Can a 10.5m old baby actually need night bf?

[MooM00]

Dc3 still bf at about 1am and 4am. She eats quite a lot but not as much as dc1 and 2 ate at this age as she is a spoon refuser. My dilemma is whether she is feeding in the night out of habit. I know I should trust my own feelings on this but in the wee small hours sometimes it seems like she's not really hungry(or thirsty?) and sometimes I'll spend ages trying to settle her and then when I feed her and put her awake in her cot she rolls over and goes to sleep. She's a sturdy little girl so no worries about weight.

I think they still can, DD defenatly still did, it wasn't untill she was 13months that I felt she could go that long without anything. Even then she still woke most nights for a feed untill she was 2 1/2 and as it was the easiet way to get her back to sleep I just went with it.

So migril did she eventually give it up on her own?

No personal experience (DS only 6 months), but my friend still gives her 2 year old DS a night feed. I think it is fairly common for children to want a night feed at this age. My friend thinks he will grow out of it himself - he has cut down his night feeds himself to just one, and she thinks he will drop this one for himself when he is ready.

Yep, it is normal.

Yes, very normal. Could be hunger, could be pain relief from teething, could just be needing reassurance and cuddles from you. All are equally valid needs.

DS gave up by himself at about 18mo IIRC.

So how does bf work as pain relief from teething ? That might be what's keeping her waking as she is basically a very good settler but sometimes grizzles and tries to sleep until I feed her and then she goes to sleep really easily.

moomoo bm contains opiods and bf stimulates release of oxytocin. Both of which can ease pain.

My ds is 15m, still bf at night, eats lots of high cal stuff in the evening and STILL frequently sometimes needs to get up for a (solid) snack in the night.

He'll grow out of it. They are so busy at this age. Trust your instincts op.

i would say if she feeds well and then drops off she is hungry...

thanks moonface. It's difficult to tell as we've had nights when she's bf at 3am (only) and then when we've got up at 7 she's not at all hungry. But then last night she fed twice and seemed hungry in the morning.

There are all sorts of developmental changes that affect sleep and appetite. Ds went haywire while learning to walk. He too sometimes sleeps through. I know some people see this is proof that he "can" sleep through so doesn't "need" bf, but i don't see it like that. I have partied all night between 12 hr shifts, and cooked elaborate 7 course meals in my time, but i don't want to, indeed couldn't do those things on an on going basis.

The whole idea that anyone, adults included, should stay asleep all night is apparently a relivitly recent one, post industrial revolution.

It sounds to me like you are meeting your dd's needs beautifully moomoo. She is very lucky and will no doubt grow up to be a very secure, independant little girl.

I'm hoping that like my other 2 she will just give up night feeds when she is ready. The only reason I'm concerned is that the other 2 had stopped feeding at night by this age, but they were puree gobblers whereas dc3 likes to feed herself. I think I'll stop thinking about it as a problem,just feed her and bung her back in bed whenever she wakes and reconsider in 6 weeks or so.

Yes she did, I didn't force it and she just gave that one up on her own.

Thanks mig

Oh and the not being to hungery in the morning thing is a bit of distraction from the need during the night. I always though DD didn't eat much breakfast as she was still having milk during the night. When she finialy droped her night feed she still didn't eat much breakfast. She's just not much of a breakfast person.