I know I am but I'm going to do it anyway!

[mytetherisending]

DD2 is now 6mths, has been bf on demand mostly and is fully weaned on 3 meals with desserts, juice from a cup and the occasional snack. She is still demanding night feeds which I feel she shouldn't need if she took good feeds at 10 and 230. Instead she faffs with these and wants milk during the night. I have now decided to quit breast feeding as she will not take bottles- so it is all bottles or none iyswim. I hope that being able to see how much she takes during the day and a gentle prod to take more will reduce night feeding. I have dusted off the GF book which I used with dd1 (and who has only had a handful of disturbed nights since 3mths!) in the hope that the routine will get me some modicum of sleep. I am knackered.

I know it is unreasonable to give up bf for the sake of my sleep, however, dd1 is constantly tired (2.9mths) and is behaving awfully because of it. The baby disturbs her sleep every night

I just needed to vent sorry! Grrr to all those people who say babies get their own pattern and start sleeping eventually- I can't wait til 'eventually' happens!

You weaned from 13 weeks?
Size has nothing to do with it.
You're being selfish.
Babies feed a lot.
They don't sleep particularly great.
This is because they are babies.
Giving your baby formula would have been safer for her than introducing solids before she was ready.

CC is cruel at any age.

Babies wake in the night, it's what they do. It's no secret, broken nights are what you sign up for when you have kids. Live with it.

I do not think you are being "cruel" at all. Working hard to teach your baby the gift of unbroken settled sleep is to be commended. So many babies reach toddler years and still can't sleep without props. They end up becoming so overtired that their days end up unpleasant for them.

I used GF with both mine and they are contended and happy and sleep like angels.

The gift of sleeping through and feeling safe and secure in your own bed is wonderful.

Do not think yourself "cruel". To want your child to sleep well to enhance family life for all of you is not "cruel" in my mind.

Just because it's not for all doesn't mean it's "cruel".

I think it's actually worse to teach your baby that they need cuddles, rocking, lullabys etc etc etc in order to fall asleep.

Mytether,
I totally agree with you that cc is not cruel. I think it's easy to be critical if you've never tried it and are just talking about it in theory.
BUT, I do think maybe you little one's digestive system may be a bit overloaded. My 1 year old doesn't eat that much. While she may be dealing with it well during the day, she may have more difficulty when she lies down and is still? Totally speculating, but it is an extrordinary amount of food for a 6 month old. Maybe try more milk feeds in the evening and less solids? Just a suggestion though.

It wouldn't have been mixed feeding because she wouldn't take a bottle. It had to be no breast at all to get her to take a bottle, which is why I have decided that it is time for bottles now. She will hardly bf at all during the day which is why I want to change to formula, because then I can see how much she takes.

Weaning was done under close supervision by the HV. I agree that size doesn't always mean more food, however, I fed every hour or so at 13wks and she was always unhappy. Since starting solids she has been much more settled.
BTW I didn't introduce anything other than baby rice until 16wks, so hardly likely to cause offence to my babies digestive system. Started fully weaning at 17wks and gradually onto 3 meals.

Bubbaluv what does your 1yo weigh? dd2 is approx 22lb at 6mths and babies at this age actually grow faster than at 1 so need more calories.

She takes 5-7oz at bedtime and then anywhere between 3-7oz at 2230. During the day she doesn't drink milk in the morning, had 4oz from a bottle plus a top up from me ?2-4oz, so hopefully she is improving her pm feeding. When I exbf at 1430 she would be lucky if I got her to feed for 10mins.

MTIE.
No matter how much guidance you received from your HV , your baby could not have been ready for solids before 17 weeks at the earliest so your hv was giving you bad advice.

barnsleybelle is it not cruel to overload your baby with solid food before they are possibly ready to eat? Or to not soothe a crying baby? PUPD is hard work, not leaving them to cry for an hour

Sorry MyTether, am totally metric so no idea about pounds and haven't weighed DS for months. He isn't big though and I'm not suggesting you should be doing a compare and contrast. BUT he is double her age and in terms of digestive development that's what counts. Plus, if she needs calories then milk is her best source.
My main point though was that sleep really slows the digestive process so maybe just at the end of the day up liquids and reduce solids?

MTIE, you're wrong about the calories.

From 3 month to a year old a child needs 100kcal a day, per kilogram. That is 100kcal a day for every 2.2lbs. This means that a child in the 50th percentile at 10 months, at around 20lbs, would need about 900kcal a day.

So a one year old would need a lot more than a six month old.

as my 2 penith, the ins and outs of weaning are personal to each mother.

I can also say the OP's DD1 is a v balanced and settled little girl, who is rather happy. (have yet to meet DD2 thou) but the fact that GF was used with DD1, and control crying etc, I believe has had no effect on her DD! - to that end, it stands to reason the OP wants to do it again with DD2.

please also remember the OP is a nurse by 'trade' as it were.

Well VS you have just illustrated my point nicely. My dd2 was average weight for a 6mth old at 12wks, so she was drinking so much milk that I physically couldn't keep up with demands. She needed the extra cxalories provided by food and was ready. By 5mths she was able to chew lumps. Her tongue thrust reflex had gone which is another indicator of readiness.
The point is that dd2 is now the weight of a 13mth old (and height) if she was on the 50th centile- SHE NEEDS SOLIDS!

Spandex, early weaning can be dangerous, so not really something just to be left for motherly intuition surely?

spandex have a look at profile pic- dd2 was 16wks there.

Mytether,
But her digestive system is still only 6 months old and doesn't develop faster because she's big. So maybe increasing her milk at night will help her sleep?

You don't get extra calories from baby rice though!
Or fruit and veg.
Unless you were giving your baby frigging doughnuts, then milk was best for her.

bub, I hardly think the OP is ill informed. She will know full well the risks etc involved with early weaning, is she chooses to wean earlier it's up to her. I would agree with you if it was something which the OP hadn't researched & looked into, but given how she has, and has made an informed choice I don't see how harping on about how she's damaging her child is helping the issue - which is infact her DD waking during the night.

DD was the average weight of a 6 month old at 13 weeks.

and she DIDN'T NEED SOLIDS.

I'm actually quite worried that this poster is going to train to be an HV.
Says it all really

(no profile MT )