Babies: 3 - 6 Months

Weaning off night-time feedings? (4 months old)

I haven't been on The Bump since my LO was born but I need your opinions on an issue please..

My son is 4 1/2 months old and my doctor recommended weaning him off night time feedings by adding more water to his bottles at night. He usually goes to bed about 8pm, wakes up twice during the night (midnight and 4am) and then is up for the day around 8am. The doctor suggests that at this point my son is waking up merely out of habit and not for nutrition. He is getting a serving of cereal with his last bottle, which should keep him full through the night. In essence, the doctor suggests that on night one a quarter of the bottle would be water, night two half the bottle would be water, night three three-fourths of the bottle would be water, and on night four it would just be a bottle of water. The doctor said that babies are less likely to wake up in the middle of the night for a bottle of water. What are others thoughts on this proposition of introducing more water into the bottles to wean off of night time feedings?

TIA!


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Re: Weaning off night-time feedings? (4 months old)

  • I think that's a terrible idea that could be dangerous and that you should look for a new doctor. 
  • I'm a FTM so I don't know for sure... but that doesn't sound right. When he wakes up how much does he take in? If he's drinking a full bottle, I'd assume he's hungry. I wouldn't give him water, instead, I'd try giving him a pacifier. It might be that he's just looking for something to suck on?
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  • imageAmeliaMarie:
    I think that's a terrible idea that could be dangerous and that you should look for a new doctor. 

    I agree. All babies are different. Some sleep through the night at 3 months, others 9 months, others 18 months.

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  • Our doctor recommended getting rid of her midnight feeding altogether and CIO (it worked for us, but I know it isn't for everyone). I haven't heard of adding water, though. I didn't think we were supposed to give LOs extra water, yet.
  • imageLara0802:
    If he's drinking a full bottle, I'd assume he's hungry. I wouldn't give him water, instead, I'd try giving him a pacifier. It might be that he's just looking for something to suck on?

    I agree with this suggestion. My DS was waking at both midnight and then at some point in the middle of the night. Now he's just doing once a night (usually around 4 am or a little before) and I give him a small bottle. The midnight feeding I just soothed him with a paci, re-blanket him (he hates swaddles), and crank up his mobile. Fairly soon after he stopped waking then.

    Another thing to consider is how much he's eating during the day. At our 4 mo. appt., I took the dr's suggestion of increasing the last feeding or two at the end of the day/night thus increasing his daily intake. Maybe your LO is still waking at midnight b/c he needs addt'l oz. per day?

    HTH

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  • water...seriously???
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  • I thought you were not supposed to mess with the formula:water ratio, ever. I BF though so I'm not totally up on the formula thing, maybe I am misinformed on that one?

    At any rate-- do you try soothing him without offering the bottle? Rocking, paci, shh patting? My guy usually takes 2 feeds a night too, but last night DH managed to settle his first waking w/o me feeding him so I am hoping that this is a sign DS will drop one of the feeds on his own. I don't actually find waking up 2x a night to be THAT bad (DS was a terrible sleeper for the first three months so it used to be every 1-2 hrs) but 1x per night would obviously be nice!

     Personally, I am hesitant to 'force' him to drop feeds until solids are established.

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  • I've read there are no studies showing that kids stop needing night calories at any specific age.

     Interesting article I was just reading about STTN:

    https://mothering.com/peggyomara/breastfeeding-2/when-do-babies-sleep-through-the-night

     I agree with PP that I would find a new doc.

  • Please DO NOT water down your LO's formula.
    WTF is wrong with your pediatrician?

    Several things can be caused by that including:

    Water Intoxication which messes with the levels of electrolytes and can lead to seizures, brain damage or even death. causing sodium and potassium levels to plummet and possibly resulting in brain damage or seizures. 

    Sodium Overload, which can cause babies to develop hypertension.

    Fluoride Overload: most tap water is treated with fluoride and you are increasing the amounts they are getting. Excessive fluoride can permanently damage tooth buds, causing your child's teeth to be stained brown or black when they emerge. 

    Diminished Nutrition: Baby formula is designed to give babies the exact
    nutrition they need to grow. These include protein, fat and carbohydrate as well as vitamins and some minerals. Changing the concentration of the formula affects the nutrition your baby receives from it. Baby formula is specifically designed to give your baby the appropriate nutrition for age and weight. Some formulas have additional minerals, such as iron, to meet specialized needs of babies. Diluting baby formula means you're also diluting the iron your baby needs, potentially causing anemia.

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  • Ok, i am not in agreement with the water idea, but I don't think it woudl do serious damage if it was just intended to wean from night feedings and wasn't a lot of water.  Presumably, this baby is getting normal formula feeds throughout the day and doesn't need night feedings anymore, so they are just "extra comfort".

    DS was BF's, but what we did to wean from ngiht feeding with him was offer a smaller bottle each night until it was down to 1 oz...then .5 oz.  At that point, he stopped waking for it.  Maybe we got lucky?

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  • I did this with DS but not until he was over a year old and wouldn't eat breakfast because he was still full from his 4 am bottle.  I did it much more gradually that that...one week between each change and it weaned him off the bottle completely.  IMHO your LO is still too young to do this.  They are supposed to be fed on demand until 9 months so if he's waking and drinking a bottle, he probably needs it.  I EBF right now and would never not feed my LO at night if I thought he needed it.  It's ultimately up to you but I would ask another dr opinion.
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  • Sounds awful.  And there is no evidence that says cereal helps babies sleep through the night.  Only anecdotes.  I'd find a new pedi, b/c this one sounds way off.
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  • Get rid of your pedi!!! I read this once before and I took the question to my dr who literally told me she'd slap me silly if I started giving my daughter water in any amount. I agree with pp about maybe trying to soothe him with a pacifier or rocking back to sleep but if he's hungry, he's hungry. My daughter still gets up twice a night to feed.
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  • You can try to wean him/drop the night feedings, but adding water is not the way to go.  You have to make sure the TOTAL intake for the entire day (24 hours) is the same.  For example, if your LO is used to eating 40oz (with 10oz during the course of the night), you CANNOT just cut out the night feedings.  You'll be cutting out on too many calories and he'll be hungry.  What you should do instead is to add those oz during his day feedings, either by increasing the amount during each feeding (if he'll tolerate it) or adding an extra feeding in (ie, feeding him every 3 hours instead of 4).

    I dropped the nightfeeding for DS last month, but I just simply added a feeding in during the day and had to tweak his schedule.  Originally he was fed 8oz every 5 hours and his bedtime was later, now it's every 3hours during the day and he has an earlier bedtime (but in the end, a total of 5 feedings).  His total oz consumption for the whole day is still the same (still 40oz), so he's not going hungry/low on calories.

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  • Thank you for your help ladies! This is what I was thinking too but I wanted to get others opinions because I am a FTM!

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