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

Is he feeding plenty in the day?

Personally I'd try just doing one feed between 10.30 and 7.30 and see how it goes. Maybe push the 1.30 one back 15 minutes each night?

It's habit if it's 3 hours exactly DS was the same we night weaned with water he now only take 1 or no bottles at night. It's a hard few nights but worth it i'm sure i had a thread i started about it

Have you tried adding an extra daytime feed in? Are you feeding roughly an hour before offering solids?

At this age its very easy for babies to not take on enough calories in the day and to make up for it at night, its called <a class="break-all" href="http://kellymom.com/bf/normal/rwww.allergyuk.org/advice-for-parents-with-a-new-baby/is-my-child-allergic-to-cow-s-milk-proteineverse-cycling/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">reverse cycling. Do you think a bit of this could be going on?

If you do choose to cut down on night feeds this article might help and you might find studies on normal infant sleep helpful too. Apparently only 16 percent of 6 month old sleep through. Have you seen the [[http://www.isisonline.org.uk/ ISIS website? Its a very good place to start if you want to make changes

Sorry for the shocking linkage. Its the

He is still bf on demand around his 3 meals a day. His solid intake has lowered (i think due to heat) but he has been making up for it in milk intake during the day.

Lola i have tried to take a bottle of water up and at first he will start drinking it but then realise its water and start crying. This is why i wasnt sure if it really is hunger ?

Its so hard to read these tiny humans!
I dont know if he has also developed bf as his sleep association as he roots as soon as i pick him up even if he's only been asleep 20 mins?

I dont expect him to go through the night as hes a little and often kinda guy, but just didnt want to be feeding him if there was a chance that he may just be feeding for comfort.

Thanks for the links jilted! Very helpful reads!

Do you have a partner who can go to him with water and cuddles in the night? There is no way DS would have accepted anything but boob from me!

I had this when my DD was 7 1/2 months exactly. I saw my friends from NCT and when I said she was waking 3 hourly they were
I can't recommend what I did had a mini meltdown, hid under the duvet and had a cry but I couldn't believe she was hungry AGAIN, 3 hours after last feed, double boobed thru the day AND 3 meals a day!
When I stopped, she stopped and changed her habits pretty quickly. A couple of days later she dropped the 10pm feed. Now (she's 9mo) she goes down about 6/7 and wakes at 5.30. There may be a grumble if she's hot or teething but she doesn't wake up for feeding.
I think it's up to you how u address it, but agree highlighting the feed u want to cut out and see how u go.
Hope that makes sense and not too much of a ramble

My dh does go up if he wakes before 10 in the evening, but as he has a physical job involving power tools, his sleep in the week is important so he would only be able to do this at weekends. May try it this weekend and see how we go? Id just feel awful if dh went in and he really was hungry though?

I'm no expert but from my experience my DD wasn't hungry at all. We had a tough couple of nights but its lush now. She sleeps so much better

A baby who is eating and feeding well the rest of the day can definitely go a couple of 4 hours stretches at night! Even if he is hungry the first hour going from 3 to 4 hourly then he will adjust his intake. To be honest by 9 months I'd say most babies are capable of getting enough in the day to last the night without a feed.