My DS still wakes up for night feeds inspite of weaning

[Ash80]

Hello, I was just wondering that if my ds has a rusk soaked in milk at 7pm then a bottle at 9pm is it normal for him to still be hunry at 1.30am! and then 5am!

Also how does everyone feel regarding rusks as there is some research suggesting that it shouldn't be introduced until baby is 6 month cause of the gluten. My ds is 21 weeks and the doctor and health visitor both had suggested i introduced solids as he is a big baby and was not getting full on milk.

it would maybe be better to just give more milk, rather than rusks.

I'm ambivalent about early weaning but I would strongly suggest holding off on gluten. You can get gluten-free rusks if you feel you do want to give rusks. Trust me, a few more weeks of milk only is a much better option than a (potential) life of wheat intolerance. I know it's very far from being that cut and dried (my dh and I were both weaned at 4 months, both had rusks - he's wheat intolerant, I'm not, so go figure).

I'm afraid it is perfectly normal for him to be hungry in the night, grim though it is.

Aside from what's already been mentioned, aren't most rusks packed with sugar and/or salt? Wouldn't be my first choice of weaning food.

Mine's 10 months, eats like a horse, and still doesn't bloody sleep

Complete myth that weaning stops babies waking at night!

Perhaps he just needs the extra milk?

I think we assume babies should sleep through the night from a certain age, and if they don't then we need to change how we feed them. But perhaps we should just give them the night feeds (and I do know how hard it is and I don't sy I enjoyed it) rather than fillling them up with other things. Particularly as you have tried that.

My dd was big (99th centile) and was exclusively bf for just over 6 months. SHe did increase her nightime feeds at about 4 months, and I just went with it. It slowed down again after a bit, and she continued to pile on thepounds without any problems.

is he just having rusks or other foods as well?

Gosh, sorry. That comes over badly. I'm not having a go at all. I gave my ds baby rice at 4 months according to the then guidelines, but found life so much easier with dd, despite the night feed. If you want to carry on withthe solids, I think baby rice or fruit purees might be better than rusk.

"big babies" don't necessarily need weaning and it certainly doesn't help with night time waking

We started weaning ds at 4 months, but it took until he was about 6.5 months for him to start sleeping through the night...

Believe me - weaning/size and everything else doesn't affect sleeping through.

DD - weaned at 15 weeks... slept through from 12 weeks... medium - large baby.

DS - weaned at 24 weeks (ish)... teeny tiny baby... never f*ckin sleeps

Neither of my babies slept through at that age. Ds not till 2yrs and dd still has milk now at 17m!!!

I don't think that introducing solids is a guaranteed way to achieve unbroken night sleeping unfortunatly. It worked for some of my friends babies but not many.
I also think you would be better off with gluten free rusks untill 6 months ,if you want to stick with rusks, or try other purees.

Definitely agree to keep off the gluten - I have coeliac and it is such a pain...

Have you considered weaning off night feeds? (This has nothing to do with introducing solids. Basically you give 1 fl oz less per feed during the night, and they gradually compensate by eating more in the day). We did this with DS and it has changed our lives - it's in 'The Good Sleep Guide' by Angela Henderson - you'll need to read that as there is much more detail than I can post here.

Thanks fro your replies,

dizzybint- he also has smooth pureed fruit or vegetables once in the late morning.the rest of the day he has bottles.

Hold off if you can..its so much easier!!
I agree about introducing gluten slowly.
How big a baby is he? I am afraid its just more feeding really. Is he filling up on his milk feeds?

Auntymandy- he drinks 6-7 ounces of milk every two hours. I had tried spacing them out or giving a little water instead like the health visitor suggested, but he just wants milk

I'll keep at it,and definietly stop the gluten rusks.Probably give him pureed fruit or babay rice in the evening instead.

I would give him baby rice in the evening to fill him up a bit more overnight. That is what we did with our ds and it did improve his sleeping, although (as I said earlier) he didn't sleep through for a while. The whole aim of the game was to get as much baby rice as possible into him!! I used to mix a bit of pear puree into it to stop him getting constipation.

Interesting to read about other experiences of weaning. It is a bit of a minefield. How much to give and how to split up milk and meal feeds. I weaned DD at 5 months as she was salivating and opening her month in anticipation whilst we ate our meals. I thought (erroneously) that she would sleep better (had started waking more frequently after sleeping through with a dream feed) and drop her evening feeds but she ended up feeding at 11 and 3am.!! She still doesn't sleep through regularly and doesn't take her "quota" of milk. I'm now trying the weaker and less amount of night time feed. .

My DS eats very well in the day, and still wakes at least twice.

If only the urban legend were true!

Sorry you've been misled by dr and hv ! Can you go back to them and tell them it doesn't work, otherwise they'll just go on advising other mums the same assuming it does .

Yes i think i will inform my doc and hv.

It been quite enlightning to hear from all the mums about weaning and night feeds. Definetly feel better and no im not alone in this. So im all geared for many more night feeds to come