Night feeds - the bain of all our lives - reduce or increase?

[user1480952686]

Hey guys,
Our baby girl is 18 weeks old. we have started weaning her on the advice of our HV as she is refusing more and more milk in the day. She is currently having maximum 3oz at day feeds now, it was 4-5oz, 8 times a day.
At night we have always tried to get as much down her as possible at each feed to try and ensure a full belly and encourage sleeping longer between feeds. She still wakes 3 times in the night between last bottle and first breakfast bottle.
However i have this morning read on Bounty (www.bounty.com/baby-0-to-12-months/weaning/how-to-wean/cutting-down-on-milk) whilst researching weaning portion sizes, that to try and reduce night feeds you should cut down how much you are offering them at each night feed so that they depend on them less...... it makes sense now i think about it.
I am really struggling with the night feeds at the moment and dont know how i can physically carry on doing them :/ Im sure we all feel like this on a regular basis!
What do you guys think? should i carry on trying to get more down her at night, or should we try giving her less so that she doesn't rely on it.
we always try and give her a 'bigger' bottle before bed - but normally only et maybe 1oz extra down her, she she still wakes 3 hours later - could this just be habit?
Its so confusing knowing what to do isn't it!! Why don't they come with a manual!! LOL. xx

Jesus, you are weaning an 18 week old? Why?

The most high calory thing you can give your baby is milk. You baby us is probably hungry and needs the calories in milk.

8 or 9 6oz bottles per day - every 2 hours through the daytime - and no solids should help.

Why on earth are you weaning? Weaning foods are low calorie. Your baby needs high calorie.

Give her formula. Not food.

And night feeds - goodness yes give bottles. Lots of them if you arent alliwing them daytime. Baby must really be desperate for her milk.

Only because our HV told us to. i thought it was too early too but they're the professionals. she started having less than half what she was having before about a week before christmas and then was permanently tired because she just wasn't getting enough. The HV seems to think she is bored of milk.

I keep trying to give her more milk, in-between normal feed times, keep offering it to her etc, but she just refuses to drink it. what more can i do?
She has 8 feeds over 24 hours. will not take extra feeds. will not take more than 3oz per feed. normally its 2oz, sometimes 1oz! :(

When we give her her food, we are only giving her a couple teaspoons of baby rice. once a day. and i always give her a bottle first. once she refuses to drink any more milk, i then make up the rice and give her that. so she isn't losing out on calories. I also offer her the bottle again after, but she never takes it.

Was she a premature (born before 36 weeks) baby?

Have you seen your GP about this? What about reflux?

Your GP is the professional. Clearly not yout HV. Babies don't get bored of milk.

She really needs the milk, keep the night feeds x

I've never heard a HV say a baby is bored of milk before! But it never surprises me that some say some crazy things.

I agree you should possibly speak to your GP about the milk. There could be another problem preventing her from taking it like reflux. When she refuses the milk is she really unhappy? Seem uncomfortable? Or does she fall asleep on the bottle?

No she wasnt premature, in fact she was overdue by 11 days.
She isn't showing any signs of reflux, no excessive vomiting etc.
She just stops drinking, pushes the bottle out with her tongue and moves her head away so that you can't get it in. I've tried leaving it a few minutes and then trying again but she just isn't interested.
She just acts as she does when she's full.

x

kellymom.com/ages/older-infant/distractible-baby/

This is from a breastfeeding page but is describing babies the same age.

Maybe try feeds in a quiet room without distractions?

The gp might be able to offer advice if they think it's a problem.

Maybe your hv is my SIL's mum 😉. ..she insisted that DN was bored of her milk. Just because she wanted to give her food like she'd done for her kids I think.

And what makes you think she is not full?

I would suggest that she just likes little and often milk feeds.

How heavy is she? Has she stopped gaining weight? What was she drinking before Christmas in terms of amounts and times?

Babies can't get bored of milk, that is utter nonsense. Also you certainly shouldn't be weaning a baby who isn't drinking full milk feeds. Milk is the main source of nutrition until 1 year, you can't replace it with solids yet and frankly your hv has given you dangerous advice. I would stop the solids immediately and concentrate on sorting out the milk intake.

She's full up .
And 3 night feeds is normal at this age .

She's acting like a normal 18 week old

My daughter had 3 night feeds until 4 months and 1-2 until 6-7 months and then dropped them her self

It's really concerning that your HV recommended weaning this early, babies have tiny tummies so milk little and often is the way to go.

If what I've read is right and please someone correct me! Is that at her tiny age that baby rice will have no nutritional benefits and although filling her up, she'll get nothing from it? As someone else has said its milk she needs!!

My baby dropped her Oz at a similar age. She went from having 5/6 a bottle to 3ish and sometimes less. At no time did anyone (HV or GP) suggest weaning her early and we still waited until 6 months. She gradually upped her Oz again and now has 7/8oz at 7 months but was back up to 5/6oz within a month or so. My daughter still wakes once for a feed and we are gradually reducing that and she is starting to drop it. I know night feeds are hard but that advice to gradually reduce is when babies are feeding well in the day. You need to get whatever Oz you can down her at the moment. My daughter always fed best at night so that's when we got her to take the most milk.

Please get a second opinion! HVs vary so much in their knowledge and expertise, you need to see GP and ask for a paediatric dietician appointment

18 weeks isn't that young to start weaning. OPs baby was late, not early.

There is some evidence that weaning earlier (from 4 months) is beneficial (sorry don't have time to find the link) and it wouldn't surprise me if I'm a few years the weaning age was moved back to 4 months.

We weaned DD 'early' at 4.5 months (different reasons - reflux) and it was the right decision for us - this was a decision discussed with health professionals - the 'one size fits all' exactly 6 months approach isn't always right.

Giving the OP a hard time isn't going to help her.

OP - what's your baby's weight like? Is she dropping on the centile chart?

My lb also went through a phase of refusing milk. But he has a dairy allergy, reflux and suffered with wind pretty bad. I'm sure you've tried everything but a quiet room with no distractions helped him, and burping every time he stopped and then letting him play, then try again. It makes the feeds last ages but it's worth it if you get better spacing between feeds. Also he will only let me feed him if he's laying down (without me holding him) but he used to only feed sat bolt upright (due to reflux). They change their habits, likes & dislikes so much!

It sounds like you're not too keen on the idea of weaning and it doesn't appear to be working. My lb isn't interested yet & he's 7m.

You're the parent and you should do what you think is best, HV tend to preach their parenting practices rather than follow actual guidelines, which can make them for useful than a gp if you get a good one.

Most articles say the earliest possible time to wean is 17weeks and it should be puréed. The latest possible time is 6m. I've heard of people weaning at 17weeks but this is usually under the direction of a paediatrician due to illness - failure to thrive, reflux etc. Also weaning can make a baby more unsettled due to the digestive system working harder, I know that's the case for my lb. Good luck and I hope you start getting some proper sleep soon!

Please get a second opinion, a baby isn't cognitively aware enough or know anything different to get "bored of milk" - that is nonsense. She may be a 'little and often' feeder or have silent reflux or something making feeding uncomfortable. I am really surprised baby rice was recommended too - that's basically empty calories nutritionally-wise.

Please don't refuse or cut down milk feeds, especially as she's having so little as it is. Keep offering the milk. My 9 month old is still up several times a night - that's babies I'm afraid! They will themselves naturally take in less milk as they take in more solids, and I've noticed that in DS2 only recently.

Good luck, but please get a second opinion from your GP.

OPs baby was late, not early

The babies who might be advised by a medical professional to wean early are premature babies and those with severe reflux or milk allergies.

Normal, healthy babies are subconsciously suggested they wean earlier by companies who offer weaning foods and would financially benefit from an extra 2 months on mush are best to get their calories the easiest way, from milk.