9,5 mo - how and should I stop NF?

[werwer1234]

Dear Ladies!

My 9,5 mo LO is an IS (which wasn't easy, but managed thanks to your help!). He's been sleeping for 11h with 1 NF since he was 6-7 mo. Lately, he has learned how to crawl, pull up in a crib and stand. It happened almost within a week. Suddenly, he would roll over and crawl not only before falling asleep but also during the night. He's also teething, but that never affected him much...

Our schedule is like that:
WU 5.30 - I find him crawling or standing in a crib
E 6:30
S 9:00 - 10:30 - he's sleeping in his baby pram (which is something normal here in Scandinavia and he will be sleeping there also in daycare...)
Lunch 11:00
S 14:00 - 15:30 or 14:30 - 15:00 (he started to fight the second nap, so when he finally falls asleep, it's already 14:30 and then he sleeps for 30 min)
BT 19:00 - we fight a bit, I put him down, he thinks it's a game, so at the end I stay with him and sometimes hold him to prevent rolling over... Usually he falls asleep 19:20. Yesterday at 19:04! Sometimes as late as 19:45 (then he wakes up at 5:00...)
NW: 21:30 (crying on his tommy, although yesterday he didn't roll over but woke up anyway... I can't lay him down without feeding, but I give him less concentrated milk with 3 scoops instead of 6)
NF: between 00:00 and 4:00 am (I know, that he's hungry cause he wakes up lying and calling for me, he's not on his tommy)
WU 5:30

So my question is:
Should I stop feeing him at night? He's a big boy and definitely eats well during the day (he's a bit fussy, I suspect, that he thinks, it got boring ). He's not a biggest fan of milk dough... but drinks the whole bottle at night - 200ml
If I give him diluted milk, he takes 80ml to 100ml and falls asleep, so I know, that he is not hungry at that point... but should I push him to STTN without feeding or will he start when he'll be ready by his own?

I would really appreciate your help... I need a plan or at least an advice

[*Kara*]

If his night feed is at a random time during the night and he resettles after it (but won't if you do not feed), I would leave it be for now.

Alternatively -

You could try offering less and less each night also.  I am not a fan of the diluted milk method as there are some kids who just want the full feeling and are fine with it being watered down... so I would start with only offering a half feed of just 3 scoops (whatever amount of water is needed for a normal feed, not diluted)... after a couple of nights, reduce to 2 scoops... then after a week of so, reduce to one scoop.  (none of feeds should be over diluted).

What do you think?

[werwer1234]

Thanks! I wanted to try reducing the amount, but... he stopped waking up more than once I gave him the diluted milk only two or three times during 3 nights, so I'm not sure if it did work or was it coincidence (I also gave him normal milk around 00:00 when I was pretty sure, that he was hungry). Last night he actually didn't wake up at all (I mean, he woke up but didn't call for me and went back to sleep). I guess, that it also could be a phase where he was sleeping badly because of the milestones (mainly crawling, which disturbed his sleep most). I still find him standing in his crib in the mornings but he's at least not doing it at night!

Our LO has always had his own meaning and I suppose, that he decided, that there is no need to get up only to get a poor quality milk or water but I could be wrong! Let's see the next night...

My biggest dilemma was if it's not too early to stop NF... when do LOs usually stop eating at night?

[*Kara*]

LOs can really vary with dropping night feeds... some BF babies will keep them until close to a year... while some formula babies will drop really early... it all depends on the kid.

Personally, mine self-weaned her last night feed for good at 19 weeks.  She moved to a single NF at 8 weeks and only had 2 night feeds from birth-8 weeks.  I never did cluster or dreamfeed.

[werwer1234]

Thanks!  I wish I could write the same... but last night was as before, 21:30 and 4:30... He slept until 6:00 but I had to help him twice to roll back from belly...

I was wondering if I won't create a snacker, if I start giving him less amount of milk every time he wakes up... Sometimes he wakes up just because he was uncomfortable in a cribs corner. The problem is, that he won't go back to sleep without a feed (or diluted milk). I always start with water in such case, but not always it helps... It's been a problem since he became so mobile. Before that he wouldn't wake up if not hungry.

[*Kara*]

If he can sleep through.. I wouldn't offer milk during the night.  Offer water instead... you might have a few tough nights but he will figure out that waking in the night isn't worth the effort.