Night feed

[sianie]

Hi...hope this is the right place to post this?

DS is 7 mo & is big for his age (over 20lbs), he has been on solids for 6 wks & has 3 meals a day & still has 4 milk feeds during the day & 1 at night.

He has never not had a night feed, tho as he's got older and able to sleep for longer stretches, the night feed has been pushed later & later so currently he usually wakes between 4am-5am. Waking does seem to be hunger driven as he takes a full feed & he does go back to sleep after this, he just can't seem to get past 5am without needing a feed.

Any thoughts? 

[Seona1973]

From around 6 months I started offering progressively less in the night feed and by 8 months we managed to drop the feed completely. I just offered an ounce less every couple of weeks until we got to the stage that he stopped waking for it.

[sianie]

Hi, I've tried that but he is still hungry & gets really upset?!

[*Liz*]

Have you tried slowly diluting the feed?

How big are the bottles during the day?

[sianie]

He has been having between 7-8oz's per feed (he's always been a hungry LO!), tho this amount is starting to drop now he's on solids (probably taking 5oz's or so).

Haven't tried diluting the feeds yet, just tried reducing the amount.

DS has never been the best sleeper (reflux since birth which is now a lot better & under control with meds).......but we have seen a big difference since we weaned him off his dummy a month ago.

Do you think it's likely that he is still hungry at night (I know some LO's can have night feeds up to 12 mths) or that it's more of a habitual waking? I'm finding it hard to tell, 'tho if it was habit rather than hunger then he would be waking more or less at the same time & not be that interested in feeding right? He can easily take 7ozs when we feed him at night. 

[*Liz*]

Reflux is something I do understand  . Plenty of BTDT experience with my DS - and he isn't the best sleeper either  .

What I think is that he is hungry - but only because he is used to eating at that time and has spaced his calories over the 24 hr period rather than concentrating them in the normal 12 hour daytime period. It probably is a bit of a hangover from his reflux days really - but a LO weighing 20lb and eating well during the day really doesn't need a night feed.

I would go ahead and start diluting that feed. I did it many times with my DS (after his reflux flared and the night feed came back). You can go as slow as you feel comfortable with. But start with 7oz of water and 6 scoops of powder. That way you have reduced the calries and hopefully can add those on during the day next time. I used to reduce every 3 days or so.

See how this method goes. I found DS didn't bother about a taste difference until it was less than 50% formula - and by then he was less hungry for it anyway.

Some LOs do feed in the night for longer - but they are usually eBF.

What do you think?

[sianie]

Thanks Liz, what you've said makes total sense!

Although his reflux is a lot better, it does still bother him, but it is more like silent reflux now.

Ok, will start diluting feeds from tonight....do I stick with the 7oz's of water and then just cut the formula back by a scoop every few days (so the water amount stays the same?)....

Thanks again. 

[*Liz*]

Yes I would reduce every 3 days but slow down if you start getting issues.

Let us know how you go.

[sianie]

Will start diluting from tonight.....will keep you posted!