Breastfeeding night wakings

[Modestandatinybitsexy]

According to a thread about returning to work a lot of posters were saying that an bf 6mo shouldn't be waking 4x a night for feeds.

Now my 9mo still does this! It's all very well hearing about the "shouldn't's"and "it's only for comfort" but how the fuck do I go about changing this? Preferably with the least amount of tears from both of us.

Returning to work is something I'm worried about with this amount of night wakings. I know he's capable of longer because he just stayed with the ils and slept from 7-4am. What am I doing wrong?

I would night wean at 9 months. Maybe start with 3 hourly feeds (say 7, 10, 1, 4, 7) and get dad to settle if baby wakes in between. Then move to 4 hourly 11pm and 3am, then work on pushing the 3am one til morning.

Well my daughter clearly missed that memo then. At 6 months she was waking hourly, now at 11 months she wakes twice a night for a feed. I personally believe sleep is developmental and babies will sleep through when ready. You're not doing anything wrong, it's totally normal. Although I do find that when my husband puts her to bed she goes longer before her first wake up

I nightweaned age 2.5. Under a year I expect to be doing numerous night feeds. It’s completely normal biologically and I wouldn’t personally even think about night weaning under 18 months.
They’re so little still with so much developing to do and breast milk helps facilitate that.

You can't generalise with "shouldn't". Don't kill yourself trying to get your child to fit into the pattern of what some other child does! The chances are you're not doing anything wrong.

Yes it’s perfectly normal and other peoples opinions are irrelevant as every baby is different. My dd woke every 4 hours for 18 months and then just stopped one night. Don’t stress.

You aren’t doing anything wrong
Try to up her fluids during the day - water and formula in a cup if you are happy to give formula with food

You're doing nothing wrong. My dd was waking for bf more than that until she was much older. It's all one big blur now. Hopefully that's comforting in the sense that it is normal but obviously isn't helpful if you are returning to work so perhaps you can look into night weaning.

You either cosleep and sleep-feed or you make sure your baby is very full with supper and milk at bedtime and you wear babyproof pjs and refuse to feed at night untl he gets the idea. A few nights of daddy picking him up giving him a cuddle to settle him while you hide may do the trick.
Be warned, night waking will probably increase when you go back to work. If he's missed you all day, he'll keep you up all night.

Normal am afraid. Means it nothing to worry about though is knackering when you return to work.

Someone please tell my mil this who has just made my cry by saying ds needs a dr for sleep (hes 7 months. Numerous night wakings, breastfed) i know its normal but i now feel like s*t. Sorry to jump on your thread

It's normal if you are happy with it - if you want more sleeping and less feeding then that is absolutely fine and normal and healthy too.

You're not doing anything wrong. Some babies just don't sleep for long stretches. For ages I was convinced I was to blame for my child not sleeping, and all the stuff I read on here and in books about how I'd made a rod for my own back by feeding through the night sent me to a bad place MH-wise. All I would advise is find a way to cope (probably cosleeping) and try to ignore people who tell you you're doing it wrong

Child minding - what Mum is truly happy being woken up all night - what a silly thing to say. It is normal - it’s the natural result of their breastfeeding, bond building relationship so far. bf babies wake up at night - it’s abnormal for them not to.

You’re doing nothing wrong, you neither @owlettele

My eldest dropped his feeds down by ten months at night, just did it himself.
His brother is a year today & feeds from twice to hourly at night.

I’ve done nothing differently! They drop/change up feeds whenever they are ready.

You can try slow night weaning by sending in your OH at night so they don’t smell the milk if you really do want them to sleep through.

My DGD is 14 weeks old, DD is putting her down in her cot at 8pm. She wakes around 11pm for another breast feed.
At 2pm she wakes again and DD doesn't turn the main light on or talk to her or give her eye contact.
She then tends to sleep until 8am. If she does wake they give her boiled water without the main light on and no eye contact or talking.

When she is awake during the day we give her loads of attention, read and sing to her. It is rare now that she doesn't go 6 hours.

At 6 months if DGD is not sleeping through DD is going to remove the 2am feed.

Sorry that’s from two feeds a night or sometimes when he’s teething or got a growth spurt he feeds hourly so we end up co-sleeping.

OK, I should maybe say breastfeeding doesn't mean you have to feed all night at 6 or 9 months + if you don't want to. Breastfeeding doesn't have to be miserable and exhausting and interfere with your ability to work or care for other children. It's not abnormal or wrong to encourage your baby to sleep better.

My nearly three year old boobs all night if I sleep with him. So he’s usually in with dad (and sleeping all night).

@blacktea

Yeah of course she does

It's normal.
Bedshare so the wakings are less disruptive to your sleep - you dont get out of bed you just need to make boob available & your sleep cycles sync up a bit.

What do you mean @selftitledalbum?

Don’t stress about it, one of my dc was 10 weeks and slept though 12 hours, another was 4 years old when this first happened. All babies / toddlers are different. Both of mine were ebf,same routine etc

@blackteadrinker77 are you for real? At 14 weeks?

Oh yes, I remember reading all about how "most babies sttn at 6 months". I thought "that's not so bad" and patiently waited. He's now 16 months old and I'm still waiting - though with less patience!

In fairness to blacktea my son slept brilliantly from about 12-16 weeks. He woke at around 10, 2, and 7 and even slept for 10 straight hours a couple of times! I totally thought I'd cracked it. Then the 4 month sleep regression hit and he's not slept more than 3 hours at a time since. I don't think it's that uncommon for sleep to really improve around that time as the circadian rhythms start kicking in... then all go to shit again a few weeks later.