Nursing schedule, night feedings for 9 mo old

kujess1 · August 2014

I have a 2-part question:

First, my DD is 9 months, and still BF's quite frequently, like every 2-3 hours during the day (rarely a 4-hr stretch). I think this is partly due to the fact that I've had a recurring plugged duct problem ever since I returned to work, that has finally gotten better in the last month. Because I was so afraid of getting a plugged duct that might lead to mastitis, whenever my boobs felt like they were getting too full, I got into the habit of grabbing her and nursing her. I would even sometimes wake her up from a daytime nap if I was getting uncomfortable. She loves nursing and rarely turns it down when offered. I feel like I'm realizing I've been nursing her on my demand rather than hers. Also, I feel like we have never had any real nursing schedule at all and I'd like to get into more of a schedule/routine. So for those of you with LO's around DD's age, what's your schedule like? Is nursing this frequently pretty out of the ordinary at her age?

My second question is about reducing night feedings. She starts out in her crib, and sleeps in there for 2-3 hours, and then when she wakes, I bring her to bed with me and she stays there the rest of the night. We have been bedsharing basically since she came home from the hospital. When she stirs, I latch her on and go back to sleep. I don't know really how many times I feed her during the night, but it is VERY frequently. I could be off base, but it really seems like she is latched onto me 50-75% of the night, just comfort nursing while asleep. Whenever I move, it wakes her up and she wants to nurse again. I'm ready to get some better quality sleep, as being in the side lying position (flipping from one side to the other all night long) and having her latched on all night with me unable to move gets very uncomfortable and I wake up stiff every morning! Any suggestions to get her to sleep without BF'ing all night?

AppleMuffins · August 2014

My daughter was nursing every 2-3 hours at home too at 9mos, but as pp said, if we were out and about, she would go for longer stretches. She's finally starting to go every 3-4 hours at home. I also don't really know how often I feed her at night because we also bedshare, but, just within the past couple weeks or so, she seems to be cutting back on her own. she's 10.5 mos now. Yes, there are nights she wants to be attached and the pacifier just won't cut it for her, but those nights seem to be diminishing and she seems to be going from about 1-2am until 6:30-7am. Unless I'm really just not remembering feeding her, which is totally possible. she still kind of cluster feeds in the morning though. She needs to nurse about every hour it seems from 6-9, before she's up for the day.

estrandmark · August 2014

My LO is a little over 8 months. I don't have much advice, just wanted to commiserate. Sometimes I feel like I'm doing something wrong when my LO eats that often at night. We start in the crib also but end up bedsharing.

She eats at least every 2 hours at night, and more when teething. The only improvement I've seen is it is easier to transfer her to her crib once she's asleep, I'm just too tired to get up during the night to do it more than once or twice.

seawater · August 2014

I am in the same boat. Mine just turned 9 months and the nights are killer.

opheliainwaders · August 2014

casey78 said:

About the frequency: my LO nursed that frequently when together and at home clear through a year. After she learned to crawl, she started doing what I called "drive by nursing" - if I sat on the floor with her, she'd stop by for a few sips on the way to her next activity. She could easily go 3 hours between feedings at dc. If we were out and about, she could easily go 3-4 hours between feedings. If we were together and bored, there she was. She cut nursing frequency herself around 11m.

about night feedings, we never bed shared, so I can't help with that. When we decided it was time to start cutting back night feedings, I'd send dh in to settle her. If he couldn't comfort her in the first few minutes, I'd go in to help. In reality, we are still feeding on demand. This read might be helpful to you:

Gah, TB won't let my copy and paste. Google jay Gordon changing patterns in the family bed.

This was my experience, too. I also found that she seemed to nurse MORE from 9-10m, and then started dropping feedings around 11-12m.

You might want to look at No Cry Sleep Solution in addition to Jay Gordon for suggestions on lessening night-wakings while bedsharing without night-weaning entirely (which I would probably not do at 9m).

CNYBride05 · August 2014

No advice, but wanted to commiserate. We have the same night routine as you....but with twins! They also can go longer stretches at DC and if we are out and about, but at home, want to nurse every 2ish hrs. They are nearly 13 mos and just in these past 2 weeks, I've been making them wait 2.75-3 hrs to nurse. It's cut down on the "drive-bys" and seems to be a good pattern for us. Our pedi told us at their 1 yr appt that if they are nursing every 2 hrs during the day, they'll do the same at nite. The way to extende nite feedings is to work on daytime ones 1st. We haven't seen a shift yet, but I'm hoping soon.... With the extended daytime feedings and our new king sized bed

. Good luck!!

camedowncrushing · August 2014

My 7.5 month old typicall nurses:
6/630 wake up and nurse
9ish (before nap) nurse
11ish (whenever she wakes from nap) nurse
2 (before nap) nurse
4 (or whenever she wakes from her nap) nurse
6:30 nurse (before bed)

Then she is up once usually sometime around midnight to nurse

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Nursing schedule, night feedings for 9 mo old

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