Hellobee Boards

We nurse through the night any time P wakes (17 mths)... I say just nurse her (not an option so I didn't vote)

We're going through this at 8 months. I think I've finally just decided to nurse him when he wakes. Resisting was just upsetting everyone in the middle of the night, and I ended up caving anyway. I'm hoping that it will work itself out. Wishful thinking I'm sure.

I voted to feed her when she wakes if she seems hungry, but that is mostly because that is what I do right now. LO doesn't have consistent waking times, but usually wakes 1-2x per night as well. I usually just feed her because it is 1) easier/faster than trying to put her down again without and 2) I worry sometimes that she didn't eat enough during the day (she is easily distracted). Course, this is probably a bad cycle because if she expects those calories at night, eating during the day could be less important....

That seems like a lot of food to me... my ped once said that they should be getting 28-32 oz (of BM or formula) a day. Are you sure your LO is actually drinking that much at daycare, or is that how much they're giving her in the bottles (and maybe she leaves some)? If she is getting that much food, you may want to night wean. Maybe ask your ped how much milk they think babies should have at that age, to see if you're meeting or exceeding their targets?

Such a personal choice. When I was working, I read several anecdotal accounts of working moms who breastfed having their babies wake "frequently" to nuse in the night, and they suggested that the babies were using it as a way to reconnect. Some kids also reverse-cycle. My gut says that it's not about food, but about something else, in your case. I'd say take starving her or leaving her hungry out of the equation and make your decision based on that. You can always re-evaluate after a night or two if you start to feel that her waking is really due to needing more nutrition. I'm super relaxed about night nursing myself. I never night-weaned Ellie and don't plan to with Lorelei. But that isn't for everyone.

I still feed A whenever she wakes on a night but as pps have said, it isn't for everyone. If she nurses eagerly and cries if you don't feed her then I would feed her. Sorry, I know it sucks when you're tired

I think she is probably waking up out of habit, and also babies have a strong shift in their sleep cycle around 4am so many babies wake up at that time.

But it depends on how much you want to get rid of those feedings. Olive was still waking up at 9 months and I nursed her every time until 16 months when I sleep trained once and for all (I would have done it sooner but she was sick the entire winter). But with Charlie, we sleep trained at 4 1/2 months and he dropped all his middle of the night feedings and never woke up again until 12 months when he had a regression from traveling and sickness. I felt more comfortable sleep training Charlie earlier because he was a big 90% baby, whereas Olive was a preemie.

It is a personal decision. Many babies go on to drop their middle of the night feedings on their own around the 1 year mark. Some (like Olive) do not.

You could try offering water instead?

I think with the amount of milk and food she's eating in the daytime the nightwakings are out of habit too. My son did the same thing and I night weaned. It was a combination of gradually reducing each night feeding and a bit of Ferber CIO. If she's that high in the percentiles, she's getting a lot of extra calories with the night feedings and may not need them anyways.

BTW my son was similar to your LO and ate three 8 oz bottles at daycare too!

Personally, considering you know how much she's eating during the day, I would try to get it down to 1 night waking, and only feed at 1 waking at first. That's where we're at right now at almost 11 months (and honestly I don't even think he needs it, but I'm too scared to sleep train for it). What time does she go to bed? If she wakes before 3 or 4, I would not feed. And then once she's consistently sleeping at least til 3, you can decide whether to tackle that feeding. I keep hoping my LO will drop it on his own!

@78h2o: @MaisyMay: my LO is also 99% in height, used to STTN, and now is waking once or twice between 1am and 4am.
I am so.tired.

He is FF and when he wakes, he eagerly drinks but then Falls asleep in my bed.

I have tried mild CIO (not a fan as a rule) but he just stands in his crib and cries.

I'm going to try @scg00387 s suggestion