Opinions on HV advice please

[lilupix]

My dd is 10 1/2 mths and Im bf her am,pm and in the night when she wakes at around 2 - 3 am. Last night and this morning she seemed completely disinterested in bf - pushing away, squirming and the odd nip, although I managed to get her to take a couple of mouthfuls before her nap - with a lot of coaxing.
The night feed is when she gets the best feed, a real good full drink. Ive not been discouraging this feed as I feed her in bed and its not really that disruptive - plus she gets a good amount.
HV advice is to try to quit the night feed as she does not need it, and to give her water instead. Hopefully this will get her to feed better in the day.
I can see the logic in this, but half of me a) doesnt want to go through the cc route (and it will be hell as she can keep it up for hours)
b) agrees with the notion that babies of this age will wake in the night for a feed and that this is perfectly normal.
Plus Im also terrified that she is starting to self wean as I wanted to keep it up for as long as poss. tbh Im just confused as to what to do.
I dont want to cut the night feed and still have her refusing in the day as she is very distractable.
Ive searched the archives on self weaning so am up to date on that.

If you're happy with doing a night feed, and don't want to cut her feeds, then don't follow the HV advice.

Hi,

Well done on 10 1/2 months - that's fabulous - I am envious as I couldn't get DS beyond 10 weeks.

Firstly, if you're happy with the night feed then don't drop it. Everything I've ever read says that after 6 months they don't need a night feed but we are all different and if it suits you and her then carry on. Is she eating much in the way of solids - if so she might be getting ready to drop these day feeds because she no longer needs them. If she gets a really good feed at night and it doesn't disrupt you too much then I'd focus on this feed - if she's working towards self weaning then it may be a case of focusing on the feeds which are usually good (ie your night one) and just go along with her taking a smaller amount morning and night (if she will).

This could also be just a small break as she simply doesn't need the calories at present and will change back to the usual routine in a few days.

I would also agree, if you are happy then carry on.

Ignore the HV advice
If you really want to move the 2am feed it might be worth calling the NCT line and speaking to a breastfeeding counsellor

Hole arse talking out of
Seriously, my ds did this, he dropped entirely any daytime breast feeds at 12 mths and pottered along on his 2am feed until 16 mths when I thought, ummm no more.
I too was happy, he was in my bed, I slept through it and he did too.
I did not regret it, if I had I would have lost that last 6 mths of b/f that I really loved doing

lilupix - sorry if you have read the info. on kellymom.com already about distractable babies, bf "strikes", etc., if not it will answer most of your questions as it always answers mine !!

My DS is now 18 months old and still bf 4 - 5 times a day despite that fact that he is super-charged and has been very very alert from the minute he was born !! He has been coming on and off the breast to look around since he was about 5 months old. But I make sure he is fed in his favourite place (his semi-dark bedroom) holding his favourite thing, his teddy, and that way he usually pays enough attention to get a good feed !!

Babies that drink less and less breastmilk after 6 months are usually being overfed on solids and snacks. kellymom.com recommends bf BEFORE breakfast, lunch and dinner. That way you make sure they have a good milk feed before they are too full.

I agree, most babies love to have a good feed just before sleep. I think that your HV has given bad advice for a bf baby. Why stop the night time feed when she enjoys it so much plus gets most of her breast milk at this time ? Most importantly, you enjoy it too and it does not disrupt your life. I think your HV's advice is a sure way of weaning off the breast altogether.

Also to reassure you further, according to bf experts like LLL, etc. it is extremely unusual for a bf baby to self-wean under the age of 12 months. I don't think your dd is sending messages that she wants to wean. There are other more likely explantions: a temp. feeding strike due to teething, thrush, over-feeding solids, and many more, etc.

Best of luck !!

Thanks guys for all your support so far.....Im going to keep going for a while and see what naturally occurs. Hopefully she'll come back round shortly, fingers crossed! Otherwise, I'll be back on here pronto....