairs to bed - cuddled in my arms until sound asleep then put into her cot, where she waits until about 5-5.30am when she starts getting restless and I lift her in beside us for anything up to 2 hours.

Generally I have to wake her for her feeds, sometimes she is awake for the 11am feed. Should I continue to wake her? I sometimes think I should put her to her cot after her bath/bottle then see when she wakes for another bottle thro the night, but what if this was to be her longest sleeping time and ends up in beside us earlier in the night? Although after bath until 11pm she can be quite restless!

Sleeping - she has to be "cuddled in" in someones arms for sleep. I do put her down in her car seat or bouncy chair, but sometimes as soon as I do this the eyes open and the crying starts. I pick her up and cuddle her back in, then try to put her down again. She does not like to go to sleep lying flat on her back during the day, instantly wakes up!! I've tried the hot water bottle in the pram,,,, didnt work. Does anyone have any other ideas? I dont mind the cuddling as I currently think she is too young to "cry it out". Would you agree?

I'm just confused, one friend says never wake a sleeping baby, but if she's sleeping in my arms and I go to put her down and she wakes.... the other says stick to a strict routine.

I would presue once I start to introduce some solids, perhaps in a few weeks time, she will drop the 11pm feed. But sometimes, when I tally up the ounces of milk she's had in a day it is less than the recommended weight x 2.2.

Any advice on what you do would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

I had massive problems with getting my 3 month old son to sleep.  He would just lie awake and cry for hours, then when he finally went to sleep he would wake every hour or two hours through the night and cry again!  Talk about pulling our hair out .... we were absolutely desperate for sleep!

It was a baby sleep audio program recommended by a friend that finally saved us. We followed the advice and began by creating a baby sleep routine which included bathtime, dimming of the lights, putting Paul into his crib, final nappy change and then lullabies. We also made recommended changes to his naps during the day and used some of the other recommended techniques. Within two weeks he was sleeping through the night most nights with just the odd night where he would just wake once!

Definitely start by creating a good baby sleep routine though and you could find that solves most of your baby sleep problems.

Good luck!

If you want to take a look, the audio program is at http://www.babysleepsolution.com

Answer 2

My son is almost 5 months old.  He is breastfed which tends to lend itself more toward "on demand" feeding.  But he has fallen into his own routine consisting of wake up, eat, play for 1.5-2 hours, nap until hungry again and repeat although sometimes I top him off before the nap if he seems particularly sleepy and could benefit from a longer nap.  This sounds similar to your little one.  I would say definitely stop waking your baby up for feeding (except maybe that 11 pm one so you can get a good nights rest).  She will wake up when hungry and may take a lot longer than my guy since it is harder for them to digest formula (and she is younger and needs more sleep).  As for the specific amounts, don't worry if she eats less one day and more the next...babies have different appetites on different days and if you force them to finish a bottle you think they need, that's how they get too fat (and you could be giving them a tummy ache and not realizing it).

As for the sleeping only in your arms, eventually she will outgrow this, but you have to help her by always trying to put her down.  My son was like that for maybe the first 2-2.5 months but then he was able to sleep well in his swing (with it on) while swaddled and didn't need to be completely asleep before we put him in it.  The rocking motion and swaddling felt the same to him as me holding him.  I would try a swing and definately swaddle her as it sounds like she wants to feel cozy to sleep.  Also, if you need to get stuff done and she really wont sleep if you put her down, try a sling.  They are wonderful and my son got to the point where he'd fall asleep within 2 minutes of being put in it.

Answer 3

no no no, don't wake her to feed!!

Don't giver her water, she doesn't need it yet.  She needs to be cuddled because she's not getting any "natural comfort" anymore (breast milk - natural tranquilizer, natural pain reliever, etc etc)

Answer 4

the routine you are establishing sounds good, my three month old has a similar routine but is mostly breast fed with one or two formula bottles a day. for my daughter boobie means sleep. my early childhood nurse suggested to give her something to snuggle and a bed time routine, she explained to me that most adults have a bed time routine such as brushing their teeth or reading etc, and that babies are the same. I would suggest putting her down more often when she is sleeping, you could try control crying where you make sure that she is dry,  fed and comfortable (temperature wise ie warm/cool) and if there is nothing else that could be wrong such as wind then leave her to cry but only for short periods of time, don't let her get worked up, and when you go to pick her up do so when there is a pause in her crying, it doesn't have to be for long, just a second or two, they are very smart and will figure out that as soon as she stops crying she gets picked up. and you can also feed a sleeping baby, there is no reason to wake her. my baby does this, her daddy can change her and everything without waking her up, but I can't! lol! hope this helps.