DS Nurses more at night than day - just habit?

[mrsp14]

I've always tried to be as baby led as possible and have always let DS feed on demand. He's now just over ten months and eats his food like a dream... He has 3-4 'booby feeds' a day but 5-6 at night... He goes down at around 0630 but feeds 2-3 times before midnight and then 2-3 times between midnight and the morning when he gets up around 0630

I don't want to force him into anything but I really am thinking its just habit over need now. He eats a good meal for dinner most nights and only naps once per day so I don't think he's hungry and he should be tired enough to sleep. I'm not asking for him to sttn but maybe just wake once or twice instead of the five or six times!

 

[mrsp14]

Bump?

 

[MommyJogger]

Have you tried offering more frequent bf during the day to see if that curbs nighttime feeds? When you say "on demand", I find that can mean different things to different people and as (patch, I believe) has so eloquently pointed out before: "don't offer, don't refuse" is a gentle weaning method. So it's possible that your lo is distracted enough during the day that he's not demanding often enough and actually does need to make up those calories at night. He may be eating solids well, but bm is much more caloric than solid foods, so you may actually be better off easing up on solids and offering more breast milk.
Our sons are about the same age and while my son only takes a few mouthfuls from three meals + two snacks each day, he still nurses every 2-3h with some spontaneous other sessions thrown in haphazardly, which ends up being about 8 times during the day along with one huge middle of the night feed.
Every baby will be different, but if the night nursing is dragging you down, I think offering to nurse more during the day would be a good first resort to see if you can get him to drop those on his own.

 

[jinglebear]

when my lo was 10months he was on a cup of milk for breakfast and a bottle of milk at night and then 3 meals with snacks in between. i didnt breastfeed him at tht point but it does sound like habbit for your lo. he def shouldnt need to wake that amount of times during the night at his age, esp if he takes a good solid diet. perhaps offer more milk during the day but i wouldnt cut down on his meals as at this age food is just as important x

 

[MommyJogger]

but i wouldnt cut down on his meals as at this age food is just as important x

With all due respect, this is patentedly false. Milk (either breast or formula) should remain the main source of nutrition for at least a year (and arguably for a while after). It's been shown that breastmilk alone or with token solids is sufficient to age 2. I'm not going to argue that it's harmful to rely on solids, but they're certainly not just as important.

 

[ChimChims]

Our sons are about the same age and while my son only takes a few mouthfuls from three meals + two snacks each day, he still nurses every 2-3h with some spontaneous other sessions thrown in haphazardly, which ends up being about 8 times during the day along with one huge middle of the night feed.

We seem to be in the same boat. My LO does far more nursing than feeding in a day, and still some through the night. I'd say once every few nights, and then every so often 2-3 feeds during a night. We co-sleep though, so when she nurses it isn't a bother. Anyway, just wanted to say nice to meet you, and nice to know there's another 'me-type' out there.