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Babies: 6 - 9 Months
MrsDe2008
member
A ? for those who've "Ferberized".
MrsDe2008
member
I started diluting DD's formula for the last few nights...trying to wean her off wanting a bottle every time she wakes up in the middle of the night (which has been at least twice a night since she's been born...ugh!). Has anyone else tried this method? I honestly have not read the book from start to finish, but basically read what pertained to DD (waking for feedings) and of course it tells you what to do to wean, but it doesn't talk about the fight she will put up. Last night was rough...now that she is getting about 1/4 formula to 3/4 water, she woke up at least 3 times wanting a bottle and sucked down 3 4oz. bottles and fussed quite a bit in between. Once I am down to water only, the book states to take the bottle away complete...I'm scared! Please someone reassure me I will survive this!!!
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Re: A ? for those who've "Ferberized".
Bar tab = $156,000, Bus to Foxwoods = $0, Puking in the Stanley Cup = Priceless
How would I know when she is ready? Would she self wean?
We had to do this to reduce the number of night time feedings. We went from two or three to none. Well, occasionally we have one, but when she goes down at 7:30pm and wakes up at 4:30am, who am I to refuse her a bottle?
Anyway, we started mixing less and less and also trying to reduce the amount that was in the bottle.
Did you read the first part of the book, which talks about the actual Ferber method, the timing, etc? In addition to diluting and reducing the bottles we went longer between bottles.
So, for example, she was eating every 3 hours, so (based on info from the book) we would push that to 4 hours. If she woke up before 4 hours then we would go in at regular intervals to see if she would just go back to sleep first. If she woke up any time after 4 hours we would feed her.
We gradually were able to increase (I think we actually did it in 1/2 hr intervals) the time between feedings until she was sleeping through the night. I think I did get to a point where I wasn't diluting the bottles any further and was giving a certain amount, but it was way less than the 6oz that she had been getting. Her formula is 1 scoop to 2oz of water. I was giving her something like 3oz of water with a little less than 1 scoop.
Sorry that was so long, I hope it helps, if you have more questions let me know I'm happy to try to help.
I agree...I think it's the bottle that is the issue and not the concentration, but Ferber's book says to dilute it so she won't want it anymore instead of just quitting cold turkey and having her CIO. I can understand wanting 1 feeding a night, but this kid gets up 2-3 time or more a night for a bottle and most of the time she doesn't finish it...just wants to suck back to sleep. She doesn't take a pacifier (never liked it) and at this point I don't want her to have one...it'll only make it that much harder to get rid of it. =/
Have not Ferberized yet and this is what I'm sort of worried about. He talks about spacing feedings out but I still don't get it. I mean, when LO wakes up at 1 as usual, do I not feed him right away? Wait until 1:30 or 2? Let him get all worked up in the meantime? I'm starting to be able to tell that he isn't actually hungry because he now nurses for all of a couple minutes max and then falls back asleep. (This is why I want to Ferberize - to get away from having to nurse/rock him to sleep every single time.) I wouldn't mind his night wakings if I just nurse him, put him back in his crib and know that he'd fall asleep on his own.
That's exactly it. When she would wake up at say, 1am, we would wait say three minutes then go in and give a little back rub then leave, then if necessary, go in again after five minutes and then, again if necessary, go in after 7 minutes. The idea is to have them self-soothe to sleep and not be dependant on nursing and or rocking to get back to sleep.
Honestly, if she woke up at 1am and we were trying to get her to say 3am, and she didn't go back to sleep after going in a few times I would feed her - mama needs sleep, too.
The timing is definitely spaced out...for the most part she will sleep 3-4 hours before she wakes, but still wants the bottle. I will definitely try to go in and soothe her first, but it is so hard when you are exhausted and half asleep and then she is crying even harder when you go in and then leave without giving her a bottle or picking her up. =/
Thank you so much for your input!
It is so hard, isn't it? When you're like, if I just fed you now we'd be all done and I could go back to sleep? Ugh. I hope you get through this soon and get some rest!
This sounds like a sleep association problem, not a night feeding problem. DD was like this. We Ferbered starting exactly a week ago and she's been STTN every night since Sunday. Bliss. I BF and she was getting up every 3-4 hours over the past month or so. She would nurse but I knew she wasn't really eating, just sucking to go back to sleep. We ended up starting the Ferber method at bedtime. So, instead of running back up 5 minutes after bedtime to pop the pacifier back in when she cried we did the progressive waiting (3 minutes, then 5, etc.) and it worked like a charm. The first night was horrible (20 minutes of crying total, felt like an hour) but since we've started that she's been STTN and hasn't even woken up to nurse at all since then. I think the bedtime CIO has helped her figure out how to soothe herself back to sleep overnight too. Not sure if your LO goes right to sleep at bedtime but maybe letting her CIO then will help? Also, we stopped nursing/giving her a bottle right before we put her down. So, now it's bottle, change diaper, read book, sing songs, bed. That way she's not falling asleep while eating. HTH!