Cutting out night feed

[Smurfette]

Olivia currently has 6 feeds over 24 hours. Two are at night 11pm and 3:30amish. Other women I know with 6 month olds are starting to cut out the 3:30 feed. I don't mind getting up to feed her and personally I feel she still needs this feed, but I don't know, maybe it could be habit.
Are there signs I could look for to see if she can go without this feed?
At what age should babies ( and I know there all different) start going without night feeds?

[O&GMUM]

I stopped my night feeds (I BF) at 8 months, but alot of people thought that was quite late. Have you tried to give her a little water instead? I keep a avent bottle (slow teat #1) in their room and if one wakes in the night (which is very rare these days thank goodness) I just go in and pop the bottle in (i dont pick them up) they have a few sucks, I put the dummy back in and off they go again. It worked for me but all babies are different.

[drewid]

Hi there

If you think she still needs the feeds and you are happy to continue, then do so - dont' let anyone make you feel that is wrong.

6 months is an ok time to think about phasing out a night feed. Andrew had feeds at 11 and 3 also, and I found it was easier to drop the 11 feed first. I tried one night to resettle him instead of feeding and he went back to sleep, so I took that as a sign to continue trying to resettle at 11. I think after a few days, he didn't even wake at 11 anymore.

The 3 feed sort of dropped itself. He would sleep through every few days and slowly he started sleeping more and waking less. It didn't take any effort on my part - lovely :)

If you are keen, just give it a go and see what happens and go with the flow - much less stressful that way :)

[Goosie22]

Are there signs I could look for to see if she can go without this feed?


This might sound obvious but if she dosn't need the feed she probably wont wake up:thumbsup: Thats how I worked out when my babies didn't need that feed(they didn't have times though they were demand feed)

[Refresh]

HI, all I can say is that the worst thing you can do is compare your bub to others bubs:) They are all totally dfferent and waht is normal for one isnt for another:) Dont worry, just go with the flow:) Good lck with it, I am sure you are doing a great job!~

[a&nmama]

I followed a routine by Tizzie Hall in www.saveoursleep.com.au which basically allows you to cut out the night feed once your baby on solids. She recommends feeding/sleeping at regular times every day to establish a set routine. Tizzie suggests that if your baby is well fed both solids and milk then it should not need the night feed but rather resettling when it wakes. A dreamfeed at 10.30 or 11 pm should be enough to get the baby through the night if there are 4 breast/bottle feeds during the day plus 3 meals of solids (2 courses). She also saids that if they do wake in the middle of the night it is more likely that they are either cold or hot and/or do not know how to self settle.
My baby stopped the night feed at about 8 months.

cheers

[zenifa]

As a 1st time mum, I have found it easiest to go with the flow and be led by my baby. I've read lots of conflicting books about feeding/sleeping routines and spoken to lots of mums and each child is different. I was getting up twice/night (times would vary on avg 11pm, 3am) to bfeed my DD for the first three months and then for the next two months I was feeding her once/night at 3am. Then at 5 mths I started her on solids and she decided to start sleeping through consistently, so her last feed before bed (8pm) and her 1st feed of the day (6am) were her biggest feeds, given she was sleeping for 10hrs straight. Now if my DD does wake up during the night, we give her the dummy and resettle and it seems to work. Good luck Z :)

[Jem]

i personally think that they could do without a night feed at around 6 months.. i think it can become a comfort thing after a while, and a bad habit :rolleyes:
My DS2 9 months is still fed around 3 times between 12am-7am purely a comfort thing but i dont mind as i co-sleep:sleeping:
Ds1 is 2 and he still gets his milk bottle a cpl times a night also..
I guess everyone has there own methods.. as long as it works, and your happy with it:thumbsup:

[Me]

I am only a new mum(2.5 months) but what I have found so far with my DD is just follow her lead. All my friends have had their bubs "sleeping through" around the 8-12 week mark and kept telling me different ways to 'get bub to sleep through' but none of the techniques felt right for me. that said though we used the dummy for about 4-5 weeks but got so sick of it after 3hrs straight one night of replacing the dummy after it fell out(also had 2 feeds in that 3 hrs) that we started letting her have a little bit of a cry as long as it was just a whinge and at 2.5mths she sleeps quite alright on her own from 7pm til 4:30-5am when she has a little feed then back to bed til 7am. I am quite happy with this arrangement and am quite happy to get up to feed her whenever she wants and no longer feel the pressure to 'get rid of the night feeds'. As long as you and bub are happy doing what your doing i say 'if it ain't broke don't fix it'!

[CandyJane]

Does it matter if it is habit?

My toddler still wakes up for night feeds, he may not 'need' them for hunger, but he may need them for thirst or comfort :)

I think if you are happy night feeding, then follow Olivia's lead :)

[Smurfette]

Thanks everyone. I really don't mind giving Olivia a feed, just wasn't sure if I was doing the right thing or not. I think as long as she is needing this feed, I will go with the flow. No skin off my nose.

[Miaow]

I tend to demand feed EJ and dont stick to specific amounts of feeds per day (Shed scream the house down if i did LOL) but the last few days shes started to sleep longer at night (6-7 hours in a stretch - I hope it keeps up :rolleyes: ) meaning shes cut out a feed about 1-2am. I'm happy to go with what she wants really. Ive heard her stir and wake around 1-2 (shes in the same room) but shes fallen back asleep pretty quickly and hasnt needed that feed obviously. She still wakes for a feed at 4ish though

[bpato]

Hi

DS is 5 1/2 months and now only has a feed at 9.30 pm then goes down for the night until around 5 in the morning.

I have found that some nights he will wake around 2.30am, but a cuddle and his dummy is enough to settle him back to sleep. It takes around 5 to 10 mins, but I can tell he doesn't want a feed because he doesn't try to latch on when I pick him up. Hope that makes sense????? I have also found he settles qicker if DH gets up to him and gives him a cuddle and gives him his dummy.

Sometimes I think it is because he gets lonely and just want to be reassured that we are still here.

Good luck. Follow your instincts they are usually right.

Belinda