ebf'ers - stopping night feedings?

RubyEggi

I took dd to her 4 month appt today and the pedi said she definitely does not need anymore night feedings. She said that after they are12lbs they should be able to STTN. DD is 17lbs.

How will you/did you go about cutting out night feedings? Or will you continue with them? How do you soothe them back to sleep w/o nursing and how long did it take for them to start STTN?

DD goes to bed at 7pm, wakes up at either 1am or 3am to eat, 6:30 to eat, sleeps until 8am. TIA!!

 

 

plainolmccarty

just because she should be "able to STTN" doesn't mean she will. each baby is different. i didn't stop night time feedings. my dd usually sleeps 10-4, nurses, and goes back down until 9 or 10. if she wakes more often than that, i'll nurse her, if for no other reason than to keep up my supply, LOL. but sometimes she will sleep for eight or ten or twelve hours without a feeding. i guess for us, it's just as easy way to get her back to sleep. just my opinion, though good luck!

kerischrader

DS is 14 lbs... prob more now, but I feed him. He just came out of a phase where he was up every 3 hours!! Now he is back to 1 feeding a night. Goes down at 8pm, feeds at 4am and back to sleep til 8. I am fine with 1 feeding a night. And honestly, if it makes him sleep in longer.....all the better. He isn't obese, he is sleeping better, napping better.... he will sleep through when he is ready

Lara0802

I think every baby is different and you have to take their cues. My DD hit 12 lbs at 4 months, but before that she was sleeping through the night about half the time. Then she was waking up 2-3x a night for a week, then 1x a night for a week or two, and then she started STTN.  I just gave her a paci instead of feeding her, and if she went back to sleep, then I didn't feed her. If she woke up again, then I did. 

MrsT2008

DD will be 5 months on Wednesday and I still feed her (she goes to bed around 7, up around 2-3 to eat, then up around 6/6:30 for the day).  Our pedi has yet to mention getting rid of our middle of the night feeding. 

the "experts" seem to disagree on this, I've read books that say by 5 months they don't need to eat and I've read books that say not to worry about cutting out the night feedings until 9 months.

I can deal with the one feeding for now.  Talk to me in a month or so and I may be starting to think about helping her drop it.

As for how to get them to get off it, I've heard the best thing to do is send in DH to soothe her back to sleep (basically doing whatever he needs to do to get her to sleep).  Since you nurse, it shouldn't be you because she'll smell you and you could letdown and then she'll REALLY want to eat since she'll smell the milk.

MrsT2008

Lara0802:

I think every baby is different and you have to take their cues. My DD hit 12 lbs at 4 months, but before that she was sleeping through the night about half the time. Then she was waking up 2-3x a night for a week, then 1x a night for a week or two, and then she started STTN.  I just gave her a paci instead of feeding her, and if she went back to sleep, then I didn't feed her. If she woke up again, then I did. 

oh, and ditto the bolded.  When DD wakes up at night, I offer the paci first and see if that does anything.  sometimes she won't even take it, sometimes she goes back to sleep for 1-2 hours.  If she won't take it at all, I feed her.  If she goes back to sleep and wakes up again later, I offer the paci again and see what she does with it.

l_elizabeth

My LO is 15 lbs-ish and EBF. While he may be capable of STTN, I am not about to force it at this age. I just don't feel comfortable letting him CIO when he might be hungry, not that I'm not comfortable with CIO in general. We sleep train so that he's able to put himself to sleep, just not when he wakes up after he's been asleep for 3 or more hours. I'll consider it at 6+ months, possibly cutting one feeding (sometimes he's up 3 times), and at 9 months I'll probably try and cut it down to one feeding. My LO won't take a pacifier, so we can't try that route.

bridein08

Ds is 18 pounds and sttn shortly from 6 weeks to 3 months, then began waking every two hours. He still is (after an initial 5 hour stretch, typically), and Although I sleep train, I do that for getting to sleep- I will not let him cry hungry at night.

 

Eta: i sometimes do the paci trick pp's stated above.... It usually doesn't work for us, so I usually just feed because it is easier than getting up multiple times  

maiastar

My DD is 4 months and 14lbs.  I told my pediatrician that she still nurses about every two to three hours all night.  My pedi said this was fine and that when she is ready I will start to notice that she is not waking to eat as much anymore.  Even if she didn't tell me that, I couldn't not feed my baby if thats what she wanted...

lisac1017

DS has been over 16 lbs since he was 3 months, but I don't think his weight is going to dictate when he stops eating or when he finally sttn.  In just the past week, we have started having DH go to him when he wakes prior to 12:30am (DS goes to sleep at 8pm).  DH can tell if he just needs to be walked back to sleep or if he really needs to eat.  So far, DH has only had to wake me to feed DS one of those times, the rest he was able to go back to sleep and then I get him for all wakings from 12:30 til 7am (up for the day).  We are able to walk DS to sleep with his head on our shoulder if he's not hungry.  Otherwise, I will nurse him to sleep. Amazingly, I have been able to get him back to sleep too without nursing when he isn't really hungry.  He generally eats 2x a night, which I am fine with, and even 3x occasionally.  I plan to feed him whenever he wants as long as he's truly hungry. 

FTR - my pedi also said when I took him in at 3 months that he should be able to sttn at this point and not have to eat.  Honestly, all that did was frustrate me more that my baby wasn't doing those things.  Once I accepted this is how my baby is, I've been much more relaxed about it. 

Krystal6826

MrsT2008:

Lara0802:

I think every baby is different and you have to take their cues. My DD hit 12 lbs at 4 months, but before that she was sleeping through the night about half the time. Then she was waking up 2-3x a night for a week, then 1x a night for a week or two, and then she started STTN.  I just gave her a paci instead of feeding her, and if she went back to sleep, then I didn't feed her. If she woke up again, then I did. 

oh, and ditto the bolded.  When DD wakes up at night, I offer the paci first and see if that does anything.  sometimes she won't even take it, sometimes she goes back to sleep for 1-2 hours.  If she won't take it at all, I feed her.  If she goes back to sleep and wakes up again later, I offer the paci again and see what she does with it.

 

Pretty much that.  If he takes the pacifier, then I do not feed him.  Usually he is up within the hour after anyways for a feeding.  Just cause they should be able to sleep through the night doesn't mean that they will.  If Lo is hungry, I am going to feed him.  

tigerlily46

My DS is EBF and is greater than 12 lbs, and he still wakes up at abut 3 am to eat.  His schedule is to eat at 8PM, up at 3, up at 6 or 7.  Sometimes he'll go back to sleep until 9:00.  He takes a full feeding at 3:00, which is about 20 mintues, so I think he really is hungry.  I'm not going to cut out night feedings.  I'm hoping he'll just drop one when he's ready.  I'm happy to feed him at night because as PP said, I think it helps keep my supply up.  Prolactin levels are highest at night.

drcolleen

https://kellymom.com/parenting/nighttime/sleep/

When baby wakes I bring her to bed with me, she will only be little once (I try to remember that on those nights I'm exhausted).  DD1 started SSTN and moved to a different room around 9-10mo so I know this too shall end and likely without a battle if I don't start one which in my opinion isn't worth it.