Trying to wean a breastaholic baby! and wanting to stop night feeds - please help

[missingthemountains]

I know I am really fortunate that BF has gone so well with DS2 but now he is nearly 8 months and he's not doing very well with solids - just doesn't seem interested (we have had a few set backs with bronchiolitis colds etc etc). No matter how much I offer him he nearly always wants a BF top up after a solid food meal and sometimes won't even open mouth for the food in the first place

I am also up every 2.5hrs in the night feeding him.

I wouldn't mind getting him onto a bottle as he's starting nursery in a few weeks and I need some time off.

Please can anyone offer any advice - particularly with stopping the night feeds - do I just refuse to feed from 8pm onwards? Poor lad will be so hungry by 7am

DH is disabled and not well much of the time so it's only me available to sort the situation - I am so desperate for some decent sleep and some time off but when I am stressed and exhausted BF is just so much the easy option..

have u tried bottle feeding him? he might take to it especiaaly if he already has a dummy! if you have already tried bottle feeding him and only you have he mightn't take it because he can smell your milk! when giving him solids distract him ie give him something to hold etc!

good luck!

Have you tried offering him finger foods? Lots of babies of this age prefer to feed themselves solids rather than be spoonfed. Try searching for "baby led weaning" for more info. It sounds quite normal to me for a bf baby of this age to want to bf after meals. Milk should remain their main source of nutrition for the whole of the first year, with food for fun up to one -it's about exploring tastes and textures.

Some people find bringing their baby into bed with them and co-sleeping can be helpful for getting more rest. It's really common to still be feeding several times overnight at this age, but is really tiring if you are up and down.

If you want to stop bf, then you'd need to substitute breastfeeds with fomula, possibly from a beaker at this age.

Night weaning without someone to help you could be quite tough. There's some info here under "how to wean" that may be helpful in terms of weaning him off the breast.

missingthemountains - I have an 8 1/2 mo DS and have stopped night feeds, just by not feeding him between 12 and 5am. The first couple of nights I offered him water, and he took it two nights and from then on he just didn't bother waking up for a feed.
I've found that he feeds better in the mornings now, and then has a good breakfast. I give him a small bottle (5 oz, we're weaning onto bottles for day feeds as I'm going back to work) around 11 and then he has lunch about an hour later.
I've found it helps to give him a spoon or steamed carrot or rice cake or something to hold himself if I'm spoonfeeding him. Finger foods are a good thing to try as well.
Good Luck!

My DD2 was like this but at 12 months (she was like it at 8 as well) but she loved food too but was up 5 times in the night for BFs. After a year I felt enough was enough and I knew she wasn't hungry at night it was more habit, if she woke she would get boob to resettle her.

What we did was the first time she woke DP went to her, held her, sat with her, never left her, first night she cried for 50 minutes that was hard, next night 10 minutes and that was that, once she realised there was no boob on offer she stopped waking.

I would try the BLWing route my 2 older ones hated purees and spoon feeding. much preferred eating themselves.

Is there anyone else that can do a few nights for you?

I wouldn't go complete cold turkey maybe try dropping a feed at a time.

thanks folks - will try as some of you suggest and cut out feeds between 12 and 5

have tried more BLW weaning today and it went much better - he likes toast anyway!

have the bottles ready and will try the water too.

merrykitty - unfortunately nobody else available to do nights for me - best I can arrange is for someone to have DS1 overnight for the first night so am not worrying about any crying waking him. am also arranging someone to help out with DS2 during the day so i can catch up on some sleep if necessary.

Don't worry too much with solids, milk is the main food for a baby up until they're 1.

BLW is defitely the way to go in my opinion. Most breastfed babies much prefer to feed themselves, and it can help speech development and stop them being fussy eaters! Plus it's easier as he can eat the same as you!! Try eating together as a family as often as poss, or sit down and have a snack if teatime is too early for you. they learn from watching you eat.

I stopped nightfeeds at 6 months by gradually giving DD smaller b/feeds then slipping a dummy in instead - she didn't notice and started having larger morning feeds to compensate. Also, I was weaning at that stage and found that giving her a yogurt an hour before bed seemed to fill her up - obviously this won't work for a BLW baby. I'd give your DS a dreamfeed at 10.30pm until solids are established, to help see him through the night. Good luck!