Experiences of going cold turkey on night feeds

[ThePippy]

So I have been prancing around the issue of night feeds for way too long now. DS is almost 14 months old and is waking once (anywhere between 2 and 4) or twice (anywhere between midnight and 1am, then again anytime between 4 and 5am). Between these bottles he sleeps good and needs no settling. He sleeps 7pm to between 6.30am - 7.30am depending on the day.

He should be eating enough during the day to keep him going at night and I think the wakings are habitual or learnt hunger due to having these bottles. I know he can sleep through as he did one night last week go 6.45pm to almost 7am without a single peep!! (I think he did this just to lull me into a false sense of security or maybe to rub in what I don't get!)

Anyway I think I have reached the end of my tether. I have avoided removing these bottles as he is such a loud and insistant complainer at night when he doesnt get one (read mini tantrum) and I have so low in the night that I just take path of least resistance.

So I am building myself up to going cold turkey and ANY experiences would be appreciated, specifially in terms of what you did, how long it took and how much things improved. I am particularly interested in whether I should try to delay the first feed before going completely cold turkey, e.g. no feeds before 3am or something (to make sure he only every gets 1 feed per night) and then start to push that time later and later. Or will this just confuse him when his crys are not met with milk for part of the night and with milk for the rest?

Any views/experiences (warts and all - I need to be prepared) hugely appreciated.

I gradually diluted the bottles with ds1, so at first 6floz formula 1floz water, couple of nights later 5 formula 2 water etc. this way he could up his daily cAlory intake. Eventually he stopped waking up for them

Thanks for the reply Lucy. We have started implementing this kind of plan ourselves but I think I have stuck at the first dilution for too long. I will push ahead as we are on 5/1 at the moment so will move to 4/2 from this weekend. Last night was a record as he was awake screaming at 10.30, the earliest yet!! Mind you I think teething may be part of the picture.. between that and illnesses there never seems a right time!

I'm watching this thread with interest.

I've had enough of ruddy night feeds now and can't for the life of me remember how we broke the pattern with my first DC.

I've got a feeling we diluted the milk too so going to try this with DC2.

Marking this thread too. My son is 22 months and have just posted about sleep training. I have been meaning to do something about night time milk for ages but never found the right time always made excuses and something just snapped in me last night and I refused him milk at 4. He cried on and off for about an hour but eventually gave up. I took that as a sign that he wasn't actually hungry. Fingers crossed for you op (and for me for the next few nights!)

I was in exactly the same boat as you , bit the bullet when ds was 15 months, had it sorted in 2 nights.

When he woke, I just offered him a bottle of water instead of bfing him; he protested, cried, I cuddled and comforted him. After about an hour and a half (!), he fell asleep again till morning. Same thing the next night, then that was it - slept through ever after (he's 4 now).

Went cold turkey with DC1 and it took 2-3 nights.

The thing is, you have to be 100% ready, up for the "fight" and preferably with support from your OH. With DC1 we tackled it in the Christmas holidays as DH was off work and we could nap if needed.

We tried recently with DC2 (now 17mo) and were rather half-hearted, so failed. The truth is that I don't mind it too much and rather like the sleepy 4am cuddles (ff now but he likes a cuddle even so). He only has a couple of teeth left to come through, and they are breaking through at the moment, so I think I will try again either at half term or Easter, once the teething is over.

The other thing to watch is teething/sickness/travel and other disruptions. Before you know it, you or your OH give a feed in the night and you are back to square one!

I did this with my DD aged 9 months. She used to wake usually once or twice a night like yours OP. I decided to give her a dream feed at about 10.30 which I had not done previously. I think this then helped my resolve in knowing she did not really need the milk when she woke later. I then picked a time (5am in my case) and resolved not to feed her again until then. When she woke I cuddled her until she stopped crying then put her back in her cot and patted, rubbed her back etc until she was asleep. The second night I did similar but didn't have to pick her up. The third night she cried out but settled herself within 5 mins with no intervention. She has slept through ever since (to 5 at least) and I dropped the dream feed after a couple of weeks with no ill effect. Good luck!