When do you pull the plug on night feeds??

[sensfan]

Going a little crazy right now and just need some advice DD is almost 6.5 months old, and still feeding at night. What's so frustrating about this is at 5 months, I thought the end was in sight. We had an 8 day stretch where she STTN 4 times, and I thought she was finally getting there. Then she got a nasty cold, and it threw her whole EASY off. Even now that she's feeling better, we haven't gotten to the consistency she had before. When she didn't STTN, she was at least sleeping until between 4:30-5:30. Now I'm luck if she lasts until 4:00 (I try not to feed before then and just settle her again, with mixed results. I'm worried about becoming a prop, because she does always fall back asleep on the breast. Is there at time when you just say that enough is enough? Also, looking back at what DS did, we started weaning him from the DF around 7.5 months. Can I even THINK about that with DD if she's still waking for night feeds?

[~*Nicole*~]

Just my personal opinion, but if she went a stretch on her own without waking for 8 nights, then I feel as though she doesn't nutritionally NEED those feeds and can survive just fine on the calories she takes in during the day. Often BF babies will still need to feed overnight to an older age than their formula fed counterparts, but they wouldn't have a period of STTN on their own for that long if that is the case. Seeing as she has done it....on her own.....it sounds quite like the fact that she is back to waking and needing to feed to get back to sleep that it may already be a prop.

For what it's worth, I didn't know much about the difference between nursing babies and formula fed babies and DD's ped told me to stop her night feeds at her 4 month checkup. I asked skeptically if he really meant that she should be able to go from 7:00pm to 7:00am without a feeding and he told me absolutely. She was a great weight and had no other issues so he felt I should be the one to wean her off those feeds. It only took about 4 nights total. Each night, I used the paci to resettle her and she woke less and less until she didn't wake anymore.

[~ Vik ~]

Hi and (((hugs))) That broken sleep can be so tiring!

Have you read the FAQ http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=98183.0 ? Ebf babies do tend to sleep through later than formula fed babies. Breastmilk is far more easily digested and leaves their tummies empty sooner.  Also, night feeds can come and go, due to growth spurts especially, but also an off day feeding, maybe even a day of low er milk production (AF, poor sleep, too rushed and didn't eat, etc). With breastfed babies it's not as easy as knowing hiw many oz they've taken from a bottle, you have to trust cues a lot too. Also, from what I read your lo had 4 days of sleeping through in 8, not 8 straight right?  When he wakes does he take a full feed?

I never actively dropped a night feed except the dream feed. I am of the mind that STTN is a milestone just like walking, sitting up, or any other one, that babies reach when they are ready. I wanted to wait until solids were well established (3 good meals/day) especially, because I knew that with breastmilk his tummy was empty within a couple of hours. He dropped his feeds and started STTN all on his own.

That doesn't mean that I fed every single time he woke up - there are many reasons babies wake! Teething, too hot or cold, gas, etc. Here's a link from kellymom with gentle methods to encourage fewer nursing sessions at night: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/weaning/weaning-night.html  The key for me was to take care of all the other reasons that Dylan could be waking, so that I knew when it was hunger. That, and using bw to help teach independent sleep, led Dylan to STTN all on his own

Hth

[sensfan]

Sorry if I was less than clear, I'm a little muddled today...she was up for 3 hellish hours last night (not the norm, so idea what was up, but praying I don't get a repeat tonight.) She slept through the night once only at 3 months, then at 5 months it was every other night over 8 days, not 8 days straight. Then the cold hit, and I'm sure she wasn't eating well all day. Poor thing was so stuffed up! So that threw everything out of whack.

More often than not, she would wake up once a night, feed, and go back to sleep. Her hungry cues are really hard to read. She's so laid back that I think she'd have to literally be starving before she really let me know. It seems like she takes a full feed when I give it to her, which is part of the reason I haven't tried to not feed her, but who really knows? Last night is probably the one time I know she didn't eat well, but she went back to sleep anyways. It was horrible, up at 1:30, kept trying to settle, she'd doze for maybe 15 min until whoever was taking their turn tried to leave the room, and then she was up again. Finally gave in and tried feeding her around 3:50, but I know she didn't swallow much at all. Put her back down after 25 min or so and she slept until 7:30.

Not sure about settling with the paci...wouldn't I just be switching one prop for another? We've never really used it for sleeping since DS had MAJOR paci issues (waking every hour for it), so we just didn't go down that road with DD. Whenever she's woken before 4:00, I've never really been able to get her to settle for long without feeding though.

Of course, it doesn't help that I haven't been able to wean from the domperidone, so I kind of always default to hunger and worrying about how much she eats. I read through the kellymom advice and I see she recommends trying to feed more often during the day. I haven't always been very successful with this (again, very laid back child!). I was tanking up after the catnap, feeding around 6:00 and then again at 7:30, but she didn't ever really take much from me at 7:30 and I would just end up increasing the supplement of EBM that I would give her at this time. I stopped a few weeks ago, thinking she'd end up taking a bigger feed at bedtime and it would balance out. If I went back to trying to feed more often, wouldn't she just end up doing a lot of snacking?

Sorry if this has gone on for a bit, just finding the whole breastfeeding thing really difficult and confusing this time around. Things with DS were so easy...DD has really thrown me for a loop. Appreciate any advice or insights!

[~*Nicole*~]

I apologize for having read that incorrectly the first time through!

[~ Vik ~]

Ugh, sorry for that hideous nw!  I can remember having ones like that with Dylan when he was teething and it was awful   We would try everything to get him to settle, including taking him for a drive at 2am when nothing else worked   (((hugs))) and hoping for a better night for you tonight.

More often than not, she would wake up once a night, feed, and go back to sleep.

At this age, to me, this is totally normal and nothing to worry about.  Especially if she's waking in the wee hours of the morning  

If I went back to trying to feed more often, wouldn't she just end up doing a lot of snacking?

I agree with you there - I think that feeding more frequently is better advice with younger los TBH - but there's nothing wrong with feeding a bit more frequently in the evening.  Our milk supplies are naturally at their lowest then, and feeding a bit more frequently shouldn't cause a snacking problem.  When you gave the supplement of EBM, did you pump at that time at all?  When you stopped, did you wean it gradually or did you stop cold turkey?  How long ago did you stop it?

[sensfan]

Nicole: No worries

Vikki: I've had to supplement from the beginning, so I was pumping like crazy at the beginning. Once I went on domperidone things stabilized a little. I've been able to wean all supplements except for that bedtime one...she's always just so fussy for that one! I give the breast first, and then depending on how well I think she's fed I'll adjust the amount of EBM I give her. I do pump between then and the DF, which we've given as a bottle from about 2 months on.

Last 2 nights have actually been a lot better, not waking to eat until after 5.

So just thinking ahead, but if she's still feeding at night in the next month or two, would I still go ahead and wean the DF?

[~ Vik ~]

I did! I weaned when Dylan was still doing a wee hours of the morning feed, just did it slowly. Didn't really have any troubles! If anything it brought the one feed forward a bit (so instead of waking at 5 it would be closer to 4 for example) but that was it