HV had suggested water down feeds ?

[MummaBear333]

I contacted my HV as my son is 11 months and still not sleeping through.

There is no consistency with his day or night sleep. He still wakes once at night for a bottle. I say for a bottle, he wakes and we have tried everything else to settle him but the bottle is usually the only thing to get him back off to sleep.

I have zero faith in my HV to be honest. She lets me down at every turn and I don't really feel she is bothered.

She suggested now for a second time to water down his night feeds in the hope he will stop taking them. We did this before and got him right down but seem to be back here again.

My worry is that it's getting so watered down now is there a danger of water toxicity or I am being paranoid?

We were to start reducing the formula oz every 2 nights so always a 7oz bottle but with 6 formula and 1 water etc etc

We are now down to 3 formula and 4 of water. My son is taking less milk at night but still waking so is it really helping the sleep problem?

My HV was suppose to return this week for an update but is now off.

Any advice? Has this worked for anyone else? I just don't want him taking too much water.

Can you share with us what he has to eat and drink on a typical day? E.g. What is his last bottle before bedtime?

At 11 months, your son is waking and not settling unless given a bottle because that is what he needs. He’s still very young, just give him the bottle, he will start sleeping through soon enough.

If you are absolutely desperate other things you can try are an earlier bedtime, better nap routine during the day, porridge for supper etc.

He is not at risk of water toxicity but equally there’s no need to water down his formula. He will be one soon, you can switch to cow’s milk at that point & you may find he stops waking anyway as it isn’t as sweet or as filling.

Good luck, I know it’s tough but he is still so very little. And don’t forget you can request a different HV if you don’t get on with yours.

I'd say waking once a night at his age is pretty good is it not? Does he go back to sleep after his bottle? At 12 months you can give regular cows milk so you won't have to make up bottles anymore. I've never heard of anyone advise watering down formula before and I would ask her to share any research data she has to show that it helps with night waking, I bet she can't provide anything.

My DD was still waking for a night feed until just after 14 months.

Once a night like clockwork she would want a bottle 6/7 oz

people told me she would never grow out of it unless i stopped the milk and gave water etc etc. We tried it a couple of time and it was NIGHTMARE. Nothing else would settle her, it went from a calm 20min wake for a feed to screaming session. So i went back to the bottle.

Despite everyone telling me it would never happen she stopped waking about 14 months and has slept through pretty consistently since.

Go with you gut if you think bottle is still needed and you are happy keep going. They are still so little at that stage.

I would want the medical research behind this suggestion. Surely he will be more hungry if you do that?

Your HV sounds out of date tbh.

Watering down feeds isn't in accordance with the manufactures instructions and risks making your child ill - really Not sure why she would suggest that?? If anything you step down the amount not add more water!

And waking in the night is normal at that age.....some Children just don't go through the night. You could try dream feeding them
In their sleep when you go to bed - around 11pm or Something to see them through?

@Boomshakalakaaaaa

Typical day

Breakfast - yogurt sometimes some cereal

7oz bottle before nap

Lunch - sandwich, fruit, rice cake, fruit pouch water

7oz bottle before second nap

Dinner - cottage pie or risotto, fruit pouch and water

7-8oz bottle before bed

@CrazyOldBagLady

Yep straight back to sleep after his bottle!

@lannistunut not the first time I've been told her advice is a bit out of date when it comes to his eating!

@tiggerwhocamefortea yeah I think we may go back to dream feeding if it continues.

I spoke to another member of the HV team who also did say she feels like he shouldn't need or be having a bottle during the night or even before bed ! She suggested a supper of something more substantial like porridge instead now.

To be honest, if my 18m wakes in the night he still has a bottle of cows milk- probably once a week? It seems to happen on the days he doesn’t eat enough food.

Most night wakings stopped when we started feeding supper, such as cereal or toast to fill him up more

My son also still woke for a bottle until 15 months and just stopped on his own one day. I say if they want it then give it to them. Still quite normal to wake for a feed at 11 months.

Or you could try a weetabix or something similar before bed as a 'supper'. But I don't think there's anything wrong with waking at that age for a bottle.

I would give him a bottle. My son did this a lot between 10 and 12 months, and it was related to him not eating enough in the day - because he wasn’t ready for big meals and therefore wasn't getting through the night. Now he is one and has discovered he can eat more at mealtimes and have more snacks he naturally dropped the bottle; when I noticed he was eating more in the day, I started cutting his bottles down and giving a snack with his nighttime milk and he started sleeping through. What I have now is a 14 month old who is just very very hungry for food all the time and eats loads! I think maybe you just have a hungry baby! I read other threads where people were saying sleep train and don’t give the feed etc, but my heart told me he was hungry - if that’s what you feel I would just go with it, it won’t be forever

DC3 was still having one bottle overnight when waking until 22 months old. DC1 & DC2 slept for 10 hours overnight with no wake ups from 12 weeks so this was a shock.

We tried everything to stop it but nothing worked. It only took 10 minutes from when he woke up to warm up bottle, feed it and put him down to sleep again until 7am which was much shorter than everything else.

He eventually stopped wanting it himself by sleeping through. We just got on with it and waited for him to stop needing it which was much less stressful!

I'd honestly just keep going with it until it naturally stops as all DC are different and he obviously still needs the feed.

Good luck

I reduced the number of ounces of milk offered e.g. 8oz, then 7oz, etc rather than watering the formula down. Its supposed to get them used to taking less liquid overnight

Hi OP,
Do what you need to do to get the most sleep for everyone involved. This is my mantra after having 2 crappy sleepers. Eldest is 5 and now finally sleeps through. With her we tried all sorts of sleep training, routine changes etc and they’d work for a bit and then for one reason or another we’d be back to square 1. With DS we just do whatever gets him back to sleep quickly so that we can get back to sleep quickly, at one point this was a bottle, at the moment it’s being tucked into bed with us. This has worked so much better for us. We’re less tired and less confused by weird HV advice.

@CelloYouveGotABass do you give the cereal etc just before bed?

Right I know this might sound weird and anal however, I can't imagine getting my son all bathed and clean and ready for bed then giving him food to get messy again 🤣

Also he had his dinner at like 5.30 then he goes to bed at 7. Is that not too soon to eat again?

Given he's not tiny, and can (and should be) dubbing water during the day, him having it watered down isn't a problem, and water toxity not an issue.

But as a warning, we weaned our firstborn off her night bottle by watering it down, at about 15m. It didn't help her sleep through, all it meant was rather than waking, taking milk and then back to sleep, she was awake for 1-3 hours!

Eventually she went back quicker (but still far longer than her older feeds took), but she still didn't start even occasionally sleeping through until 3, and is only 50-50 at best at 4.