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Weaning

Find weaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Weaning forum. Use our child development calendar for more information.

Original poster

Early weaning to stop night feeds?

8 replies

estya · 28/01/2011 16:13

My Lo is only 11 weeks, so I haven't really started to investigate weaning yet. However in the last few weeks I have met 3 mums who have started giving their under 4 month olds baby rice because "they don't sleep through the night without needing a feed".

I was very Hmm after chatting to the first mother about it. I am BFing on demand and wouldn't expect her to go through the night in the next few weeks. I know its more inconvenient when bottle feeding but I thought night feeds were part of the course with a baby in the house.
But now I've met 2 more people doing this, I'm wondering if I am being naive.

What is other people's experience/views?

OP posts:
MoonUnitAlpha · 28/01/2011 16:17

I have an almost 6 month old on 3 meals a day and he just about doess 11-6, and is quite typical of my friends both bf and ff. Expecting some wallpaper paste to make a 4 month old sleep through is a bit ambitious!

Flisspaps · 28/01/2011 16:17

Night feeds generally are par for the course with babies.

DD is 10mo and is still having night feeds. Clearly, she is weaned. It isn't guaranteed to make any difference to your baby waking up at night.

indigobarbie · 29/01/2011 21:26

IME it does not make a bit of difference. In fact, for a few nights I believed it worked, but really they wake up thirsty/hungry and milk is what they need. My ds is 11mo and sometimes wakes in the night for feeds.

Cosmosis · 30/01/2011 13:59

I often wake in the night for a drink and I've been eating solids for a long long time now!

Tigresswoods · 30/01/2011 19:19

Weaning early to stop night feeds: Laugh out loud

Tigresswoods · 30/01/2011 19:20

Oh and to point out, I tried this. Wrong wrong wrong.

hildainstant · 30/01/2011 20:25

Well, I've had a different experience - I've started weaning my LO this week (puree's) and by giving him a lunch of puree's veg he's slept much more soundly and goes from 6-7pm right through to 7am.

Now, I'm not so naive to think that this could be a fluke/coincidence or that it'll all change again any night now just like indigobarbie BUT, although this wasn't the reason for weaning it's had a benefit side effect!

My LO is quite a biggun though, on the 95th percentile and 21 weeks so takes quite a bit of hungry baby mile during the day too to satisfy him!

I wouldn't, however, recommend weaning just to try to get a better nights' sleep - but if your LO is ready, go for it, just don't expect it'll affect sleep. IME whatever I hope for never happens anyway where my LO is concerned, he just does it all by himself!

indigobarbie · 31/01/2011 21:57

Hey Hilda, I know what you mean. My LO was born at the ninety-somethingth percentile, he was a big baby at 10lbs 1, and midwives were telling me I was starving him by breastfeeding Shock

It's always a case of try something and see what suits, but I think I had him on a wee puree at around 5 months, he was taking a lot of milk during the day. He hasn't refused any food yet, but these days most of it ends up on the floor!!!!

I am actually relishing a wee night feed cuddle at the moment, as they say - they are not babies for long x

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