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Original poster

does an 11 month old really need a night feed?

19 replies

megandtyler · 18/03/2009 10:55

my 11 month ds has been waking at about 2 and dh gets up gives him a bottle 45 mins later everyone is asleep.
I don't think that he should have milk as he then won't drink much milk in the morning but it took me 2 hours to get him to settle without milk last night!
Dh thinks that as it is not every night feeding him is fine but i think we are getting ds in another bad habit as he has to be lightly swaddelled and cuddled to sleep.
has anyone else had an experience like this ?

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Original poster
megandtyler · 18/03/2009 16:50

bump

OP posts:
CoteDAzur · 18/03/2009 16:54

An 11 month old doesn't need a night feed. He can easily have the habit of a night feed, though.

Stop night feeds. You will have a few hard nights and then the habit of feeding in the night will disappear and he will sleep through. Better all around for everyone.

Lawks · 18/03/2009 16:56

My 11 month old has 2 feeds a night usually. They're babies for such a short time. I tend not to worry about bad habits. Everything is a phase.

giantkatestacks · 18/03/2009 16:57

Agree with cote - you could either stop immediately and do the cuddling and it wont take very long or you can cut it down by x amount each night until you are down to a tiny amount at which point you can just go in and shh/pat etc.

If its the same time each night then I would say it was def habit...

Lawks · 18/03/2009 17:17

If you do stop, I think it's a good idea to offer water as an alternative. Lots of people can't get through the night without a drink. He'll probably get thirsty if he's crying too.

MerlinsBeard · 18/03/2009 17:20

my 1 year old DOES need a feed at night. he wakes at 11 which is a habit one i admit but will wake AGAIN and he definatly needs it as it's drained in seconds, he lobs his bottle out of the cot and then settles to sleep.

jammietart · 18/03/2009 17:27

I doubt he needs it from a nutrition/hunger point of view but he might need it for comfort but whether he has it or not is down to you I think. Maybe as you didn't give him milk last night and dealt with the fallout from that you should carry on in the hope that tonight will take less time to settle him and in a few nights he won't wake at all?

ten10 · 18/03/2009 17:50

My Ds stopped having a milk feed during the night at approx 6mths,
about the time he was on three meals a day,

he no longer needed it, but did then get a very big feed around 6am.

if he did wake during the night then I gave him a drink of water from his cup.
it took about a week for him to get fully used to this arrangement, but once he did this routine has never been broken.

So I suppose my answer is that no your 11mth old doesn't 'really' need a night feed, but it just depends on if you want it to stop as it is unlikely that he will give it up on his own because it is a habit where he has never known any different.

CoteDAzur · 18/03/2009 19:25

mumofmonsters - I don't doubt that your 1 yr old drinks his night milk in seconds, but that only shows that he is used to drinking milk in the night at around that time - i.e. habit.

If you stop giving him milk in the night, he will get used to a new rhythm in a few days - he will eat food & drink milk a bit more in the day, especially at dinner and breakfast. And he will sleep through the night without waking up for a bottle of milk.

At 1 yr, you must know at some level that there is no physical reason for nourishment in the night.

Lawks · 18/03/2009 19:57

Physical reasons for nourishment is not the only reason to feed a baby at night.

Original poster
megandtyler · 18/03/2009 20:07

thanks everyone
I knew i was doing the right thing but it's so easy to give in to what's easiest right now.just need to convince dh now!

OP posts:
CoteDAzur · 18/03/2009 20:13

A 1 year old is not a baby. He is a toddler.

Thread title asks if OP's 11 month old "really needs a feed in the night" or not. That sounds to me like she is asking whether or not there is a physical need.

Besides, if you know he doesn't physically need the night feed, why exactly would you want to substitute food for a psychological need?

CoteDAzur · 18/03/2009 20:15

megandtyler - Short term pain for long term gain. It's worth it.

Good luck for tonight.

Original poster
megandtyler · 19/03/2009 06:56

he slept thru til 6.30 bless him

OP posts:
CoteDAzur · 20/03/2009 10:09

Congratulations and well done to your DS!

Original poster
megandtyler · 20/03/2009 16:28

rough night last night ds woke up at 1.15 dh got up with him.He only gave him water but after an hour and a half i took over and got him to sleep 15 mins later.so a 15 minute improvement and if dh was a bit more "cuddley" it could have gone smoother but a great effort by dh.Bless him

ds drank all his milk and ate all his breakfast so a definate improvement there

OP posts:
CoteDAzur · 20/03/2009 19:18

It will be OK. Drinking/eating more in the morning means he is adjusting to the new feeding rhythm.

Dottoressa · 20/03/2009 19:18

No!

Dottoressa · 20/03/2009 19:19

SOrry - I replied to the wrong thread here

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