8mo old waking to feed

[Goostacean]

Hi, I’d love some advice. DS used to sleep quite well- even going for 10-12hs straight at least once a week when he was a newborn, and then we got into a decent habit of waking once a night around 6mo, which was fine. Now he’s almost 8mo and has started waking twice a night for a feed, despite being on solids. Where am I going wrong?? I’d prefer not to sleep train but I’m pretty fed up, so open to all ideas.

We do dinner around 6pm, bathtime 6.30pm, breastfeed to sleep (I suspect this may be the issue?) at 7pm in the dark and he’s asleep by 7.30 easily. He’s started waking at eg 1/2 and 5/6, and is up for the day between 7-8.30. When he wakes, I let him fuss a bit but he becomes more insistent, then I go in, pitch black, no talking. He’ll feed very well from one breast and then be asleep within 10-12mins.

Argh! Please help? Is it the bedtime nursing association at play? Maybe he is genuinely hungry? Google suggests babies should be able to go through the night without food from 6mo or so. Really want to solve this before the next regression hits...

You're not going wrong with anything. It's a perfectly normal pattern, it sounds like you have a perfect bedtime routine, I would just carry on. Things will change again before you know it without you having to do anything differently.

My dd has just turned one and she wakes about 3 times a night x

It's super common to still be needing a night feed at 8mo, especially with breast feeding. My two (ff) had a bottle overnight until 11-12mo.
Could be normal hunger, could be growth spurt hunger and will settle down in a few weeks.

You could try to break the feeding to sleep if you wanted, the ability to self settle is useful

Interesting... tbh I was hoping I was going wrong somewhere, so I could fix it and make it stop!

He can self settle if he’s fed and tired, so I get the impression he is actually waking up hungry? But that seems excessive at this age, at least according to Google. Apparently 90% of 6mo don’t need food/milk overnight?!

Where does the 90% statistic come from? I don't believe it- especially not for BF babies.

Sounds totally normal. Sleep (and night feeds) are not linear. They wax and wane with growth/teeth/illness/sleep regressions/developmental leaps.

It might be just a phase. My LO was on one night feed by 4 months, then went up to 3 at around 5-6 months, then back to one, but at 7 months was back to two feeds again. Now, shes nearly 8 months and is down to one feed again.
I'm not sure if she really needs it because she's not that hungry first thing in the morning (4 hours after the night feed).
Is yours hungry in the morning? In that case I guess he needs the night feeds.
But it wouldn't hurt to try breaking the nursing to sleep association.

Step away from google and it's bullshit made up statistics OP

I think it is made up, I got it off Google 😭😂 Honestly, you’d never think I have two STEM degrees...

I’ve heard about sleep training but is that appropriate when he’s actually having a quick but decent feed, when he wakes? It’s not just waking every 45mins to scream, for example.

I'm not sure tbh. If he's not falling asleep at the breast I suppose he doesn't need the sleep training.
Is it possible that he's filling up on solids during the day, therefore taking in less milk during the day when he breastfeeds and then making up for it at night? Just a thought...
Anyway, I would wait a week or two and see if anything changes. They go through weird phases don't they?

Oh no, sorry, he does tend to fall asleep at the breast- I’ll usually feed an hour after his morning wake up, then feed to sleep for the nap an hour later, and repeat that pattern for two daily naps plus bedtime.

I guess I could try feeding outside his bedroom at nap time, then popping him into his cot in his dark room for the nap? To break the association?

It’s really normal for breastfed babies to wake for a feed during the night for much longer than Google suggests! He could be hungry, thirsty or just want some comfort. My 15 month old still wakes twice most nights for a feed, and I feed her to sleep (though we’re on at least 3 night feeds this week thanks to molars coming through 😴). If you’re happy to feed to sleep there’s no need to stop doing so.

If you are not happy feeding him to sleep, and want to try sleep training, there are many different methods. Read up on them and see which one suits you best.
I was very tired of nursing to sleep and then putting her in her cot only for her to wake up as soon as she touched the mattress so I did controlled crying at bedtime and naps. She never cried for more than 20 minutes in total. I would have done it for her night feed too but it was an extremely hot summer and I thought she might need that feed for hydration. But my sister did do it for night wakings with two of her children and they have been sleeping through for 12 hours since 6 months old.
I guess what you decide to do depends on how desperate you are to get more or better sleep.

I suppose I don’t mind nursing to sleep, per se, especially as he stays asleep once I put him down. It’s more that I don’t know why he’s waking up. If it’s genuine hunger, then fine- that’s just my job as a milk machine 😂 But if it’s just a habit, then I’d prefer to break it...

If he’s taking a whole boob at every feed then I’d assume he was hungry. My daughter is 14 months and still wakes at night however I’m now night-weaning her because I know it’s a habit with her. She’ll suck for about a minute before dozing back off and won’t take water/a cuddle instead so it’s clearly more of a comfort thing. At 8 months she was still taking a whole boob per feed at night so I assumed she was hungry. Don’t stress about it - as long as you’re happy with it then carry on doing what you’re doing, you’re doing a great job!