I'm new here....and I could use your help! (a bit long...sorry)

Etsitpab

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to the bump. I've been reading a bit but haven't had the nerve to really post anything until now.  I'm hoping to get some advice regarding night weaning my daughter. 

She was born on Aug 9th weighing at over 9 lbs.  She has been growing steadily and weighed 19.8 lbs at her 6 month check up. 

She's 7 months old and healthy.  We've been using the sleep easy solution book and here is how it went down. (since she had only been mostly pacifying and not really waking up at a regular time during the night to eat, I chose not to do any dream feeds other than the one at 11 pm)

Here is how it all went down:

night 1:  woke up at 1 am, fussed, back to sleep within 10 mins.  Woke up at 4:30, didn't cry just played in her crib until 5:30. Then she started crying, I did my regular check ins until 6 am and got her up for the day then.

night 2: 1 am same as night 1.  Then woke up at 4 am, started crying at 4:30. I did my regular check ins, fell asleep at 5:40. woke up at 7:45 for the day 

night 3: no 1 am wake up.  Woke up at 2:45, started crying right away, I did my regular check ins, fell asleep at 3:45.  woke up at 6:30 for the day.

night 4: no wake ups, woke up at 5:30 for the day (I guess I should have left her in bed until 6 but I just got her up)

night 5: woke up at 4:30, cried until 5:30 and I got her up for the day (again I guess I should have left her in until 6)

My question is, after 5 nights, is it time to give up?  or is it too soon. Should I make a change to what we've been doing?  my husband thinks we should move her bed time to 7:30 instead of 7 and move the dream feed to 11:30.  when I was getting up and feeding her every time she woke up, she was sleeping 7 to 6:30 or 7. So, she is a baby who needs the 11 to 12 hrs.   Now that I've typed it out, I guess she has made progress. I'm just not sure what to do.

I was hoping there maybe people here who have experience with this and could offer some advice.

I appreciate you reading all this and thanks in advance!

-M

Rowcate

My oldest woke up 2x a night for feedings until 1 year, after that it was 1x until almost 18 months. It never bothered me since she just ate and went right back to sleep. I figured she needed it. Not all babies are ready to get through the night. 

With LO now he is 7 months and still wakes 2-3x for feeds and he guzzles it down so I assume he is hungry. If he didn't finish then I would consider trying to wean a feed but he isn't there yet. It is exhausting, I know.

The suggestion I got for weaning was to lower the amount of the feed slowly, and/or replace with water. Honestly I never used that suggestion since I felt they were truly hungry, not using bottle for soothing. Good Luck, it sounds like progress 

Etsitpab

Thanks for your response. 

Yes for as long as she was waking, actually nursing (sucking, swallowing) I continued feeding her figuring she was hungry.  I decided to nigh wean because she was waking several times a night and just pacifying, not really drinking at all. So, I figured she's not waking up out of hunger. 

If all this goes well, I do still plan on keeping the 11 pm feeding for at least another few months.

sigh! I wish there was a manual

jessalynn521

I would spend some time figuring out which feeds are actual feeds and which are more pacifying times. She may still need at least one night feed, but may be pacifying the rest of the time. I would figure you need to establish first what feeds are actual feeds and what wakeups would benefit a pacifier or something of that nature. 

Also, sleep training I think is important, but when a baby wakes up for the day at 5:30, or 6:30, that is up for the day and check-ins are no longer the way to deal with that. If baby doesn't go back to sleep after maybe one calming check-in I would call that up for the day.

Hopefully you can get a grasp on which night wakings are actual feeding and which are not to establish what wakings to try and eliminate. GL!

mrsnorthernbell

Da is 8 months old. He goes to bed at 8. Usually wakes at 12 and 4 and up for the day at 7:30. I think waking is normal.

RuralRoots

welcome to the bump and I hope you get helpful advice! Let me just say only you know your baby best and as a new mom myself I went through this same problem. The way it sounds is that your healthy LO is eating well during the day! When we went for 6 month check up my pedi said that nutritionally (due to weight gain) my LO did not need to eat in the middle of the night. This was a hard pill for me to swallow because I felt like he was really waking because of being hungry. My advice would be to stop the 11am dream feed. Let her tell you when/if she needs to eat. She may surprise you and sleep through the night or wake in the middle of night for one feeding and go back to sleep.  Try it for a few weeks. After a while if it continues.... it may be a habit instead of need to eat.  My LO just started sleeping through the night but that came with ALOT of training. He goes to bed between 7:30-8 and gets up 5:30-6. It is very early but I would rather get a good nights rest! You sound like your on the right path- keep at it.  Babies love routine!  Good Luck