Almost 4 months - big evening feeder!!

Hi there,

This is my first time using the forums so hopefully I'm doing this right! My wee Bella is almost 4 months old, she has always been a very relaxed baby and we are so lucky, I'm just wondering if I should be changing our routine...

Bella feeds every 3.5-4 hours (exclusively breastfed, occasional expressed bottle) during the day, it used to be she would wake at 7:30, feed, sleep, wake & play, feed at 11:30, play, sleep, wake and feed at 3:00, play, sleep, wake and feed at 6:00, bath, feed again until 9-9:30 then to bed and she sleeps right through, she's now started sleeping in until 8:30-9:00 so I've started waking her to keep the routine but I wondered a few things and hopefully all you smart mums can help me,

1. Are we doing enough feeds throughout the day?
2. At nightime its full on with constant feeding from 6:00 then break for bath and constant feeding until 9ish, should we/can we change this in anyway?
3. Should I be waking her when she sleeps past her usual routine?

Really have just lost a bit of confidence in what we are doing, a few people have mentioned how our big long night feed doesn't need to happen and she should be in bed earlier. Normally I don't care what people think but starting to worry I'm not doing the right thing for my girl, she seems happy though? Just a bit fussy at night time.

Another note is our bath take a bit longer than usual as she has bad skin and spend a bit of time moisturising etc after which she doesn't enjoy but have to do! Thats probably another whole forum topic all together though!

Anyway, if anyone has any advice/experience on the night feeding, changing or not changing routines etc that would be much appreciated!!

Re bad skin, we just stopped using any bath products at all on DS, his skin was getting super dry and now after only 5 days its backt o baby soft.

With the long feedings, DD used to feed non stop ffom 5 ish till 9 ish most nights till she was about 6 months old. She never went to bed before 9 till recently. If it works for you do it . I would just continue on with what you're doing

hey just go through the Happy and healthy test,
Is Baby happy?
Are you happy with how it is going/is it working for you?
and Is baby gaining weight well and doing well?
If the answer is yes, then you are definately doing the right thing for her. Just remember that there will always be people who comment on what you are doing, it gets so annoying sometimes, just listen to them, nod and then forget what they said. And she got a great routine going on, good work.

Re. the dry skin, you might find that healthE fatty cream works better as a moisturiser than aqueous because it isn't absorbed as quickly, you can get it from the pharmacy.
For my babies exzcema looking skin and cradle cap, I cover him with aqueous then wash it all off in the bath then moisturise with the fatty cream.

Bizzy wrote: it is very normal for lots of babies to feed for a long time in the evening... they are storing it up for the night. she sleeps through the night so i wouldnt want to change it if is working for you. re the bad skin, a lot of bath time products for babies actually dry the skin out and you are better off using nothing but water, it might save you on having to moisturise so much.

Agreed, just let her dictate the feeds. So feeding on demand. If she's hungry she'll let you know!

Also agree with the just using water. Lily has eczema and we got an ointment from the Dr to put on at every nappy change, before her bath to wash off and after her bath, she HATES getting changed and moisturised after her bath!