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Still feeding at night at 9 months

5 replies

TS123 · 12/08/2006 13:23

DS is turning 9 months old this week and I have been hoping that he would wean himself off his 3-4am feeding on his own but he hasn't and I don't know if I should be doing cc to eliminate this habit. Some background: he goes to bed at 7pm and sleeps until 6am with one wake-up (during which he is bf usually between 3 and 4am). He is nursed 4 times during the day and eats what I consider to be a very good amount of cereal and other solid foods during the day. When he wakes at 3 or 4am, it is impossible to settle him any other way and he takes a full feeding (both breasts). The situation currently is certainly not that bad, except I worry about what the "experts" say is perpetuating a night feeding habit -- which eventually will worsen until he starts waking many times per night. The longer I let this continue, I fear, the harder the habit will be to break. Occasionally he will wake up one other time (usually around 1am) and he'll eventually return to sleep without being fed but it may take an hour or more of on-and-off crying before he settles. I haven't tried letting him cry at 3 or 4 am because I worry that he won't return to sleep at all and it will throw off his entire daytime sleep schedule (which is something else that has been a problem and I'm trying to stabilize). All this to say that I am looking for advice from others with babes who still wake them at night past 9months old for feedings. Will this disappear on its own eventually? or do I have to take measures now to avoid a worse problem down the road??

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
sweetmum · 13/08/2006 10:59

Dear TS123, as you are breastfeeding him, he will wake up in the middle of the night for sure. As even though he takes a full feeding, its not the same as bottle feeding where babies sleeps throughout the night, with a full stomach. Whenever you will leave breastfeeding, you will notice he sleeps much more than usual.

tessasmum · 13/08/2006 11:10

TS123 - my son is just 9mths and bf though his last drink before bed (about 8pm) is formula. He still wakes in the night most nights so we got hardline a few weeks ago and DH started going in and offering him water. Much to our HUGE surprise he didn't complain and gradually seemed to sleep for longer. If he wakes after 5am I bf him as I reckon its close to morning!

HTH

princessmel · 13/08/2006 11:25

Hi,
My dd still wakes for a bf (she was 1 last week)some nights, well most nights! She has recently slept through a few times 7-5 ish but those nights are rare. On the nights she wakes it is usually about 3am but not always. We always put her straight back, awake, and if she wakes again or crys we leave her and do cc( this isn't often). On the nights she's had a night feed she then sleeps till 6 or 7. She was waking lots when she was tiny then went down to 3 wakes, then 2 then 1 naturally but after a holiday went back to 3 wakes. We got tough though and only fed her once and she has started to drop that by herself. I think some babies do start waking loads if they get fed but others just keep to the one and drop it themselves. Its def better if dd eats well in day and has loads of carbs. I just think that theres no point saying no to her unless I can stick to it and I just don't think I can yet. If it was getting worse again though I think I'd change my mind! Just thought I'd add my story so you know you're not alone! I don't care what the experts say!

KTeepee · 13/08/2006 11:33

I would say it is perfectly normal for a baby to wake during the night at this stage - all mine did. It is really up to you whether or not you want to do something about it. They will all sleep through eventually but bear in mind this can take a couple of years if left up to them (my 2.5 yr old ds being an good example!)

PeppermintHippo · 13/08/2006 20:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

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