1yr Old Still Having Night Feed - Normal?

[ThePippy]

OK I am driving myself insane. My DS still wakes in the night for milk. Only once and often (as long as nothing is bothering him like teething/colds etc) that will not be until around 5am sometime later. I have read lots of articles saying babies don't need night feeds after 6-8months or so, and my DD had dropped hers LONG before now, but if I don't give him it he won't resettle (think screaming) and will not sleep through to 7am which is when he is fully rested (and when I consider it morning not night still). I also have various people in my ear (MIL for one) making comments like "yes but if you keep giving it he will form a habit that will be impossible to break" which is constantly playing on my mind. He does seem to genuinely want it and its not at the same time every night which suggests to me he really is hungry. Given his last bottle is mostly taken at 6pm, with whatever's left finished off after his bath at about 6.50pm I would say he has done pretty well really and is quite probably hungry. Nothing I have tried seems to extend it, such as food before bed etc.

I just want to know that 1 night feed is normal at 12month (well he is a few days off 12m) and that I am not setting myself up for years of hell at the mercy of a bottle!

Well my 14 month old would love one feed in the night. At 12 months he was having 6 feeds at night. It was awful for me. But he was fine. And two months later he doesn't feed at night at all.

If you do want to stop it, have you thought about how to?

We're still doing the 5am bottle thing for our 20 month old. It's how he is, it's not habit as it doesn't happen all the time. I'm sure he'll grow out of it like he's grown out of all his other phases. Go with your instinct, not what other people darkly mutter at you!

Thanks for the responses. getagoldtoof I assume from your message that you actively did something to stop him feeding? I think if my DS was feeding 6 times then yes I would definitely want to do something, and I would be suspecting he was using it as a way of settling, but as my DS is only having 1 feed and doesn't get fed to sleep at any other times, regularly self settling no problem, I just feel that it seems he really does need the feed. I would of course dearly love it to stop as it disrupts my night, but the downside when it hasn't happened is he wakes way too early hungry but still tired and grouchy. Given I work full time and he goes to nursery I have felt that its better all round that I have a brief disturbance in the night as a trade off for all of us sleeping until a decent hour in the morning and him going to nursery happy and rested. I think you are right Daisy17 that hopefully this is just a phase that he will grow out of. Hopefully soon ;-)

My 13m still wakes, not everynight though. It was everynight until about 3weeks ago. Has 6-9oz of moo juice then straight back to sleep. He is a greedy herbert though.

Bless you notgrownup you have really given me hope.

Thepippy thank you for your post, you must have read my mind. Just logged onto ask the exact same thing about my nearly 11 month old.
She sleeps great and we did have a long stage of her waking at 530 to start the day.......grrrr but she slept straight through.
Now she wakes 4/5am has a bottle and sleeps thru til 7/8am which is pure bliss.
I give her the milk in her old favourite breast flow bottle but last night just used a normal mam like we use in the day but she didn't drink much of the milk though, so I reckon she wants her comfort bottle. Didn't settle til milk was delivered in this.

But like you I'm worried should I stop this or water down etc etc. I don't think she would settle til 7am without this bottle at the moment. To be honest it doesn't really bother me but you worry as it probably would after many years of it. I just hope she grows out of it
X

Have you thought about Weetabix before bedtime? Ive started giving fatty snacks between meals too and it seems to help.

Ive had to put the radio on in his room too to drown out the chaos that is the eldest!!

It does get better even though at 4 in the morning it doesn't seem that way

I've done porridge before bed, may try the weetabix. She wakes like clockwork. Thanks for the hope of it getting better. I just see everything as just a phase now.

Watching this with interest, my DS is 18 months and still having milk I'd say 5/7 nights around 5:15-5:30. I have never considered this is a night feed, just an early waking but considering 8/10 nights he'll go back to sleep, I suppose it is. He can sleep up to 8am if neither DH or I have to be up but that's only weekends really. Personally, it doesn't really bother me. He's in bed at 6:30 most nights and sleeps right through so I don't have it to bad. He settles quickly, alternatively I could try and sleep through another hour of whinging. We have tried everything to knock the "night" waking on its head, later bed time, earlier bed time, wake to sleep, more food, less food....we have had limited recent success with less daytime sleep. He has clung religiously to his two naps a day but ultimately, life has begun to take over and he has slept to 6:30 ish.

Go with your gut, if its a quick solution and you're not too tired, I'd say stick with it.