bfing all night - to wean or not to wean

[loulou33]

hi,

My ds2 is nearly 22 weeks and used to sleep really well. from 6 weeks he slept 9pm to 5am until about 15 weeks. He started waking 2 or 3 times a night but it improved after a week or 2 - growth spurt maybe?. He had a chest infection 2 weeks a go and was up a lot in the night. since then he has been waking 3 or 4 times a night for feeds. tried formula which he wolfed down but still waking after 3 hours for more. saw hv on Monday, weight fine and she suggested gradually giving him less and less at night as he's got into a bad habit of waking and probably doesn't need all that food. have tried this but he now wakes every 2 hours and takes an hour to settle so i was up 6 times last night!!

Hv now suggested weaning as he clearly hungry and its not a bad habit after all . not sure what to do...he feeds every 3 hours during the day and seems fairly happy bar some reflux and wind at times. i don't mind getting up 1 or 2 times a night for quick feeds ( which is what he used to do) but i can not manage on 3 hours sleep with 3 yo as well. any advice please!!

loulou33 im in the same boat ds 22wks dd nearly3 he had just got over his 4mo growth spurt and finally in to a nightime routine (first time since birth) was going 7-2 then2-5.30 through till 7 now he's started waking again every 2hrs and feeding off both boobs so obviously hungry
i feel for you but you know there are thousands more calories in bm than whatever you will wean him on to, food will not make him sleep hungry babies need more milk not food.
i'd try to keep going for couple more weeks in the grand sceme of things its not that long i know its hard though.
im only getting through it by telling myself my body will soon catch up with my brain and start producing more milk for my hungry little monster

Could you breastfeed him a few more times in the day, just to increase your milk production? It might take a few days to work if you add in 1 or 2 quick night feeds as well. In the end you would catch up and you will make the extra milk he needs. If you add lots of bottles of formula at night it might have opposite effect on your breastfeeding.

If you go to Weaning thread there is lots of information re: early weaning before 26 weeks and drawbacks thereof.

yes, I agree it sounds like he is hungry. however, IME and many others on here startting solids does NOT help babies sleep through the night.

the small amount of solid food he would be taking at that age is going to make no difference on his sleep.

breastmilk is far more calorific and will do the job a lot better. I know it's hard, and sleep deprivation is terrible but I found it so much easier just sleeping with my frequent waker and feeding him back to sleep instead of trying to "fix" him, as it were.

thanks - he won't feed more in the day as i have tried this before. He feeds every 3 hours and will not take more - he gets upset if you try to encourage him back on the breast. He won't co-sleep either as he wriggles and 'fights' sleep. I don't think solids will help either but i think its the standard answer once they get to this age. A bit like when he's upset everyone always asks me if he's teething!!

i did find that my ds would sleep better if i made him sleep (took him for a walk) around half four but only for about half an hour he fights sleep aswell and this semmed to make a difference

[ducking] a FEW solids carefully introduced and a lot of milk may help him sleep and DID in my experience of three babies, who woke before solids were introduced and woke less frequently after they were introduced (although still had one or even two night feeds 7-7) But you should wait two or three weeks before heeding this opinion.
I say this because I cannot understand why people keep saying that solids twill make no difference to their sleep. In some babies it will not make a difference, but in some it will.

[ducking] a FEW solids carefully introduced and a lot of milk may help him sleep and DID in my experience of three babies, who woke before solids were introduced and woke less frequently after they were introduced (although still had one or even two night feeds 7-7) But there will be other people who had different experiences. The point is not whether it helps him sleep, but whether weaning early is good for him. Guidelines say wait.

changed my post halfway, but a double post, sorry.

I'm not sure solids would help as has already been said the milk has more calories.You could also end up with other problems, your supply of breast milk would reduce. Also both my babies suffered terrible colic during the night once I introduced solids and that was not until 6 months.They would scream for hours in the night and I got less sleep than when I was BF ing every 2 hours. I found that it's much harder to "feed" a six month old to sleep than a younger baby.
Could you get to bed earlier yourself in anticipation of the "nightshift"?

I did not have this experience of babies with colic after introducing solids between five and six months. Constipation sometimes followed too many bananas, potatoey things, and then I had to bfd lots more so things evened out. If you introduce solids very slowly and surely, checking balance of carbs, vegs, fruit there shouldn't be probs with colic.
But I suppose this is a weaning thread issue.

whether or not a few spoonfulls of mush will make your baby sleep or not i think it should come down to what is best for baby and according to the WHO waiting till 6 months is best i know its hard but whats a few weeks of waiting when its you babies long term health in question

i didn't want to start a debate about weaning and i know this is a contentious issue here. ds2 is prone to colic and i don't want to make it worse but i had not heard that weaning could do this?? Thank you swanriver fordaring to say what i have been thinking though

I think i may need to increase my milk supply but ds2 will not feed more often so i presume i express after each feed - is that right??? I have tried to express after 2pm feed and produced barely an ounce but i suppose this woudl increase if i keep expressing. however, i'm not sure an increasein milk volume will help as he comes off the breast naturally by himself when he's had enough and will not go back on....am i doing this right i have no idea

loulou and mothersmilk Please come and join the club

over here

You are not alone!

his waking at night is the natural way for baby to increase mik supply as your brain is more receptive (though im not sure why this is) sounds to me asthough your doing everythig right expressing will increase milk supply though if you havnt had a problem in the past i wouldnt worry about it so much his feeding at night should do the trick give it a week and hopfully all should have calmed down again. i realise a week seems a very long time when you have other children aswell so my thoughts are with you

loulou Do you routinely offer both breasts?

Make sure you do this, as a fresh milk flow can get the baby drinking again, and also helps up your supply. You can try breast compressions too to help with intake.

Amount of expressed milk is no indication at all of suply.

Try to encourage cluster feeding in the evening. Sit on the sofa between 7-10:30 say and let your lo feed/doze/feed/doze.

Finally, remember that it is a phase and it will pass, and there is no evidence except anetdotal that suggests weaning increases chances of more sleep.

yes - he now empties both breasts at each feed every 3 hours. i used to just have a little of the second breast but now has full feeds. He is usually so tired by 8pm that he is in his cot fast asleep and then wakes for a feed at 10.30ish. He used to then go til 5am but now wakes at 1.30ish, 4.30ish and then 7am or roughly these times... i will be over on the other thread in a mo....

sorry that should say 'he used to just have a little' not 'i'

Have you considered offering the first breast again? This will help stimulate more production of milk.

They don't actually empty btw, but the milk does get a little harder to get to because your body is making it to demand then.

he won't go back onto breast once he's fed and there's barely any milk left iyswim - i think he's too lazy to suck those small drops out!!

also this is why i'm expressing after feeding to act like he's going back for more in the hope i will eventually make more milk....i'm not sure i'm making sense anymore!!!