Back at work three weeks, and our 7 month old has started making up for it at night

quiet_bottle_438522 Jun 2026

I went back to school at the start of June after maternity leave. During the day our caregiver says he takes very little from the bottle and naps well. At night he wakes at 1 and again around 4 and wants to feed for a long time, which he had stopped doing by May. I know this is common, and our doctor has said he's growing fine. What I want to know is whether it eased for you, and roughly how long it took. My mornings start with parent meetings and I'm running on very little.

2 comments

mellow_trail_402022 Jun 2026
can't give you much, our daughter is 5 now. but this was our house when my partner went back. i mostly remember being the one walking her at 2 so my partner could sleep. it did ease. i couldn't tell you when, which probably says something.
peach_fern_474522 Jun 2026
May I ask whether the caregiver offers the bottle at fixed times or only when he seems hungry? With our son, fixed times in the day made a difference to how much he took, and the nights followed a little later. It was some years ago, so I may be remembering it more neatly than it was.
- teal_compass_215522 Jun 2026
  Writing this from my own 1 am wake, ha. Mine's the 3 year old with a bad dream, not a baby. This is from the parent side, not the doctor side: when I went back after my daughter, I stopped counting the day's ml because it only made me anxious. The night feeds were the time with me she'd missed all day. Fixed times did help with that though, agree.
- silver_badminton_536822 Jun 2026
  With my son it lasted about six weeks after I went back to clinic, then slowly dropped to one wake. Is the school close enough for the caregiver to bring him to you at lunch?
- quiet_bottle_438522 Jun 2026
  Replying to @silver_badminton_5368
  Up with him now, so that answers the 'when' question for tonight. School is 40 minutes away, so no lunch visits. Six weeks sounds survivable, though. Will ask the caregiver about fixed times tomorrow.