Why have night feeds increased now we're weaning?

[Timtam73]

i know many have it much worse but since we've started weaning, night feeds have increased! He used to go 7pm till at least 3am have one feed and then sleep till 7.30am - great. However since weaning we're up to two night feeds, which can be between 11-12am and then again around 4-5am. He's not massively fussed on food but has gone off milk in the day so think he's actually filling up less in the day and therefore taking more in the night. I was happy with one feed a night but two is definitely tedious!

Can someone give me ideas or hope that this will change in due course?

Also cannot work out best times to do food/milk through the day to get as much as possible into him! Should I try a hungry baby milk at bedtime feed? When i've done later food (after 5pm) he then doesn't take bedtime milk feed (6.45pm).

Any bright ideas would be much appreciated! He's about 28 weeks now and we've been weaning for about four weeks - he's not keen on purees but likes finger food (although not much is actually eaten at the mo he does have a good go!)

Thank you!

How many daytime feeds is he having and when?

You could be filling him up on solids which are less calorific than milk so he wakes in the night. Eg if you ate a load of rice cakes you'd be hungry later compared to eating a load of cheese.

Also there's a growth spurt around now which doesn't help!

With DS I gave a feed first then solids - the early weeks are about taste and texture. Then increased amounts slowly and by 9 months he started dropping a feed for a meal instead. Once properly established on protein then you can drop feeds but bs careful not to give too much protein in a meal - need a good balance of carbs otherwise it can make them hungry later (think Atkins which is designed to make you lose weight by having more protein).

I found the gina ford book really helpful as she outlined proportions of carbs/proteins etc as I was giving too much protein! DS did nuch better when I had smaller protein portions and bigger carb. I think babies only need small amounts - 50g a day? When you measure it out it's not much, because milk still provides some too. Even toddlers don't need masses!

Also you can probably mush his food instead of purée. And give foods like bits of chicken/lamb burgers, chips etc that he can pick up with his hands. The chunks should be fist sized or so - not too small so he chokes but not too big either. And quite soft and mushy. Roast chicken is always a winner!

I was going to suggest offering milk before you get the food out, but igloo said it first.

Thank you for the suggestions, going to take a few ideas on board, plus planning on changing towards more finger foods as he really enjoys those - much more than purees.

Much appreciate the help!