MOTN Feedings

MarxieVonTrapp

So DD regularly wakes up between 2:30-4:00am for a four ounce bottle.  She seems legitimately hungry--she usually (not always) gulps the bottle down--but our pedi said we've conditioned her to do that and to go to her when she wakes, soothe her, but let her cry until she goes back to sleep.  

We put her to bed when she's awake, and after the bottle in the MOTN she puts herself back to sleep, so that's not a problem.  

How many of you still have a MOTN feeding?  Are you comfortable with it?  Are you going to try to sleep train your LO not to wake up--and if so, how?? 

ChelseyB5186

We still have 1-2.  Usually up around 1-2...he eats and goes back to sleep until 4-5...he's usually wide awake then, and I know he's not hungry, but if I put him on the boob, he'll go back to sleep for another hour or two.  I EBF.  I don't mind honestly, I know he needs/wants the food/comfort, and I don't mind giving it to him.  We are not sleep training. 

I also do not listen to sleep training advice from my pedi...medical advice yes, but when she told me to let him CIO, I stopped listening.

katieh1017

I can't remember the last time L had a middle of the night feeding, it's been months. She does wake up, some nights more than others, but we give her the soothie and she goes back to sleep. For us, feeding would be the last resort. A few times she got up at 11pm after going to bed at 8pm and we fed her but that's not a MOTN in my book.

 Am I comfortable with it? Yes. And when she wakes up for the day around 7am she often cannot even finish her normal amount of 6oz so we give her less.

laurack

If it is just one I see no problem with it and wouldn't bother doing anything until she dropped it herself.

I did do something because mine was waking 3-4 times a night wanting to eat. She seemed actually hungry also but I know that can't be as that's ludicruos, she's almost six months old.

I've been trying to wean her and now I only feed her one time at maybe 3am or so. She still is waking at 12 or 1am crying but I don't feed her, I just soothe her as best I can (or hubby does) without boobies. I am hoping soon she'll get the memo that there's no milk to be had at midnight and just stop waking for it...

SteelCity44

Since every night has been different for the last month, I'll tell you how last night went.

We got home at 5, and he nursed then. At 7, he was rooting like crazy and trying to eat through my shirt, so I nursed again. He was in bed around 7:30. He got back up at 9, but I was able to rock him back to sleep (I tried paci and soothing, but he only screamed more). At 10, he got up to eat. And again at 12:30. At 3 he got up and DH calmed him twice until 3:30, when I nursed again. Then I usually feed at 5:45 before leaving for work, but Pavlov's dog wakes himself up now at 5:30 in eager anticipation of his last nursing session for the majority of the day.

From the time I get up to get him to the time I'm back in bed marking his last feeding on my phone, it's rarely more than 11 minutes, so I'll continue doing it. Sometimes DH will try to get him to go back to sleep without a feeding, but he usually screams when he wants to nurse vs wants to be held. It was a rule that DH would get LO if it was less than 3 hours, but it seemed silly for him to go back and forth between rooms for 30 minutes when every.single.time. LO wanted fed at the 3 hour mark. So now I feed at 2.5 hours. We're not considering sleep training quite yet. I've learned to function. It builds character, and I have a LOT of character.

WildcatPrincess

I think pedis are morons for continuously saying these things to people. DS wakes pretty regularly between 5 and 6, then goes back to sleep until 8 or 9, I have no problem with it.

sharrison88

Caroline was still waking up once for a MOTN feed up until a couple nights ago.  I have my fingers crossed that she's "outgrown" it, but I'm not optimistic.  She slept through the night a week or two ago and then was up every hour and a half for a few nights.  It's so unpredictable now.  We will try soothing with the pacifier, but when she's ready to eat, I can usually tell and have no problem feeding her.  As pp's have said, she eats fairly quickly and it gets me back in bed and asleep.  We haven't tried any sleep training.

PinkSapphires

We still have a MOTN feeding. It can be anywhere from midnight to 4:30am. Usually she gets up one other time too. If she wakes up before midnight or after her MOTN feeding we just give her her blankie and paci and she's right back down.

I don't mind it, and I'm not planning on sleep training. She goes to bed between 7 and 7:30 without a fight, and even in the MOTN once she's fed or given her stuff she goes right back down too. She used to fight terribly to go to sleep, so now that it's relatively easy I don't mind it.

MMC0927

Athena still wakes up for MOTN feeding, but not every night. Sometimes she will wake up and go right back to sleep - other times she'll scream like we haven't fed her in days. There are most nights, though, that she will sleep through the night without eating. No sleep training - I don't think it's necessary for us. A middle of the night feeding is just fine with me.

ADub09

S still wakes up 2 to 3 or sometimes even 4times a night. I am okay with it for now as I am on mat leave and we nap together for a couple hours in the morning.

beth6287

He was waking up around 2 am and then again around 5 ish both times we would feed him. Our pedi told us not to feed him at 2, she said he "didn't need it" and basically told us the same as yours, to soothe him and then let him cio. luckily all we had to do was put his pacifier back in his mouthand he went right back to sleep, so i guess he didn't really need that feeding even though he gulped it usually. I hope your daughter just goes back to sleep too and that you don't have to cio.

Patella1129

We have 2-4 MOTN feedings each and every night.  It sucks, but I'm not willing to force her to give them up.  DS had one MOTN feeding until he was a year old.

lindy27

We have 1 sometimes, usually between 4-5:30am.  She does this maybe twice a week, and I am okay with that.  If it was more than once a night I'd probably try to get it down to only once.

jsillyfun

We still have 2. She is obviously legitimately hungry and I don't have a problem with it. She sleeps in my room and I nurse.

Jazzyashes84

At the 5mo mark, we would just go in his room and put his pacifier back in. If he wouldn't keep it in, we would let him cry for about 10min at a time (more like whining). It took multiple times for a few nights in a row, but now he sleeps through the night.

He would always finish his whole 4oz bottle in the MOTN too, but I knew he was getting enough during the day (close to 40oz). He sleeps from 9pm - 7am now without waking up.

jrichards1

For what seems like forever, we had two predictable MOTN feedings.  Then we started Ferber (not to eliminate feedings, just to learn to put herself to sleep) and she dropped one.  She would drink 3 oz during her feeding, so we decreased the amount to 2.5oz and then 2oz.  Since then, she's started STTN, at least for the past 3 nights, knock on wood.  She'll probably be up 4 times tonight because I have written this post.  Oh, but I think starting solids also had a bit to do with dropping the feedings. 

MsNessa

Right now we're at two wakeups/MOTN feedings. Usually between 11:30 and 12, then again at 3ish. I'm trying to get her down to just one by eating less at night and more during the day. I always offer both sides and she takes them happily, but last night I only gave her one each time and she still woke at the same times. My plan is to BF less at those times and maybe introduce a dream feed in the middle of the night and give both sides. We did CIO with DD1 around this age because she was waking up constantly during the night and all three of us were exhausted. It was a last resort in my mind, but I'm SO glad we did it. She still MOTN nursed once until around 11 months, but was a fantastic sleeper.

MsNessa

Oops, I should clarify. We're going to try to eliminate the two feedings in favor of a new, single feeding in between. Not turn two into three. lol

mrsburt2010

LO usually wakes predictably around 12 and 4. The problem is he doesn't just eat and go back to sleep. Sometimes (most times) he wants to be up for 1.5-2hrs during those times. I stress about not feeding him because he was EBF until 6 mth when my supply is just not keeping up with his demand and he was eating more than I could pump while at work. Side note, I work night, so if he would just start sleeping through the night my supply could catch up. I worry about his intake though so I'm not willing to not feed him during those times. I just wish I could find out how to get him to go back to bed after. Usually he gets 1 -2 BM bottles while I'm gone and 1-2 formula bottles. Just depends how many times he wakes up when I'm gone. We started solids but I haven't noticed a change in his sleep habits and I'm considering starting with a formula bottle (nights that I work) at bedtime to see if he sleeps better t/o the night. 

danandbethg

Lo usually wakes between 4:30 and 5:30, eats a 5 oz bottle and goes back to sleep for 1-2 hours. He is hungry, as he slicks the entire bottle down in what seems like 1 gulp. But more than anything, I think he wakes to see me before I leave for work (at 5:15) and get a bottle of freshly pumped milk. He hasn't eaten a single bottle "in the middle of the night" in about 3 months. When you are up for work at 4:15 am, a 5:30 am feeding isn't MOTN.