Night weaning - potentially stupid question...

[HumptyDumpty1]

This might be a really stupid question but...

Is night weaning just for bf babies? DD is now 6 months and recently (last few weeks) moved onto formula. She only takes 3-4oz at a time (I'm guessing due to bf babies having smaller stomachs for calorie content) and is still waking 2-3 times a night for a feed. Ideally I'd like her to just wake once for a feed but obviously don't want to stress her out by not giving her a bottle if she needs it. We've tried increasing the amount of formula through the day but she just leaves it and we can't fit anymore feeds in through the day.

Any advice would be much appreciated :)

[NinkyNonker]

I don't know, but 6 months sounds very young either way.

[NinkyNonker]

Also, like us a baby will only eat when they're hungry, so you can't force more into them in the day to cover night time.

[organiccarrotcake]

Night weaning is night weaning, no matter what the milk :) You can try doing it, but unfortunately she's a bit young yet to night wean unless she's ready. So you can try it, but you might find it doesn't work.

She is taking a nice amount of milk per feed and if she won't take more you're right to not push her. BF babies may be used to taking smaller amounts more often, not because of calorie content because the calories in BM and F are almost the same, but because they're often better at self-regulation so it's worth not overriding that now you're FF.

If you're finding the nights hard are there other options to make it easier? For instance, as you've only recently weaned off the breast you might want to try BFing at night so you can get the milk into her more quickly than making up formula/getting a bottle, and you can snooze at the same time if you feed lying down. Or if you're not doing this already, some people use cartons overnight rather than making up powder, for speed. If she'll take formula cold, you can make it up the night before, cool it rapidly and then have the night feeds in the fridge ready to go.

But really you can try night weaning if you want to, of course, but if it's not working it's best not to push it and then focus on working out what's the best way to cope with the nights.

[Whathashappenedtomyboobs]

I wouldn't bother night weaning, just feed your baby if she needs the milk at this point. She will drop feeds naturally and it will be a lot less stressful.

[HumptyDumpty1]

We're using cartons at the moment organic Thanks for the info...again

there's no rush to wean and not finding nights a problem - she is only up 2 - 3 times which isn't bad, she was just up once before 4 month sleep regression and I miss it haha but I've read alot about night weaning and wondered if it was just bf.

I'm not trying to force milk on her - formula feeding is completely new to me and my family so I have no idea whether babies stop feeding through the night by themselves or need encouragement.