Whats the best way to stop the 3 am feed?

[Jaysfirst]

Not that i am doig it right now!

DD is 9 weeks on Tuesday and since 6 weeks has slept in her cot in her own room ( contraversial i know)ut she goes down after her bath about 7 oclock , we dream feed her at 10 30 with expressed milk , then she wakes at 3 ( although the past 4 nights its been between 2 - 2.30) the she goes down till between 5 and 6. Now i am not complaining about it.. ok i am a bit, but how do i stop that 3 am feed?? do i put her to bed later? dream feed her later? cluster feed her before hand? Thing is with her is that she only ever feeds for 10 minutes, always has done ( no weight issues, BW 9.5lbs last week 13.7lbs) so i know shes getting the right milk ( and my milk comes out really fast and she latches on brilliantly)i try to feed her for just under ten mins then wind then feed again but it never works, 10 mins is her limit. SO how do i get more in her so she doesnt wake at 3? Thoughts appreciated

[yomellamoHelly]

This was where I introduced a dummy.
To start with it meant a few sleep-starved nights with me delaying ds for as long as possible to get as close as I could to the 6:30/7:00 feed, but it did work by the end of the week.

[Blandmum]

I was advised by my HV to cut out the middle of the night feed when dd was 9 months. If you are using expressed milk in a bottle you can gradualy cut the amount by 1 oz a week. Eventuualu by the time we got to 1 oz, she gave it up. All very stress free for her and me.

But that was at 9 months, not 9 weeks

[LIZS]

Think you may eb expecting too much and she mny need that feed for while yet. You could try cluster feeding in the early evening or upping her "dream feed" but that may still only buy you an extra hour or so. Good luck, it may yet happen suddenly of her own accord !

[Miaou]

Ds has only stopped feeding at night about three weeks ago and he is 7 months - he is a lot smaller than your dd too (well, was at 9 weeks anyway).

Tbh you may find that she drops it of her own accord once she is ready. Ds didn't and needed "help", but before he was six months I wasn't prepared to make him!

(I left him to cry btw - mean mummy it worked though - he only woke up three nights and only cried the first night - repeat this was at six months old though).

[nannyme]

I tend to go with miaow's approach. Let them have this feed at this age until they naturally drop it. If they don't do so of their own accord by say 4 to 6 months then go cold turkey on the milk. You cannot top up a baby in the evening so that they never get hungry in the night. We will all get hungry some time when our tummies empty in the early hours - the n it is down to teaching them to sleep through this feeding. Most babies can achieve this when they have reached 10lbs in body weight - as a guide. Repeat a GUIDE!

[nannyme]

I tend to go with miaow's approach. Let them have this feed at this age until they naturally drop it. If they don't do so of their own accord by say 4 to 6 months then go cold turkey on the milk. You cannot top up a baby in the evening so that they never get hungry in the night. We will all get hungry some time when our tummies empty in the early hours - then it is down to teaching them to sleep through this feeling. Most babies can achieve this when they have reached 10lbs in body weight - as a guide. Repeat a GUIDE!

[Jaysfirst]

bless you lot! I know shes still a tiny one and i wouldnt dream of stopping it right now, i was just thinking ahead and couldnt see how it would work. I guess that she will tell me in her own way and time! I mean she does do pretty well with her sleeping and i suppose if i put her to bed later she would still get hungry! time will tell!!