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 did you and when 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!!

caromartin

Your DD's schedule sounds about right. 4 months old are not "supposed" to STTN. DD is 6 months old and still wakes up once at night to eat even after starting solids. My Dr is fine with this. All babies have their own schedule. Do what works for you and your baby  

caromartin

caromartin:

Your DD's schedule sounds about right. 4 months old are not "supposed" to STTN. DD is 6 months old and still wakes up once at night to eat even after starting solids. My Dr is fine with this. All babies have their own schedule. Do what works for you and your baby  

 I should add that DD will sometimes go all night without eating but not too often. I try to cluster feed in the late afternoon/evening (feed every 1.5 hrs). It helps to keep her asleep longer.

yoggaub

Our pedi just told us to stop night feedings at our 6 mo appt.  I was very nervous about it, but it went pretty well.  We decided that my DH would feed her a bottle with 4 oz.  We guessed she was probably eating around 6 oz.  We had planned on fading it out but it only took 2 nights and she stopped waking up!  She sleeps around 8pm-6am now.  The pedi said she would make up the feedings during the day and she has.  She is just starting on solids too.

Michellie7

IMO, with breastfeeding... it is an on-demand type of feeding! I strongly disagree with cutting out night feedings for  the reasons your pedi is saying... where in the world did he/she learn that after 12#  they should STTN? I'd like to see the research in that:/ It looks like she is on a fine schedule, and if I were you I'd take your pedi's advice with a grain of salt! grr. IMO Lo will STTN when she's good and ready, and that's basically all there is to it! ETA: She is only 4 months old, I feel it isn't necessary to start cutting feedings yet. You're doing a good job momma!

lizard22809

Our pedi also told us that DD should be able to STTN at our 6 mont appt. She is a very fussy baby so I was really worried. We did The Ferber method and it really only took 3 nights and now she goes to bed around 7 to 7:30 and sleeps to 6:30/7. Now if I can only get her own a nap schedule

babyAutumn

DS just started sleeping longer stretches over the last week.  He goes down for the night between 6-6:30 and used to wake to nurse at 11, 2 and 5.  He has consistently, for the past eight days, slept through the 11 o'clock feed and is waking between 1:30-2:00 to nurse then goes back to sleep until about 5:30.  When they are ready to STTN they'll do it on their own.  No two babies have the same timeline.  All my kids were different...DD STTN at 8 weeks and DS#1 by the time he was 9 months.  Hoping LO continues with his new streak.

penguincrazy

Okay, I'll admit up front that I don't agree with the whole "over 11 lbs and they can STTN" thing.  A baby that young probably still legitimately needs to eat at last every four hours or so.  I wouldn't worry about cutting out feedings yet.  If nothing else, LO needs the reassurance that whenshe cries, you'll come.

DD#3 is almost 8 months and we just cut out her last nighttime feedig two days ago.  We agreed that when she wakes and it's not time to eat, DH goes up and soothes her.  If she fusses, we use the Ferber method.  He goes because she's much more likely to just go back to sleep if it's him.  If it's me, she pitches a major fit.  She still wakes up 2-3 times a night, but is pretty easily soothed at this point.

 We decided to start cutting out feeds at night when she began obviously nursing just for comfort.  She'd fall back to sleep before she even got let down, so I know she wasn't hungry.  Now she goes from 7-7:30 to 6-6:30 without eating and is completely fine.

HTH

luvmyducks

She did it on her own at 6m for the most part--well, she went 8-9hrs without eating and she weighed about 14lbs.  Since about 7.5m and 15lbs she has been sleeping 10-11hrs now without eating.  

bluejetta

We got similar info from our pedi at 6 months but she also said to do what works for us.  We decided to wait it out and dd has now consistently dropped the 11pm feeding and sleeps 6:30-2:30 eats and sleeps till5:30am - we are working on a nap transition etc do the early wake up is rough but I think she can go thru till 6/6:30.

I am glad we didnt force it though we do let her fuss if she wakes before 2 and usually it is a sleep cry  

tsaw2000

we were told the same thing @ ds 4 mth appt. that night he slept 8 hrs.! i gave him his paci once through the night. he's slept a min. of 7hrs. & up to 9hrs. ever since. good luck & do what works for you!

lorelei11

We've been working on reducing nightime feedings for a few weeks. It is important to remember that if you are cutting out feedings at night, they have to make up those calories at other times of the day. babies eat what they need.  We did this by (unfortunately) supplimenting with formula and increasing the amount of solids she takes in. She now doesn't "need" to eat at night, and I know this because I typically nurse her for about 1-2 minutes and then give her the paci and she's fine. But I can't get her to stop walking for that short feeding, I think it is a habit now more than anything. But make sure you know that the baby isn't really hungry before you stop feeding her at night.

ebp913

Michellie7:

IMO, with breastfeeding... it is an on-demand type of feeding! I strongly disagree with cutting out night feedings for  the reasons your pedi is saying... where in the world did he/she learn that after 12#  they should STTN? I'd like to see the research in that:/ It looks like she is on a fine schedule, and if I were you I'd take your pedi's advice with a grain of salt! grr. IMO Lo will STTN when she's good and ready, and that's basically all there is to it! ETA: She is only 4 months old, I feel it isn't necessary to start cutting feedings yet. You're doing a good job momma!

Agreed.  I disagree with pedi's who say that a 4 (or 6) month old should be able to sleep through the night.  It's not that they can't but that's demanding a lot of a baby.  I think you should do what feels right for you.  Sometimes O will STTN other times she's up once or twice.  It sucks but I just know it won't last forever.  What I do do though is let her cry 5-10 mins before I go up there.  If she's clearly really pissed I'll go up, try to soothe her back to sleep and if that doesn't work I will nurse.  Sometimes she goes back to sleep on her own, other times she needs to eat. 

autumnlala

Do what works for you.  If you are exhausted and ready to stop the night feeding, see if your LO is ready.  Try going in to soothe instead of feed when you would normally do the feeding.  We patted backs, gave a paci, turned on the white noise machine, rocked.  Tried not to pick them up so they would go back to sleep, but did if they wouldn't quiet down easily. 

We got ours STTN around 14 weeks, and it only took a few nights of soothing after dropping that "vampire" feeding.  Honestly, it was more habit than hunger.  If they had kept screaming for long periods, showind me they were actually hungry, then of course I would have fed them.  But they let me know they were fine without it.  Now they wake up HUNGRY but that's ok, we feed them right away 

Jenny952

My DD was sttn through 3 months until I went back to work.  She is going to sleep around 7-7:30 and will go anywhere from 8-11 hours.  Some nights she's up at 2:30 (like last night) or else she'll go until 6:30.  I think it depends on how much she ate at daycare and then how much she ate during her evening cluster feedings. 

I don't think you should expect your baby to start sttn at 4 months.  I would keep them, as your baby is probably actually hungry. 

Pattern

My Dr. gave me the same lecture... 'sleeping through the night is a developmental milestone..blah, blah".  My LO is actually a good sleeper. He goes down at 8 and I feed him before I go to bed around 10:30 and he sleeps till 6... I am not worried.  Trust your gut... you will know when you are ready to stop night feedings.