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Parenting

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Original poster

Help ! Want to continue breastfeeding

10 replies

Beigefoods · 14/08/2022 22:19

Hi all, looking for your advice wise mums !
my 8 month old is ebf, eats solids but not a big eater, although a large 90 percentile baby.
I currently feed 3x over night, and 3 or 4x a day. I need to drop the night feeds somehow ?? I’m happy to do a morning and evening feed. I will try to express for one day feed
Any ideas on the night feeds ? Are three feeds enough in the day?

thanks for your help

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Original poster

Beigefoods · 14/08/2022 22:19

Sorry main question deleted - I’m returning to work soon

OP posts:

Flopisfatteningbingforchristmas · 14/08/2022 22:21

At this age you will probably need to swap the over night feeds for formula if you don’t want to bf over night.

Original poster

Beigefoods · 14/08/2022 22:24

Haha love your username, yeah I thought as much. I’m not sure why he drinks so much during the night? He has a huge evening feed ( feels like I’m deflating he’s on there so long!) perhaps we need to work more on the solids or something

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6-9 months old Babies & sleep Breast & bottle feeding Families

Twizbe · 14/08/2022 22:24

I night weaned at 9 months using controlled crying. Before that I fed to sleep but it stopped working.

They weren't waking from hunger anymore either.

Took 3-4 nights and then they slept through / if they woke it was for another reason.

To drop daytime feeds you need to up the solids. Offer food first then milk as a drink after. Swap out one feed for a snack and some water.

NotMyDayJob · 14/08/2022 22:27

If you can power through it for a few more months its much easier to drop the night feeds when they are about a year old and don't really need to feed for food overnight and it won't impact your supply so much. I know thats easier said than done if you're back at work. I went back to work when DD1 was a year old and it was very easy at that point to go down to morning and evening feeds, we would have struggled at 8 months

Aquamarine1029 · 14/08/2022 22:30

An 8 month old does not need to be feeding 3 times during the night. You need to work on that.

MGee123 · 15/08/2022 07:27

They don't need feeding overnight at 9 months, regardless of weaning stage. I would look up night weaning strategies and find one you're comfortable with. Basically you can go for a gentler strategy that will take longer or go cold turkey which will be harder but work quicker. There's no reason you can't keep feeding in the daytime once night weaned.

Sbena · 15/08/2022 08:06

It depends on the baby whether 3 day feeds is enough. Might be - I'd say most or definitely many babies would be on at least 4.

Night feeds: I sorted this out at around 8 months because his wakings were incessant and it was for milk that he didn't need.

baby wakes up. Go to him and touch his tummy/hold his hand. Try patting rhythmically (white noise optional - I found Ewan the Sheep's heartbeat a great pace for patting). Give it AT LEAST 5 or 10 min to see if he settles back to sleep
If that doesn't work, pick him up. Rock him up and down in your arms - again, Ewan was a great pace for this. Give another 5 or 10 minutes to settle.
If he's still upset, feed and resettle.

The point is to always make feeding the LAST thing you try. It won't always work initially, but once he starts going back to sleep without a feed he'll begin to do it more frequently (and quickly! Sometimes I can be in and out of his room in 2 minutes)

Good luck!

Original poster

Beigefoods · 15/08/2022 18:05

Thank you all for your help!
@Twizbe we tried controlled crying before bed a couple of months ago, he was still crying an hour later. The issue with doing it during the night is we are currently living with relatives and can’t wake them with a crying baby as they work. Thanks for the suggestion of upping solids and feeding solids first. Will try that
@sbena and others - yes agree. I think he does genuinely need one feed as he drinks loads but the others I can tell he starts drifting to sleep again after a few mins.
I will try to delay the feed but he tends to scream if not given it straight away !
I will read up on night weaning now and see if there are any other tips so thanks
I will try formula if all else fails when I’m back at work

OP posts:

Twizbe · 15/08/2022 18:28

The first time they will cry for about an hour or so (with you going in every 10 mins) but then each time it gets less and less. In a few nights it was done.

If you live with others you can do it over a weekend so by Sunday night you're having less wakes for less time. Also give them a heads up so they know. I'm sure baby is already waking them to some degree if they are feeding so often at night.

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