The pesky 4:30–6:30am feed… how do we break the cycle? 😴
Hi mums! I have an almost 6-month-old, and I think we’ve been pretty lucky with sleep so far.
We have a solid bedtime routine, and he’s getting better at going down drowsy but awake. He usually settles himself, and overnight he might stir once or twice, but a quick dummy replacement normally does the trick.
Our current struggle is this pesky early morning feed! For the last 2–3 weeks, he’s been waking anywhere between 4:30 and 6:30am. We try the dummy, but he spits it out and keeps stirring every 15 minutes until we eventually pick him up and give him a feed. He doesn’t always take a full feed, but after 15–20 minutes he goes straight back to sleep until around 8am.
He has three naps during the day, usually anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, and he’s feeding well throughout the day, so I don’t think it’s down to him not getting enough milk.
The problem is that by the time he’s back asleep, I’m pretty much up for the day, so it’s really affecting my sleep! Previously, he’d sleep until around 7am, which was much more manageable.
Has anyone experienced something similar? Do we keep offering the dummy and hope he eventually drops this feed, or is he genuinely hungry and we should just accept it for now? Would love to hear what worked for you! ❤️
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Your baby is hungry, feed them! Night feeds until 1 year are normal. You’re doing amazingly to get to 4:30-6:30 without a feed. Babies aren’t designed to go 12 hours without eating x
I quite like the 5am feed, I can put her back down and go make myself a coffee and feed the dogs while she sleeps. Gives me an hour or two without being "needed" and I can scroll to my hearts content. Its got the point if I wake up at 7-8 Im actually kinda sad I dont get my hour 🤣
Please keep feeding your child the 4:30-6:30 feed. He will drop the feed when he's ready don't remove it from him he's only 6 months old. Milk is their main nourishment until they are 1. Please don't use the dummy if he is showing signs of hunger
He's hungry, so feed him. Sounds like you're getting a really long stretch overnight, and if he's falling back to sleep after eating then that's ideal. It sucks, but you might just have to shift your bed time a bit.
Hey, enjoy the long stretch! We're 10 months in and only recently not feeding twice overnight with a few wake ups around it, and now if he wakes up at 5-6am, that's it and we're all up for the day as no hope of going back to sleep. Your situation sounds pretty normal/if anything more ideal than most so I know it's annoying but sounds like just giving him the feed and putting him back down will get you all the most sleep 💕
He's hungry that's why he's waking. He's only 6 months old. Babies grow and so does their appetite
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The pesky 4:30–6:30am feed… how do we break the cycle? 😴
Hi mums! I have an almost 6-month-old, and I think we’ve been pretty lucky with sleep so far.
We have a solid bedtime routine, and he’s getting better at going down drowsy but awake. He usually settles himself, and overnight he might stir once or twice, but a quick dummy replacement normally does the trick.
Our current struggle is this pesky early morning feed! For the last 2–3 weeks, he’s been waking anywhere between 4:30 and 6:30am. We try the dummy, but he spits it out and keeps stirring every 15 minutes until we eventually pick him up and give him a feed. He doesn’t always take a full feed, but after 15–20 minutes he goes straight back to sleep until around 8am.
He has three naps during the day, usually anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, and he’s feeding well throughout the day, so I don’t think it’s down to him not getting enough milk.
The problem is that by the time he’s back asleep, I’m pretty much up for the day, so it’s really affecting my sleep! Previously, he’d sleep until around 7am, which was much more manageable.
Has anyone experienced something similar? Do we keep offering the dummy and hope he eventually drops this feed, or is he genuinely hungry and we should just accept it for now? Would love to hear what worked for you! ❤️
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