Encouraging a longer night sleep?

Hi there,

I have a question about Darby, she'll be 4 months old on Monday! Currently we're on a 3-3.5 hourly routine (instigated by her, I never needed to try). But lately she's been wanting to sleep longer between her day feeds, so that she ends up being almost 4-4.5hrs between feeds. Saying that, she'll only have her 5th feed of the day at 9pm, then sleep through til 6 or 7am.

Should I perhaps try to keep her on the 3 hourly feeds by waking her early from her sleep (if she's wanting to sleep longer) so that her 5th feed will be around 7.30pm, in anticipation that she won't need another feed til the next morning... or should I just let her do it her way and not have such a long stretch at night?

You'd think being my 3rd child I'd have the answers wouldn't you! But my first baby was a perfect sleeper, he thrived on routine, I followed the Babywise principles mostly (couldn't bear to be too strict, was always a merciful mum with lots of cuddles and kisses at nap time)... my 2nd had bad reflux, so I knew babywise wouldn't work as he had to be rocked to sleep every nap time... so now, baby number 3, she's a mix between the two boys and I'm stumped. Any suggestions?

I would say try the 3/3.5 hours during the day for a day or two and see if it makes any difference. Or I would suggest putting her down around 7 and doing a dream feed around 10ish, if you can get her through to then (so feed at 7, feed at 10.). Give it a go, and see if it helps, if not, just go with her flow.

Hope I helped! I'm not really sure what you're after...her going to bed earlier? Good luck!

Sorry, my post wasn't very clear was it... yep, that's what I'm looking for, an earlier bedtime :)

i dont let DD sleep longer than a 2 hrs at a time during the day. i wake her and feed her if shes due a feed or play with her. That way she learnt that day time is 'play time' and night time is for sleep...seems to work for us! GL