How to reduce night feeds

[Crazydiamond106]

My 5.5 month old has been waking hourly or 2 hourly since 3.5 months!! In a bid to stop the night wakings I’d like to try and hold back on offering the breast...she’s exclusively breastfed and every waking will either feed or comfort suck back to sleep. I’d be fine with this if it was 2-3 times a night but I can’t keep going with these hourly wake ups.

I was thinking to breastfeed before bed at 7...then again at around 11 then again at around 3am. For every other waking just to offer water and cuddles. Has anyone had any luck with this? Is it too early to do this..I know there’s a growth spurt at 6 months so will I be messing with that? I’m just at a loss for what to do and I’m committed to breastfeeding but I also need sleep and don’t want to give up. She’s on 90th centile for weight so no problems with weight gain in terms of needing the feeds. I know they need comfort from breastfeeding too but hoping to replace with cuddles and hopefully that won’t be as appealing for her to wake up for!

Sorry I haven’t got any tips but your plan sounds reasonable to me! She certainly shouldn’t need feeding hourly through the night and is probably waking up for comfort I imagine. Have you got a partner who could help settle her when you aren’t offering the breast? You might smell milky and she might expect a feed from you whereas she won’t from them? Also make sure she’s getting enough in the day so offer more feeds coming up to bedtime so you can be more sure she isn’t waking up from hunger. I hope things improve for you soon, sleep deprivation is so rubbish!

It's worth a try but given her age I'd be tempted to just roll with it for a few more weeks. DD was the same at that age and when we started weaning, particularly once she was on two and then three meals a day her night feeding reduced dramatically on its own. At 5.5 months their appetites are at the top end of what they'll be while you're still just on milk. She probably is actually just a bit hungry.

It's worth a try but given her age I'd be tempted to just roll with it for a few more weeks. DD was the same at that age and when we started weaning, particularly once she was on two and then three meals a day her night feeding reduced dramatically on its own. At 5.5 months their appetites are at the top end of what they'll be while you're still just on milk. She probably is actually just a bit hungry.