Habit or hunger??

[Peanutbutternutter419]

Hi there,

I am trying to stop feeding my 7 and half mo so much at night and have managed to get it down to 4 feeds between 7.30am and 7.30am, however i dont know if i can drop another as i dont know if it really is hunger or just habit o waking.

Through the night, my lo will religiously wake up 3 hourly, so last night was

Feed to sleep 7.30
Awake to feed 10.30
Awake to feed 1.30
woke at 4.30 but went back to sleep
Awake to feed at 5.30
Awake for day 7.30

Tonight he was fed and asleep at 7.15 and just woke at 10.15 almost to the minute!

Does this seem like just habit now or think its genuinelly hunger!?? I really cant tell as on the occasion that i have refused to feed he has screamed until i gave in. Other feeds were bit easier to drop so think they were purely comfort!

Thanks

I started trying to drop night feeds with DD at 9 months. She was in her own room at that point and feeding about 4 times between 8pm and 6am, and I decided that I wouldn't go in unless she cried for 5 minutes straight. After the first night, she starting sleeping through (8ish to 5ish) and has been great since. I think I was being too responsive. Also, if I went in the room, all was lost. She would cry until fed.

Around this time, they will be teething, and they get natural pain relief from nursing, as well as the comfort. It's also worth remembering that this heat is extreme and has appeared very quickly, so I would be hesitant to drop any night feeds right now.