breastfeeders. when did you stop night feeding??

[cheapandchic]

I honestly cannot remember when I did this with my first child. When did you decide enough is enough and not offer the breast upon waking at night?

I am happy to feed around 10/11 pm...but I just wish we could make it through the night after that. Baby is 7months. Did you keep feeding 'on demand'? When did you try husband to comfort baby/offer water/or cuddles/cry it out....

What works? When did you start?

We started at about 7 months I think, with warm water in a bottle and dad doing the soothing. It wasn't a quick fix, maybe took a month in total, but so glad we did it as she's slept through for ages (touch wood).

She was definitely ready, I wouldn't have forced her to stop.

Stopped giving an early morning (~4am) feed from about 9.5 months when it stopped reliably getting her back to sleep. Was down to one feed from about 7 months and it just got later and later from there.

My DD started mostly sleeping through at about 13 months, though occasionally she would wake at six am and a feed would gain me an extra hour or so sleep so I would feed then.

I think this is a hard one to advise on as all babies are different as are all mums. Over on the feeding board there are people trying to night wean toddlers for example.

Is she established on solids? I think that was what made the difference with my DD. she was blw and took ages to take any decent quantity of solids.

feel quite lucky having read other posters..

DD1 slept through the night from 7 months and DD2 from 5 months. DD2 is still breastfed (now 7 months). Solids should make a huge difference - I didn't do BLW with either though intially - got them used to purees first.

In theory, a 7 month baby who feeds well in the day, both solids and milk, shouldn't need any feeds between 7pm and 7am - their tummies are able to cope, so it's probably a "habit".

You could try dropping the 11pm feed? Some theories think that by waking them to feed last thing you interrupting their sleep rhythms and so they are more likely to wake at 4am. I dropped the 11pm feed when I started DD2 on solids and within a few weeks she stopped the 4am waking too.

Hope I don't sound smug! I do sometimes think it's also just down to luck!

HTH

I love your name daddypig
I think a lot of it is luck. My DD2 is two months adjusted and sleeps 9-6 already (fingers crossed it continues!) and I've done nothing different with her than I did with DD1

Yes I have stopped the 11pm feed. We seem to be doing better with just a 3am feed and then up at 6/630 for morning feed.

But I really think the 3am is not necessary. Tried the other night of me sleeping in different room, and daddy there to comfort her....but she just screamed and screamed until he gave her a bottle. (she has about 1 bottle or two per week now)

How do you calm them without feeding?

Have you tried offering slightly warm water instead of milk in case she is thirsty?

The other thing I did when I was night weaning was to wait until slightly later each night before offering milk. I can't remember exactly but maybe stretching out the time until I gave milk so it was 30 minutes per night. It does mean in theory you might be up and comforting them until then, but it did work quite quickly and she then became much easier to settle without milk when she did wake.

I know every baby is different so appreciate this might not work for your DD, but thought I would share anyway.

ds2 was 16 months and ds3 was about 2

ds1 was 6 months, but mixed fed by then, not sure if that made any difference

About four months... Then he was sleeping through from dream feed (expressed given in a bottle) at half 10 after being put down at 7. He started sleeping through 7 til 7 when he was weaned at 6 months ish.

God four months is small!

It is hard though it didn't take long for him to get the idea - about a week I think in total. At first offered eg an oz of milk in bottle (while he was still in cot) then water then nothing and he slept through. I was sure he was waki from habit as when I would feed him in the night he wouldn't be hungry for his morning feed sometimes until 10/11am...