Is night feeding justified in this case?

[slworld]

DS is 7.5months old and a reflux baby. He can only take ~4oz at a time (that too with a lot of coaxing). He has a solid meal once in the late afternoon. Until about a month & half ago his last feed was between 7-7:30pm and he was asleep ~8pm. I would wake him up at ~10:30pm (before I went to bed) and he would take ~3-4oz and was asleep until ~7am. Then we moved from 4 to 3 naps and an earlier betime of ~6:45pm with a wakeup time between 6-6:30am (with 4 naps he started getting cranky at his usual time but would not fall asleep until ~9pm ... also he started rolling over in his sleep and is not sleeping as well as before). Also now I don't wake him up at 10:30pm, instead I feed him when he wakes up which is usually between 10-11pm (Weissbluth made me very guilty about waking up my baby to feed according to my convenience :( ).

With this new schedule he has been waking up between 2-3am every night (he still gets a feed between 10-11am). I would give him the pacifier and he would go back to sleep but keeps waking up 1-2 times every hour cause the paci fell off. I am wondering if maybe he is getting hungry because he is missing one feed due to his earlier bedtime (Can a pacifier mask hunger?). So for the past couple of days I started feeding him when he woke up between 2-3am (I mix 4oz but he takes only ~2oz). He may or may not take the paci to fall back asleep, but has been sleeping atleast until 5:45am at which point I give him his paci again and he sleeps maybe until 6:20am.

So my question is, is it the right thing to feed him at that time. I don't want to start this new habit if he doesn't need it (of course I would love not to have to wake at 2am to feed). Do reflux babies need night feedings for longer than those who don't suffer from it. Also at what point should I absolutely stop night feedings no matter what? Any comments/suggestions/advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks much

[JBaxter]

my oldest 2 had cups or bottles at night till they were 16 months old :). If your baby needs it then do it.

[BabyMine]

We also have a reflux baby. Since he has started solids and finally got on the fight dose of medication he sleeps through the night. He takes 8 oz at 8pm then maybe more at 10pm. He is on 10mg of Zegerid 3x's a day.

[egoldber]

Have you also started solids? Solids can also disrupt sleep patterns.

But yes, many reflux babies, because they tend not to eat a lot at any one time, often wake up at night to feed for a long time.

[slworld]

Have you also started solids? Solids can also disrupt sleep patterns.

He has one solid meal once in the afternoon. Veggie or fruit puree, with some oatmeal if its too runny. He has his formula first and then the solid after maybe an hour.

[BabyMine]

My DS spit up less when we did the solid first then the milk.

[slworld]

My DS spit up less when we did the solid first then the milk.

Yeah we tried that too cause he spit up a couple of times when we did solid after formula, but then he is so hungry at that time that he isn't able to eat it properly. He is all agitated & most of it doesn't get into his mouth. He is wiggling & restless, I just don't feel comfortable feeding him that way. He seems more peaceful & seems to enjoy it better if he is not as hungry. Also he is not as interested in his formula if he already had his solid & for him I think the formula is more important (calories/nutrition wise) than the solids at this point. Well we are still trying to see what works best.

[Melbel]

From what I have read, it is normal for reflux babies to take longer to sleep through the night. Our 8.5 month old w/ pretty severe reflux only takes between 2-4 ounces a feeding (mostly nursing; ounces measured when DD2 is bottle fed BM). She naps 3x day and goes to bed at 7:30 - 8 PM. She is up to feed between 11-12, around 2 and often again at 5. Since she eats so little per feeding and has been tracking perfectly on her growth curve, I have been reluctant to change anything even though we are desperate for a full nights sleep. We have her pedi GI appt tomorrow, so we will check into increasing meds (currently on Zegerid 5 ml 3x day; DD2 weighs 18 pounds).

[kellyd]

My DS is an 8 month old refluxer. He typically drinks between 30-36 oz/day, and 1-2 meals of solids. He goes to sleep for the night between 10:30 and 11:30. He sleeps 8-11 hours a night. Occasionally he wakes in the middle of the night, if cuddles and the paci don't work then I offer a bottle and he takes it then straight back off to sleep. I think if he is waking drinking and then going back down he probably needs the bottle.

[hillview]

I'd totally do it. I still give my 18 month old a bottle if that is all that works! Mama needs her SLEEP.
/hillary

[elephantmeg]

DD was a refluxer and needed an extra feeding at night until just recently. It's only been since 10ish months that she can go all night.

[BeachBum]

Weissbluth says somewhere in there that MOST babies need to be fed at night until nine months, and many after that.
IMO, if there is any chance that your baby is hungry then feed them.

[Moneypenny]

I don't think I would begin questioning night feeding in a non-reflux baby until at least 12 months, so night feeding a 7.5 month old reflux baby seems perfectly reasonable to me.

[tnrnchick74]

M almost 9 month old refluxer still wakes up every night somewhere between 3-4 am. He goes to sleep at 8-9pm and gets up for the day around 6am. But he still wants that middle of the night "nibble". He generally takes 8-10 oz at a time, except at night he takes 2-4 oz.

He eats lots of solids (3 meals generally - he's set the schedule and only eats what he wants...and he wants to eat!), but he still drinks 24 oz of formula a day. Our GI and ped just say he's a big kiddo with a big appetite and they are not worried, so neither am I.

[DrSally]

My oldest didn't sleep through the night until 10 months, and Dd is 7 months and still waking up ever 2 or so hours--4-5 times a night. She hadn't taken to solids yet and I'm not pushing it.

ETA: Partially I still think DD needs to nightfeed, prob not as often, though. But, I don't want her crying and waking up DS.

[Melanie]

I think you should trust your instincts and listen to baby. If you think he's hungry, feed him. He won't night-wake forever.

[Nooknookmom]

Refluxer here too. When she was your DS age she still woke up at least 2x's a night. If not 3. If offered pumped milk or rice milk, 3 oz was her average max. Rarely did she take in 4. We also battled delayed gastric emptying, so if she topped her tummy off too much, she would really be battling the cycle.

So yes feed him if need be. These reflux babies are a different world compared to a typical baby. My oldest was textbook and DD2 totally broke the mold.

You're lucky you are on Zegrid, my insurance did not offer it and we were stuck on Prevacid for over a year, but at least it did help.

It will get better though, I promise!