Ped wants me to stop night feeds

[Hangin_On_AGS]

Mia is a super active girl they said she is very ahead. She is a peanut though. She only gained 4 oz in the last month and an inch in the last 2 months. She is fairly thin and has very bad acid reflux so she eats little bits through out the day.. Today at her 6 month visit her ped said I really should stop feeding her at night in a month because there is no reason for her to eat.. while that may be normal for most kids. Mia wakes up starving in the middle of the night. I put her on she latches and it's on for a full feed she sucks so hard eating so hard. I personally don't think it's fair to her to say sorry no more food in the middle of the night. What do you guys think? Should I stop feeding her in the middle of the night or should I continue to let her eat when she needs to eat.

 

[Piper84]

Paediatricians know very little about BFing and are prone to giving bad advice in my experience. This sounds like awful advice. Night feeds are usually the last to go when weaning.

I'd go with instinct and carry on giving LO what you think she needs!

 

[Rachel_C]

It's common, normal and healthy for a 6 month old to eat at night. I would ignore your doctor completely in this matter. Personally I'd probably find a better doctor if you foresee having much contact with him/her as I wouldn't want to see such a numpty who clearly doesn't know much about feeding babies.

We night weaned at 2 years old. I don't think I would have been comfortable weaning her before 18 months and certainly 12 months would be too early IMO. Your LO is doing what she needs to do so as long as you're okay with it, it's good

It is true that your boobs get the most info about your supply during the night. I've never had a single issue with supply but as soon as I stopped feeding LO at night my supply dipped. She's 2 so it doesn't matter - she just has to work harder for her milk now which isn't an issue - but I wouldn't take that risk with a baby so young, where milk should make up most of their intake. Night weaning is risky!

 

[Hangin_On_AGS]

Thank you ladies!! I have no issues with waking up every two hours to feed her if that's what she needs. I don't want to wean her until she's 3 so I don't want to take away something so important as night feeds.

 

[sue_88]

I think you know her best, and if she needs feeding...feed her, at any time of the day!

 

[meli1981]

Go with your gut, if baby is hungry in the night feed her!

 

[Celesse]

Surely if she is only gaining a small amount (I can't remember what's normal for a 6 month old, just going off your wording) then you don't want to stop a feed. That would be crazy!

Nursing at night is normal. My 22 month old was in bed last night.

 

[justkitty]

Feed her. My ds was still waking for formula at 9/10 months. He is a tiddler still at 20 months.

 

[Hangin_On_AGS]

According to our ped and the mayo clinic she should be gaining 3-5 ounces a week. there was actually a time that she had lost weight and stopped gaining anything. and she has slowly been falling off the height and weight chart. I was very shocked when she brought up feeding her less as well. granted i'm pretty small.. but I would think we would want to give her every opportunity to grow. at almost 28 weeks old 6 months. She just started being able to wear 3-6 clothes. 6 month onsies drown her.

 

[JessPape]

Your ped is on something, and it isn't good. It sucks because doctors, peds, and a lot of other doctors we see. don't need to learn about breastfeeding, if they do, chances are it was a choice they took on themselves.

 

[SerenityNow]

I would be really annoyed by this and would, frankly, see it as a sign that the Ped. and I had irreconcilable differences. It is really important to me for my children's Dr. to acknowledge that their domain is medical advice not parenting advice. It may not be necessary for her to nurse at night, but it could very well be beneficial. I don't think any of us want to base our parenting on only doing what is necessary!

 

[MommyJogger]

I would point blank ask "how will feeding her less help her gain weight?". Sometimes I think some pediatricians are just robots-- you might as well get health and wellness information from a carnival fortune teller machine because they just spit out standard advice that is vague and unhelpful. Crazy.

 

[susannah14]

"There is no reason for her to eat"??

Your little girl must be so unreasonable! Wanting to grow, be nourished, get all the calories she needs, and to stay hydrated. No, she doesn't need any of that.

 

[bababas]

at our 8 month check on monday, the nurse said i should do something about his night feedings.

and she gave me a website for sleep problems in babies. and that i can go there. but he has no sleep problem IMO he just wakes to eat. i am not ready to stop it...

 

[Hangin_On_AGS]

and Mia is one of those kids she wakes up eats and goes right back to sleep as soon as her belly is full.

 

[petitpas]

Hangin, have you started Mia on solids yet? I think it is quite normal for weight gain to be disrupted during weaning (to food, not off the boob).

 

[Hangin_On_AGS]

She actually lost weight before we started solids. She lost weight between 16 and 23 weeks and we didn't start weaning until 24 weeks and that's when she gained the 4 oz

 

[Noo]

If your baby is hungry then you feed her no matter what time of the day it is. That's like saying "Sorry, Dr. I don't care that you're tired and hungry. You do not need your lunch break today. You don't need to eat!"

 

[minties]

Sounds like you have the right idea and good mummy instincts! A 6 month old, whether long and lean or short and plump deserves to be able to feed when they are hungry.

 

[Hangin_On_AGS]

Again thank you so much ladies!! When I told my grandma I thought she was gonna flip on the doctor. She told me you keep feeding that baby however much and whatever she wants.