While its certainly a blessing to have a baby who has no sleep issues, I am wondering if it's ok to sleep as much as my daughter (4.5 months) does. Her night time slee p is between 8:00 pm and 8 am. Then she naps for about 40 mins at 10 am, 30 mins at 12 noon. Then she sleeps from 1:30 till 4:30. 30 mins nap at 6. So in total she is getting about 16 hours of sleep, give or take. Is she sleeping too much? Also, at 4.5 months She is still having a max of 120 ml (4oz). Night time she wakes up Every 3 hours for feeding and actually finishes about 130 ml. Is she waking too much? I have to add that she is putting on perfect weight according to her doctor. So I am not really worried about he weight but I started wondering if the frequency (3 hours feeds) is fine for 4.5 month olds. Please advise me ladies.
@rakhii LO's are expected to sleep around 15 hours. But this varies. My LO slept only for 12 hours max. As long as your LO is active the remaining hours you need not be worried. If she is sluggish then she needs to be consulted with doctor. Did you try extending the time interval between feedings? Is she hungry every time she wakes up? Did you try rocking her back to sleep? My LO used to wake up every 4.5 hours. Once you start giving solids the time interval between feedings will automatically increase.
Thanks Ramya; I knew I could depend on you for answer! She seems fine during the awake periods. For the last couple of days she seems unusually clingy but I think it's just a phase as she has never been like this before. I have tried extending the feeding time to at least 4 hours but I think she is very hungry since she is taking a max of 120 ml per feed. We're your LO sleeping for 4.5 hours at 4.5 months? If he's, how much milk was he having?
@rakhii my LO was exclusively bf. so she used to wake up every 3.5 hours in the night. Honestly I am not sure how much she had in the night. But I usually fed her from only one side in the night. Try extending the period. If she is crying then give her a feed. Otherwise don't assume she is hungry. Or Continue this pattern. When she starts having solids her schedule will change.
Thanks Ramya, yes, she cries and completely wakes up if I don't feed her at the end of 3 hours. Actually from 2 and half hours itself she start to get a little restless; I extend for another 30 mins. But she usually drinks only a max of 120 ml. I am really not worried if she is not getting enough because she is; I mean her weight growth is perfect. Ramya, why do babies sleep longer after solids? I mean by 6 pm we feed them and give them milk at may be 9 pl right? By then the food isn't digested? I don't understand the logic behind why they sleep longer after solids. Can you please throw some light?
@rakhii solids take a longer time to digest compared to BM. So the gap between feedings increases. The amount of milk that LO might drink after having solids would become less and will not always be the max 120ml. So when their stomach is full for a longer period, they sleep longer.
