How do you tell if your baby is hungry at night?

[sugarcookie]

Dear Mummies,

When your baby wakes up at night, how do you tell if he/she is hungry and not just seeking comfort or "help" in getting back to sleep??

 

[annie]

actually if u r breastfeeding the easiest way to get more sleep n not to wake bb is simply feed her when she is awake no matter she hungry or not. n i personally think if your bb is not sleeping through the night, then before 6mths she probably still needs night feed to 'grow'. of cos if she started to sleep through by herself before 6mths then its ok to stop the night feeding.

as for your qn... do u usually 'help' her fall asleep? if yes then probably she needs help to goes back to sleep too when she awakes at night. if she always falls asleep independently then u can check if she is too hot, too cold, wet diaper(depends on her character. my girl dosent mind a wet diaper. not even a soiled one! she can sleep for hrs with a soild diaper!) etc etc. u can try covering/removing her blanket. if she is too hot or too cold, she will be able to go back to sleep after u remove/cover her with a blanket. sometimes my girl wakes, i simply cover/remove her blanket n she is back to sleep instantly. for my girl, if she is hungry, she will cry n look for my breast. if i carry her up n she stop crying n didnt even bother to look for my breast then she is not hungry. usually i put her back to cot after a while of cuddling n she is back to sleep again n wake up after 4-5hrs! so she isnt hungry! hehe.

 

[Cream]

For me, I will check the time... If it is time for a feed, I will still prepare the milk and give it to her. Most of the time she finishes, and those few times that she cannot finish, I just let it be. Instead of aggravating the baby by forcing a feed, I rather she stay in a mellow mood so that she can sleep better.

Are you having problems on feeding her in the night, or are you having problems on getting her to sleep?

 

[snowbear]

do the usual chks: is bb hot/cold? is diaper wet/soiled? is bb unwell? After that u can feed bb n see if that keeps her quiet... babies also go thru phases where they feel a bit more insecure than usual so they may want to be near mummy when they wake up in the nite. So i usually will feed her if i can't keep her quiet by just patting her to bed/ carrying her for awhile.

 

[sugarcookie]

For me, I will check the time... If it is time for a feed, I will still prepare the milk and give it to her. Most of the time she finishes, and those few times that she cannot finish, I just let it be. Instead of aggravating the baby by forcing a feed, I rather she stay in a mellow mood so that she can sleep better.

Are you having problems on feeding her in the night, or are you having problems on getting her to sleep?

Baby tends to whimper a lot in the middle of the night. Her eyes are closed though so I don't know if she is hungry or is having problems going back to sleep.

Like you, I have been checking the time. If it is about 3 hours since her last feed, I give her milk. The prob is sometimes she is wide awake after that!!! :elvis:

 

[Cream]

Same, sometimes Kaydes will be wide awake after a feed. What I do is I let her lie down and entertain herself while I lie beside her and observe. After a while, she will automatically fall asleep.

Kaydes also makes alot of noise in her sleep. Most of the time it is just REM. So I just let her be. Sometimes she even laugh out loud in the middle of the night in her sleep, and sometimes she grunt and coo and ah-goo and whatsoever... During those times, same, I just let her be. You try to observe if she will self settle first.

 

[sugarcookie]

Same, sometimes Kaydes will be wide awake after a feed. What I do is I let her lie down and entertain herself while I lie beside her and observe. After a while, she will automatically fall asleep.

Kaydes also makes alot of noise in her sleep. Most of the time it is just REM. So I just let her be. Sometimes she even laugh out loud in the middle of the night in her sleep, and sometimes she grunt and coo and -goo and whatsoever... During those times, same, I just let her be. You try to observe if she will self settle first.

Baby went to sleep at around 7pm last night. She whimpered and was fidgeting a few times throughout the night but like you suggested, I let her be. She quietened down after a while and went back to sleep. Started crying only at 5am so I gave her milk. Then she went back to sleep.

Am hoping she is starting to learn to sleep throughout the night...but I don't want to expect too much...

 

[Cream]

Congrats.... you did it... so did your baby...

 

[annie]

2mths old bb sleeping from 7-5 is amazing! my 2mths old girl wakes every 2.5-3hrs! but i have to admit that i didnt allow her the chance to fall back asleep by herself. everytime she makes a move (even moving her arms n legs) i pick her up n feed her.. regret doing so. now at 7.5mths she still wakes 1-2 times a night. maybe for my next bb i shall try to let her self soothe herself at night as soon as day 1~

 

[sugarcookie]

Cream and annie, baby only manages to sleep such long stretches once in a while... I hope it is like that every night eventually. *crosses fingers*

 

[Domique]

I think she is doing well. Sleeping at 7pm and only crying at 5am...

Praise her.... she will learn to sleep longer when their tummy grows bigger at about 4 mths. They do not need to feed so frequent.

Baby went to sleep at around 7pm last night. She whimpered and was fidgeting a few times throughout the night but like you suggested, I let her be. She quietened down after a while and went back to sleep. Started crying only at 5am so I gave her milk. Then she went back to sleep.

Am hoping she is starting to learn to sleep throughout the night...but I dont't want to expect too much...

 

[apollo]

though my ds is only 10days old but my whole family know his "pattern" well aldy.

we'll see if the milk time is up, normally starts frm 2hrs onwards.. and he'll open his mouth v big and stick out his tongue hehe..

 

[annie]

my girl starts sleeping for about 4hrs stretch from 2.5mths then ocasionally 6-8hrs also. but till now still not improving much lol. her highest record is 10hrs stretch but happened only once! lol. usually its 6-8hrs...

 

[Ros Teo]

Cream and annie, baby only manages to sleep such long stretches once in a while... I hope it is like that every night eventually. *crosses fingers*

Hi Sugercookie,

My daughter sleeps around 9pm+ every night but at around 230am, she will open her mouth big and tongue sticking in out so I have to give her milk. So yours is really amazing, that she can sleep such long stretches of hour.

Do you think I should give my daughter another feed at 12am to make her sleep thru the night?

 

[Domique]

I think you should. Then maybe the next time she walk up would be around 5-6am.

Hi Sugercookie,

My daughter sleeps around 9pm+ every night but at around 230am, she will open her mouth big and tongue sticking in out so I have to give her milk. So yours is really amazing, that she can sleep such long stretches of hour.

Do you think I should give my daughter another feed at 12am to make her sleep thru the night?

 

[annie]

ya if u can. dream feed her before u sleep so she can last longer at night but then i didnt do that cos i was breastfeeding my girl without using bottles.. i think if i pick her up i sure wake her... dream feed better use bottle.. so u dun need to move or touch the bb when u feed her.

btw, no matter wat your girl do at night, as long as she is not crying, i think u just let her be n dun feed her.. let her have the chance to go back to sleep by herself. some bb move n talk during their light sleep. even if they do get awake they might sleep back after sometime without your help.

 

[sugarcookie]

Hi Sugercookie,

My daughter sleeps around 9pm+ every night but at around 230am, she will open her mouth big and tongue sticking in out so I have to give her milk. So yours is really amazing, that she can sleep such long stretches of hour.

Do you think I should give my daughter another feed at 12am to make her sleep thru the night?

I agree with annie that as long as your girl doesn't cry, no need to give her milk. Give her the chance to soothe herself back to sleep.

As for my baby, she was "amazing" only for two nights. Last night, she woke up at 4am and has been awake since then...:elvis:

 

[annie]

4am also very good liao haha. my girl got 2 weeks she slept through the night then dunno y all of a sudden wake up every 2hrs.. now she is better. 50% of the time she slept through the night but then another 50% is crazy. she sleep at 9pm n sometimes wake up at 12-1am dunno for wat.. im sure she is not hungry so i try not to feed her.. if she keep crying then i will feed her la. usually i jsut carry her up to soothe her n sometimes she falls back asleep in 5mins without feed.

 

[shespice]

Dear Mummies,

When your baby wakes up at night, how do you tell if he/she is hungry and not just seeking comfort or "help" in getting back to sleep??

I suppose if your baby doesn't cry, you could just pat her a little and see if she goes back to sleep. At 2 months plus I see that your baby can sleep from 7pm to 5am and that's wonderful! My girl was like waking up every 2hrs or less for feed during that time and I was tired LOL. Besides breastfeeding, she was such a light sleeper and cries soooo much aiyo! Things only got a little better when she was 4 months when she started to sleep only at midnight or 1am but she wasn't sleeping through either and it was tiring as I already had to go back to work by then. Now that she is 6 months, she sleeps better and i try to let her sleep through from 9pm or so till 5 or 6am though not always consistent as sometimes she does sort of wake up around 2-3am. I used to feed her at that time if she wakes but gradually I have stop and if she can get back to sleep I let her be without feeding. Sometimes now I keep a bottle of water for her so if she moves I just give her some water and then she goes back to sleep LOL. But again at 2 months plus I really think your baby is good to be able to sleep for such a long stretch. Well done!

 

[annie]

shespice, if she wakes up around 2-3am then u dun give milk how u make her sleep? give water?

your girl's schedule looks very much like mine. she usually sleeps 9.30pm n 50% of the time she wakes up around 5-6am and 50% of the time she will wake around 2am.. i tried not giving her milk by carrying her. sometimes she goes back to sleep after i put her down but sometimes she will start crying n end up takes me 1.5hrs to make her sleep without giving her milk.. i feel im disturbing her nice sleep.. thinking of giving up n simply give her milk so that she dun wake up too much at night... she cant take water cos she dosent know how to use a bottle...