How can I stop my 6 month old from having night feed

[upsy daisy1]

i think if they are waking for it and drinking the whole bottle then they need it. i would let them grow out of it in there own time. mia stopped her night fees at 2 and a half as she would scream and scream for it if i didnt give it to her, but eventually she started taking less intrest and just having a sip. when i moved to the cup before bed she stopped waking for the bottle.

 

[DaisyBee]

I am asking about that aspect of comfort feeding as I don't know about that myself, so wasn't sure if others had opinions on that. Both my girls as babies use pacifiers for comfort sucking so they can get that sucking without overeating. ( as yes as a little baby mil overfed Jordan overnight when she came to help me.. And she didn't offer a pacifier. Jordan had a gut ache for 2 days.) Megan wanted to suck 24 hrs a day as a baby it seemed like, but on her pacifier. She didnt love her bottle. It was a huge effort to get 15 oz in her most days and very easy to switch to sippycups at 12 months. Jordan isn't all that into comfort sucking from the pacifier. She could take or leave it isn't addicted to it like Megan was. She takes bottles better than Megan did as long as we are in a dark room but still doesn't love it. So maybe that's why some other babies "need" those night feeds as some kids use their bottles as comforting where neither of mine use bottle for comfort really. If my girls would love their bottle i would be a lot more hesitant for them to drop them. I never dropped night feeds with Megan she just stopped wanting them. She just wanted to be rocked to sleep and when she woke she didnt want bottles she just wanted to be rocked, which I did until 13 months. I wouldnt have helped Jordan drop her night feed either except for the fact that megans sleep was so disrupted with it. As for me megans sleep trumped a night feed that jordan made up for the next day. And like I said, it doesn't seem like she normally has more oz if she has a night feed anyway. As I'm not referring to growth spurts, just normal days.

Thanks for your input on this btw... As I was genuinely curious. I do what's best for my kids and sometimes that includes questioning myself. Since most on this thread said to keep feeding at night at this age it's made me wonder if I am really out in left field on this parenting decision.

 

[3Beans]

At 6 monts he likely still needs a night feed. I wouldn't cut it out. The excessive waking, yes, you can try & curb.

 

[jessicatunnel]

Agree that if they take the whole bottle then they need it. If they were just taking a few sips or only drinking an ounce or two, they may just be waking out of habit, try just soothing them, shhing them, patting them, rocking them, singing to them, a binky, etc before giving a bottle.

 

[readytotry]

I am asking about that aspect of comfort feeding as I don't know about that myself, so wasn't sure if others had opinions on that. Both my girls as babies use pacifiers for comfort sucking so they can get that sucking without overeating. ( as yes as a little baby mil overfed Jordan overnight when she came to help me.. And she didn't offer a pacifier. Jordan had a gut ache for 2 days.) Megan wanted to suck 24 hrs a day as a baby it seemed like, but on her pacifier. She didnt love her bottle. It was a huge effort to get 15 oz in her most days and very easy to switch to sippycups at 12 months. Jordan isn't all that into comfort sucking from the pacifier. She could take or leave it isn't addicted to it like Megan was. She takes bottles better than Megan did as long as we are in a dark room but still doesn't love it. So maybe that's why some other babies "need" those night feeds as some kids use their bottles as comforting where neither of mine use bottle for comfort really. If my girls would love their bottle i would be a lot more hesitant for them to drop them. I never dropped night feeds with Megan she just stopped wanting them. She just wanted to be rocked to sleep and when she woke she didnt want bottles she just wanted to be rocked, which I did until 13 months. I wouldnt have helped Jordan drop her night feed either except for the fact that megans sleep was so disrupted with it. As for me megans sleep trumped a night feed that jordan made up for the next day. And like I said, it doesn't seem like she normally has more oz if she has a night feed anyway. As I'm not referring to growth spurts, just normal days.

Thanks for your input on this btw... As I was genuinely curious. I do what's best for my kids and sometimes that includes questioning myself. Since most on this thread said to keep feeding at night at this age it's made me wonder if I am really out in left field on this parenting decision.

When bf babies nurse fo comfort they don't really take a lot of milk. Its possible for them to be latched on but not really extracting milk so overeating isn't really an issue. I guess bottle feeding is different because the milk flow is pretty constant.

Also for bfing, the hormone prolactin is released most at night so that 4am ish feed is quite important for developing/maintaining supply and at 6 months they could still be growth spurting.

I think some babies are physically ready at 6 months, some aren't and some are but still *want* milk anyway and that's fine too.

 

[lisa1980]

Just to say, Daisy Bee, I personally only suggested to keep feeding as that was my experience with my LO...he seemed to genuinely need the feeds even at 9 months and a dummy just wouldn't do (even though he loves them in the day). He dropped them quite suddenly as I recall...it was practically overnight that he just wasn't interested any more (although he still woke, just didn't want food). I don't think it's necessarily the 'right' advice (if there is such a thing!) but just what worked for us.

I don't think you're out in left field with this, as it seems your babies just didn't necessarily want or need the night feed when you dropped it, and as you know them well you spotted it. They're all such individuals that I think it's really hard to get a true consensus with something like this

 

[Meredith2010]

I think it depends on the baby - some need night feeds longer than others. DS happily went from 11pm - 7am without a feed from 12 weeks whereas DD (now 5 months) is only just starting to do it now.

We found recently that she wasn't touching her morning feed when she was downing 7oz at about 4am. She totally refused any milk until about 11am, so had dropped a feed but her breakfast one rather than the night one. If she hadn't been refusing to feed in the morning then I'd wouldn't have done anything, but we decided to reduce her 7oz night feed down to see what happened. Also, she has recently spent a couple of nights in my bed and didn't wake at all those nights which further indicated to me that she wasn't actually waking out of hunger!

So we offered 4oz for 2 nights and she went straight back to sleep as always, but still wouldn't touch her morning feed. So the next night (which was last weekend) I just resettled her with her dummy and teddy and she went straight back to sleep until 6am. I've done this every night since and last night she didn't wake at all and then happily drank her full 7oz bottle at 7am. So in her case I honestly don't think she did need the night feed. Of course it's early days and if she starts to need her feed again then I won't hesitate to give it to her.

 

[Siuan]

I've been wondering this too. LO is fast approaching 7 months now. Her 6 month growth spurt has been and gone (at least I assume so as I haven't really noticed it compared to the 4 month one).

She sleeps generally 7:30pm-12/1am which is great, but then after that feed she's quite often up every 1.5/2 hours which isn't great! I am at a total loss as to why the first 4/5 hours are fine, then she's so "up"!!

I actually decided yesterday that I would offer water only if she woke after less than 3 hours asleep. We exclusively BF (alongside BLW) and I know she goes around 3 hours between feeds during the day. So that seemed reasonable.

Trouble is, when you're BFing and you sit down to offer a bottle which she's not used to and she can smell your milk, I think there is little you can do. At least that's what LO did last night - she started nuzzling and the water was just making her cry harder.

It is possible that night wakings could be due to teething at this age too. I will try again with the water for a few more nights, but ultimately I think I'm going to end up carrying on with the feeds as often as she asks for as long as she asks (it's not my go-to option, I will go in there and try soothing/cuddles first if she doesn't self-settle)

 

[readytotry]

I've been wondering this too. LO is fast approaching 7 months now. Her 6 month growth spurt has been and gone (at least I assume so as I haven't really noticed it compared to the 4 month one).

She sleeps generally 7:30pm-12/1am which is great, but then after that feed she's quite often up every 1.5/2 hours which isn't great! I am at a total loss as to why the first 4/5 hours are fine, then she's so "up"!!

I actually decided yesterday that I would offer water only if she woke after less than 3 hours asleep. We exclusively BF (alongside BLW) and I know she goes around 3 hours between feeds during the day. So that seemed reasonable.

Trouble is, when you're BFing and you sit down to offer a bottle which she's not used to and she can smell your milk, I think there is little you can do. At least that's what LO did last night - she started nuzzling and the water was just making her cry harder.

It is possible that night wakings could be due to teething at this age too. I will try again with the water for a few more nights, but ultimately I think I'm going to end up carrying on with the feeds as often as she asks for as long as she asks (it's not my go-to option, I will go in there and try soothing/cuddles first if she doesn't self-settle)

Can you send dad or someone else in to resettle. It took two nights of dad going in (and virtually no crying) for my lo to go from waking every hour to feed to sleeping through. She was nine months though and i'm pretty sure he didn't get her out of cot when he went in but patted, sang, sat next to it.

 

[Siuan]

Can you send dad or someone else in to resettle. It took two nights of dad going in (and virtually no crying) for my lo to go from waking every hour to feed to sleeping through. She was nine months though and i'm pretty sure he didn't get her out of cot when he went in but patted, sang, sat next to it.

Sorry, should've said - no, he works and I won't have him getting up in the night for that reason.

 

[readytotry]

Can you send dad or someone else in to resettle. It took two nights of dad going in (and virtually no crying) for my lo to go from waking every hour to feed to sleeping through. She was nine months though and i'm pretty sure he didn't get her out of cot when he went in but patted, sang, sat next to it.

Sorry, should've said - no, he works and I won't have him getting up in the night for that reason.

So does mine, but he was getting 8hrs sleep and me 2hrs since the 4 month sleep regression (lo is now 9 months), so he offered to try it one weekend and it worked. By Sunday night she didn't wake at night anymore but I would have gone in if she had - he did say to get him if she really got upset as he didn't want me undoing his hardwork by feeding her.

 

[Siuan]

So does mine, but he was getting 8hrs sleep and me 2hrs since the 4 month sleep regression (lo is now 9 months), so he offered to try it one weekend and it worked. By Sunday night she didn't wake at night anymore but I would have gone in if she had - he did say to get him if she really got upset as he didn't want me undoing his hardwork by feeding her.

Yeah, perhaps a weekend might work. I guess I don't really want to push the issue if she isn't ready to drop the feeds though. I moan a bit at the time, but secretly I think I like the cuddles!! And I do LOVE bfing her. I do have a slight obsession about doing it for as long as possible. So trying the water for a few nights just to lengthen those sleep periods is the only concession I'm willing to try for now!! lol!! I know, I'm a bit odd!

Plus, what makes me hesitate is that it isn't every night! Some nights she'll sleep like a log. Others are up and down. I wish I knew what was causing it!

Maybe I'll be ready to let him try when LO is around 9 months like yours

 

[readytotry]

So does mine, but he was getting 8hrs sleep and me 2hrs since the 4 month sleep regression (lo is now 9 months), so he offered to try it one weekend and it worked. By Sunday night she didn't wake at night anymore but I would have gone in if she had - he did say to get him if she really got upset as he didn't want me undoing his hardwork by feeding her.

Yeah, perhaps a weekend might work. I guess I don't really want to push the issue if she isn't ready to drop the feeds though. I moan a bit at the time, but secretly I think I like the cuddles!! And I do LOVE bfing her. I do have a slight obsession about doing it for as long as possible. So trying the water for a few nights just to lengthen those sleep periods is the only concession I'm willing to try for now!! lol!! I know, I'm a bit odd!

Plus, what makes me hesitate is that it isn't every night! Some nights she'll sleep like a log. Others are up and down. I wish I knew what was causing it!

Maybe I'll be ready to let him try when LO is around 9 months like yours

No I completely agree about not pushing it. I was only able to go through with it because it worked so quickly. Have been feeding constantly throughout the day to make sure lo isn't hungry at night. I think its tough with bfing and blw because you can never really be sure how much lo is getting at different times.

 

[Siuan]

No I completely agree about not pushing it. I was only able to go through with it because it worked so quickly. Have been feeding constantly throughout the day to make sure lo isn't hungry at night. I think its tough with bfing and blw because you can never really be sure how much lo is getting at different times.

I guess some of the more random moments may well be due to the amount of food she takes in during the day. I'll have to start making a note - perhaps it's when she gets lunch that it helps her sleep better. She doesn't have lunch some days, but does others (breakfast and dinner always now though)

Sorry OP, didn't mean to take this away from your question but I have found your thread useful for my own ends too! I would suggest offering water as some others have advised. That's the best way that I know of to see if your LO is ready to drop that night feed

 

[DaisyBee]

I am asking about that aspect of comfort feeding as I don't know about that myself, so wasn't sure if others had opinions on that. Both my girls as babies use pacifiers for comfort sucking so they can get that sucking without overeating. ( as yes as a little baby mil overfed Jordan overnight when she came to help me.. And she didn't offer a pacifier. Jordan had a gut ache for 2 days.) Megan wanted to suck 24 hrs a day as a baby it seemed like, but on her pacifier. She didnt love her bottle. It was a huge effort to get 15 oz in her most days and very easy to switch to sippycups at 12 months. Jordan isn't all that into comfort sucking from the pacifier. She could take or leave it isn't addicted to it like Megan was. She takes bottles better than Megan did as long as we are in a dark room but still doesn't love it. So maybe that's why some other babies "need" those night feeds as some kids use their bottles as comforting where neither of mine use bottle for comfort really. If my girls would love their bottle i would be a lot more hesitant for them to drop them. I never dropped night feeds with Megan she just stopped wanting them. She just wanted to be rocked to sleep and when she woke she didnt want bottles she just wanted to be rocked, which I did until 13 months. I wouldnt have helped Jordan drop her night feed either except for the fact that megans sleep was so disrupted with it. As for me megans sleep trumped a night feed that jordan made up for the next day. And like I said, it doesn't seem like she normally has more oz if she has a night feed anyway. As I'm not referring to growth spurts, just normal days.

Thanks for your input on this btw... As I was genuinely curious. I do what's best for my kids and sometimes that includes questioning myself. Since most on this thread said to keep feeding at night at this age it's made me wonder if I am really out in left field on this parenting decision.

When bf babies nurse fo comfort they don't really take a lot of milk. Its possible for them to be latched on but not really extracting milk so overeating isn't really an issue. I guess bottle feeding is different because the milk flow is pretty constant.

Also for bfing, the hormone prolactin is released most at night so that 4am ish feed is quite important for developing/maintaining supply and at 6 months they could still be growth spurting.

I think some babies are physically ready at 6 months, some aren't and some are but still *want* milk anyway and that's fine too.

I think breastfeeding is different than formula feeding as well. It seems more likely to me that a breastfed baby would want to breastfeed at night longer just because of the comfort factor. I think my girls prefer me and singing to them, cuddling, etc vs the bottle. My toddler when she is having trouble sleeping will ask me to sing to her vs asking for milk. She will ask for a drink of water but after a small drink hands the glass back and wants a lullaby. She is also the one that wanted lots of rocking when younger. Maybe if I would have been able to breastfeed she would have preferred that.

 

[DaisyBee]

Just to say, Daisy Bee, I personally only suggested to keep feeding as that was my experience with my LO...he seemed to genuinely need the feeds even at 9 months and a dummy just wouldn't do (even though he loves them in the day). He dropped them quite suddenly as I recall...it was practically overnight that he just wasn't interested any more (although he still woke, just didn't want food). I don't think it's necessarily the 'right' advice (if there is such a thing!) but just what worked for us.

I don't think you're out in left field with this, as it seems your babies just didn't necessarily want or need the night feed when you dropped it, and as you know them well you spotted it. They're all such individuals that I think it's really hard to get a true consensus with something like this

Thank you for this, that does make sense. I do think all babies are different and we need to see them as individuals with different needs. My girls don't always follow the norm on a lot of things it seems and I've tried hard to follow their lead. I always try to do what I think is best for them.

 

[socitycourty]

mine still takes 2 bottles a night, we bedshare and I still just feed on demand. she's obviously hungry when she wakes up, also she can't take too much at a time because of her reflux