9 month old weaning trouble

[missmom]

Hi Guys,

so I've got a whole mess of feeding problems right now.  My son is almost 10 months old now and I have yet to drop his night feeds.  I know I should have, but he had so many sleeping problems I kept putting it off. Now for the past few weeks he pretty much completely off his pureed food and I'm not sure he's eating enough finger food, but because he's still getting 6 breastfeeds a day I don't think he's very motivated to eat solids.

I'm not sure how to use Tracy's method to give him extra food during the day before reducing at night since he's solely breastfeed.  I'm never sure how much he's getting and I haven't really been able to get him to take more during the day.  The past few days I've been trying to reduce his night feeding time to under 5 minutes to help ease him off, but he's VERY unhappy about the situation. He's waking up every hour and a half and throwing a real fit when I take him off the breast or try to delay feeding him even a few minutes.  Last night he woke up at 12:30 and wanted to feed.  He threw a fit until 2 when it was his feeding time! It was miserable for all of us.  Any ideas on how to make the night weaning a little?

[Erin M]

I think when you're night weaning, you're going to have to face the fact that it's generally going to be very unpleasant for a few days.  Most moms who have dropped (or reduced) night feeds with their LOs have suffered through several rough nights before it gets better.  Generally, most people find it easier to soothe their LOs back to sleep by any means necessary -- and the key is NOT feeding until he goes back to sleep -- even if it's only for 5 minutes -- otherwise you're really only teaching him that if he cries for long enough, he will eventually get fed.

That being said, do you do a dream feed at all?  Honestly, my ds had both the dream feed and a night feed at 9 months, dd2 had a night feed, only dd1 was without night feeds completely at this age. 

Also, if he's off his solids, could be something else at play there -- maybe some teeth or other discomfort?

[Fiver]

I have yet to drop his night feeds.  I know I should have

There is no 'should'. Do what you feel is best for your little guy.  My DD was still having NFs at least up to her first birthday.  Yes, it's tiring, but they're only small for a short time.

Also, as Erin said, if he's off solids, he might be needing that milk to keep him going through whatever might be troubling him.  Breastmilk is more than just food, after all.