Eating

My daughter ate every three hours until she was 5 months old, and then I had to feed her "solids" three times a day to keep her comfortably full! As for the sleeping thing, have you tried different positions for him? I suggest trying to let him sleep in his carseat, some children need to be some what upright to sleep, and then they sleep great! I have you tried laying him on his side, belly, and back? if he sleeps on his back, try using those supports to keep him from rolling, cause he could be rolling in the night and getting uncomfortable! I hope something works for you! Good Luck!

Feed him. If he wants to eat every 3 hours, so be it. It's what he needs. Jack didn't get into solids until around 9 1/2 months and still is going slowly with them. He's still younger than the age most pediatricians even recommend starting solids (six months), so be patient and feed him as he needs too... he may also need to eat at night still. I'd try feeding him in the night and se if that helps his sleep. Good luck!

Hi H.,
I have 4 month old twins and 2 older children. I breastfeed my twins every 3 to 4 hours when they act hungry and haven't started solids yet. I recommend feeding him as often as needed. The best thing I found worked for all of my kids to get them to sleep through the night was to get them sleeping good through the day. I let them cry it out when its time for their naps and when they wake up at night i get up to feed them. For me it seems easier to handle a screaming baby during the day. My twins have been sleeping through the night since they were 10 weeks old.

Hi H.! What type of formula are you feeding your son? I stopped breast feeding when my son was 6 weeks old, because he was allergic to dairy, which I was consuming through milk, cheese, etc. We went to soy formula automatically and he was allergic to it. Upset stomach, fussy mostly at night--same pattern as your son. We had to put him on Alimentum--expensive, but he slept so much better and only up a few times a night until we had to break him of the habit around 8 months. Also, try giving him water in between feedings. I also started giving my son water at 6 weeks and he responded great. He loves water now and he is 18months. Talk to your Pedo about food allergies. That is usually the main cause of fussiness at night, upset tummy and wanting to eat so often. He also had acid reflux so sleeping flat wasn't good for him. It seemed like my son wanted to eat every 1.5 hours when he was super little. Check your options.

Could he possibly be teething? Is he drooling alot or fussy during the day? Just a thought. If so I would give him tylenol at bedtime.

I dealt with this with my daughter & now my son. With my daughter we tried everything - cereal before bed, etc. . . . The cry-it-out method (which I HATE) worked the best. I was told by 6 months they are eating in the middle of the night out of habit. This totally made sense to me. So at 10 months, she cried for an hour the first night, then 15 mins, then 5 and was sleeping thru the night about 5 nights a wk. Vacations always set her back for more than a month. My son is 6 months old & was sleeping thru the night at 4 months, but then we had to go on vacation & he has only slept thru twice. He would sleep about 3-4 hrs, then wake every 1-2 hrs, but would only suckle back to sleep. We started the cry-it-out method at his first waking. I would then go to him after that & he has gotten MUCH better. He now sleeps approx. 6 hrs before waking, then eats & goes down for another 4. In the middle of the night I let him cry at least 5 minutes before going to him, cuz a lot of times, he just goes back to sleep. Just make sure you stick with whatever you try for longer than a couple of days before scraping it & trying something different. I know a LOT of people discourage the cry-it-out method & I would normally be one of them, but that was all that worked for my family! Good Luck!

My daughter is 7 1/2 months old, and she still eats about every three hours during the day, a combination of solids and breastmilk. She just gets hungry that often!

i know it sounds a little odd but have to tried infant massage to help him sleep and calm him down when he is fussing.there are moves that you use on the tummy that have more then once calmed my little one down. plus as an added bonus you get some bonding time.

J.

I had the same problem with my son-he is almost 3 months old. My Doctor suggested getting an upper GI to see if he had acid reflux and he really had it bad. After getting antacid-it has completely changed the way he sleeps and eats. I also have him sleep in his swing so he is inclined.