Would you give your nearly 3yo food at 4.30am if he said he was hungry and breastmilk didn't seem to be cutting it for him?

[mawbroon]

DS and I co sleep from when he wakes at night (random times) usually until the morning. He normally breastfeeds for a couple of minutes and then turns over and drops back off to sleep. This suits us both for now, so no probs there.

However, last night he woke at 12.30am and fed on and off until finally at 4.30am he started wailing that he was hungry.

The logical thing to me at the time seemed to be to give him something to eat, but in my 4.30am foggy brained state, decided that no, he would think it was a big laugh and would then ask for food every morning at 4.30am for ever more. So, he then fed on and off, until I could stand it no more at 5.45am when I sent him downstairs with DH to eat breakfast. He had some ready brek, then the two of them came back to bed for another couple of hours.

What would you do?

Going out soon, so will check back later.

Haven't read anything negative about breastfeeding a 3 year old on this thread, just about doing so overnight. Amazing how some people are just rising to a breastfeeding argument when there's little or no disparaging of breastfeeding itself

Look again moopdaloop!

Mawbroon at what age do you stop co sleeping?

Me personally serant or just in general?

[develops massive crush on umlellala as well]

as for the question when do co-sleeping children stop co-sleeping, there are various answers:

1. How long is a piece of string?

1. When either the child or the parent has had enough and they find a mutually agreeable alternative

1. Gradually, the child starts the night in their own bed and calls parent to them/climbs into parent's bed when needs to, and this phases out as child is developmentally ready for it to phase out (when did you stop having morning hugs in your parents' bed? Same sort of thing)

1. Never. Children who co-sleep with their parents as babies can never never move out of the parental home because they go on wanting to bed share with their parents right through puberty. In fact, often those parents have to go off to uni with their children and share a single bed with them in halls, such is the abject nature of the infantile dependency on the parents. OK, that was just being silly.

onwardandupward, you took the words right out of my mouth regarding the co sleeping thing.

The long piece of string could, of course be used to tie the child to the parent if they start to get too independent

This thread reminds me of the 'extended' bf ones... where some people don't criticise bf as such - as long as you don't do it past [insert random age here]... and then proceed to have discussions about situations that would never occur (i.e. would you bf a 13yo?) I suspect that people are getting their knickers in a twist here about a situation that is quite unlikely to happen.

Fair enough if long-term bf / co-sleeping / seeing to child in the night isn't what you want to do (and I completely agree that it isn't right for every family - why should it be?) - but why insist it is a problem when other people do it? When it isn't a problem for the people who do it? [baffled]

And why does no-one have a crush on me?

I do, Tatties.

Pass another macaroon will you?

I'll be gutted when mine stop watching cbeebies - I won't be able to dribble over sportacus anymore.....

yes, I don't get out much.....

Honoria you are welcome
I was actually talking to the posters who have focused on the importance of a full unbroken night's sleep but if it helped you also then that's great

No 3YO needs feeding during the night surely. milk or otherwise. Isnt it tea, bath bed, breakfast????

Just for you Tatties

very well put tatties
Was thikning about the ex bf argument the other day it does seem to go "Well we all know breast is best () and it's fine until X but surely you agree after that it's unaceptable?"
Which people challenge, and are then asked to name their own cut off point. Why?
Anyway, that's a digression, but you're right, this is a very similar argument.

moopdaloop, apparently it's been scientifically proven that children don't need breasmilk after 3.
It's between the same studies on bananas and bran flakes.