Cutting out night feeding, should we give water,cuddles, what do you think???

[pevie]

We're finally deciding to try and cut out night feeding as she is now getting up more and more and it also causes her wind so doesnt help her to sleep. She takes a good diet in day so dont think she physically needs it. My question to you is how to handle it when she wakes. am going to send in DH so she doesnt expect a feed. Will we pick her up for brief time and offer her boiled water or just pick her up and cuddle or keep in cot and reassure. We are thinking of cuddling and offering little drink but problem is she can get really upset when DH picks her up.. So maybe just get him to pick her up briefly and put back down just so she knows we're still there. What do you think?

How old is she?

Forgot to say. she is 8 months. I would have waited another month or so but really think that the wind is causing her severe discomfort so HV thinks this is only way to go.

We always have water on hand at night because sometimes they do get thirsty. No harm in offering water - if she's thirsty she'll drink it, and if she's furiously offended by the thought of water she'll be sure to let you know!

Is she waking out of habit or because she's actually hungry? ( it really wasn't that long ago but I've forgotten if dd still had night feeds at 8 months.)

Think its habit brocollispears!!! She eats 3 meals in day with fruit after and also now giving her finger foods in between ,so think from what I can gather they shouldn't really need night feeding. My DD1 stopped night feeding in middle of night at about 3 or 4 months although kept up dream feed till about 6 or 7 mnths till solids established. So am assuming on advice of hv, ETC if solids well established they shouldnt need fed.

offer water - she probably won't like it and will let you know but stick with it - will be worth it in the end!

Thanks pinkteddy!!! When did your babies stop feeding in night???? Someone on other thread has said 8 mths still need feeding although both my Hv and most things I've read say they shouldnt really unless they're not eating that well in day.

My dd was still waking several times a night at 8 months - just a quick bf and back to bed. However I wanted to give up the night feeds and was comfortable that she was capable of taking enough calories during the day.

Our plan was that dh would offer her a slightly diluted bottle of formula (eg 6 scoops in 8oz) so that she didn't have to suddenly cope with the loss of feeds and that each night we would weaken it further until she was down to just water. Theory being that she could then gradually up her daytime calories as needed.

However she point blank refused the bottle. On the first night dh spent about 1.5hrs at 11ish and another 1.5hrs at about 4am cuddling her. The only time she got really upset was when we tried offering her the bottle. The next night she still woke twice but only one waking was 1.5hrs the other was only 1/2hr. Ditto the next couple of nights. The next few nights she only woke once. And within a fortnight at most she was sleeping through.

HTH.

Thanks, it helps to have reassurance about that. Not sure if my Lo will settle with DH but we plan to give her quick cuddle and put her back down anyway so hopefully she will learn to settle eventually!!???? So nervous about it but will definately keep everyone posted on progress.

Baby slept through from 9 weks. suddenly at four months waking at 3, 4, or 5 am once a night. Tried ignoring and giving water- worked once or twice but i think she's hungry. last night or two given some formula. Am weaning her and have upped solids to twice a day- still waking- is o=it habit do you think. Als still in with us, are we waking her if we need loo in night?

cholom 4 months can be a bugger of an age. this happened with my DD1 and upping solids doesnt really help. We just comforted and changed dream feed to a bottle so we knew how much she was getting and she did settle down again. This often happens with babies who dont have problems go through unsettled periods. DD2 totally different story but she has all sorts of sleep issues so she was never settled anyway, hence our current predicament.

Just to let you know it went really badly as she was up for over 3 hours screaming. DH cuddled her and went out the room which I think may have been too much so maybe he has to keep cuddling her till she goes back to sleep. What do you think?

We're trying the same thing with our DD at the mo. She is 7 months old. We've said that she will have a dream feed then if she wants to be fed after 4am, she can have a feed. If she wakes before then, she can have cuddles and water or her head stroked. Well, the first night went fantastically or so we thought. It turns out that DD was ill as we both woke up with flu. After abandoning our attempts as I couldn't stand the thought of her not having milk while she was ill, we tried again last night. After 45 minutes of water and cuddles I gave in and fed her even though it was only another 20 minutes until 4am. I was so tired and I hated the fact that DH was being kept awake when he had to go to work today. Am I being far to soft? Do I need to persist more or do you think there is something else that I could do?

Pevie - I would continue to cuddle or at the very least stay in the room and gently rub her back or tummy. If you leave you may as well do CC - up to you though what your thoughts are on that (don't want to open up that can of worms on this thread).

Swaliswan - I think you are being too soft. However you do need to pick a time when you are ready for it. So I would wait until everyone is over the flu. Whenever we have embarked on anything we have always started on a Thurs night - that way dh only has to survive one day of work on a reduced nights sleep, then at the weekend whoever is on the night shift can catch up on their kip during the day, by the Sunday night you have usually broken the back of it and seen enough progress to give you the inspiration to continue knowing that soon you won't be having to get up at all at night.

thanks for advice pevie. Baby is no 2 and a dream compared to sleep habits of baby 1, so has taken me by surprise. perhaps a little too complacent alreadfy!! She slept throiugh the following night, but woke at five am today. Gurgled a while and thn i fed her at 5.30, oly half hour before the day begins for a lot of people so i can't complain!! Thanks for advice.