to think this is totally unnecessary?

[thecatsarecrazy]

Waking a 7 month old during the night for a feed?

[sunshinesupermum]

yes

[arethereanyleftatall]

Yes, and pretty stupid to boot.

[Trifleorbust]

Would the baby wake otherwise and if so, what time?

[Trb17]

Really?! Is there a reason? If not facepalm

[Cornettoninja]

Dunno tbf, were they waking anway and a dream feed stops that? If so crack on. Much better to try and work a schedule that works for you.

Dd still wakes twice a night at 17 months (11.30 ish and then 4.30am), feed back to sleep both times at the moment to maximise my sleep. I don't have the energy to face night weaning at the moment and this works so there you go.

[kingfishergreen]

You say that, and a few months ago I'd have agreed. But DD, previously a good sleeper (7:30pm to 7am), has started waking at 4 or 5. And we've found that feeding her just before we go to bed (11ish) keeps her going until 7 or 7:30.

Maybe it's a growth spurt, maybe it's because she's now in her own room (kinda), maybe it's because we haven't quite got the ilk/food ratio right now she's weaning. But it does buy us a better night's sleep,

[thecatsarecrazy]

Bil and partner at a family gathering yesterday and their 7 month was tired. Dh said oh well he will sleep well tonight. His mum says oh no I wouldn't want him sleeping through, not yet babies need feeding.

[BernardsarenotalwaysSaints]

Very odd. Once he was discharged from scbu we didn't even wake our prem dc at night as we were told he needed rest as much as milk by the dr.

[Pinkheart5917]

Imo yes it's odd to wake a sleeping 7 month old to feed.

If you keep waking for a feed how is the child going to learn not to wake at night?

[Cornettoninja]

Not what I'd do, but she sounds a little anxious to me and still stuck in the advice that newborns need to feed regularly. I can identify with that a little. I'm still uncomfortable not putting a vest on december born dd - even when it's sweltering - because it was such a big thing to keep her warm when she was first here. Obviously I don't overdress the poor child but it's a really strong urge I have to fight.

There's no harm in it really, I suspect it'll right itself soon enough, can't say I'm not a little jealous of that problem though!

[early30smum]

As a 10.30 dream feed to help sleep through, no. Through the night- yes. Unless any medical needs obviously. And even a dream feed would usually be dropped by 7 months.

[kingfishergreen]

Yeah, the whole waking them just for the sake of it is batshit. But it can serve a purpose.

But you know, each to their own, if they're all happy, fair enough!

[BikeRunSki]

Hell, at 7 months there is no way I would have woken DD as long as she was otherwise healthy. She didn't do me the service of sleeping through til she was 3.5!

[thecatsarecrazy]

I was starting to worry I had been doing it wrong . She is a little ott with him

[TheAntiBoop]

Is he underweight? If so I can see why she might worry about getting enough into him.

Although I agree, waking a content sleeping baby is crazy!!

[Trifleorbust]

I think it's up to her. She may be slightly anxious but as a new mum that is fairly normal.

[Birdsgottaf1y]

It doesn't matter if something is, in physical terms unnecessary, as the extended BF debates will show, if she wants to carry that out, it won't harm him, so it shouldn't be commented on.

I was going to say that my DD, who co-slept would encourage a 3am BF, if my DD woke up, because my GD would sleep in longer and not be up at 5am.

If she wants to be ott with him, that's her decision to make.

[NormaSmuff]

fair enough to feed the baby just before bed. perhaps that is what she meant.

[Kiwiinkits]

10.30pm dream feeds are great, and work.
Otherwise, let sleeping babes lie.

[Kiwiinkits]

actually, scrub that, dream feeds are better for littler babies who aren't yet on solids.

[GoodyGoodyGumdrops]

And half the point of a dream feed is that you don't wake the baby.

[Queenofthedrivensnow]

A friend told me to do this with dd1 - managed to make her sleep even worse!!

[Cornettoninja]

Ah well, I'm sure 99% of people do something with their kids/babies that make other people think 'wtf?!?'. Doesn't mean anything to anyone else though - especially if it has 0 impact on them.

In truth I'm projecting on you a bit here, but I really struggled with the whole transition to motherhood and have frankly felt terribly let down by people who've done nothing but judge (and you can tell what people are thinking behind a polite facade and whose prone to dissection with others behind your back). In truth there's no one who owes me or anyone else support or kindness, but I'd be lying if I said it hadn't done irreparable damage to our relationship from this point on. To come to terms with the whole mindset of no one is obligated to care for my own sake requires it.

As I said earlier, she sounds anxious to me and if you think she's ott generally she might be really suffering/struggling. It's not up to you to support or fix of course, but she might benefit from a little extra from you - odd text or coffee maybe?

[BrexitSucks]

That wasn't the same as saying the intended to wake the baby up, was it?

If we're making leaps of interpretation, I imagine the 7m old's mother is fed up with people asking if he's sleeping thru night yet so she has a ready defensive sounding line when someone hints at idea baby "should" sleep thru. Not the same as she schedules his wakeups.

[thecatsarecrazy]

He's definitely not underweight. She's proud of how big he is.