Trying to drop a 7 month old's night feeding. Advice?

[texasmom]

Nicola,
It depends on how she eats before bed.  Like clockwork.  Food related, right? 

I have been reading your EW thread - and others.  Claire woke at 4 this morning!     I got her back to sleep at 5, but only for 40 more min.  URG.  Exhausting!  It's getting worse and worse.  This is my 2nd EW baby!  Not fair!   

Thanks ladies!!  Will keep you posted.   

[*Nicola*]

Brooke was she hungry?  If you are weaning night feeds she might temporarily wake earlier.

[texasmom]

Thank you  , and yes, she was hungry, but I fed her.  Not a problem if she'll go back to sleep till 6:30ish.  But she isn't doing well with going back to sleep.   

As far as weaning the night feedings, what I'm doing is weaning the first night feeding right now.  Then when she wakes for the 2nd one, I feed her 6 oz.  I plan to wean the early morning feeding after I wean the first nightly one. 

[*Nicola*]

Just a thought ... would she take more than 6oz?  If so feed her as much as she will take to help her go longer.  I limited Callie's night bottle for a while and she often woke again before morning.  Of course, if the second feed is near morning then it makes sense to limit it!

Can I ask (just curious) What made you decide to wean the first night feed first?

[texasmom]

I don't mind you asking at all.  I appreciate the input. I guess I was thinking that she's more likely to sleep in the middle of the night rather than in the morning.  I read somewhere that the deepest sleep is until about 1 or 2.  So I thought if she could make it until 3 or 4 am, then she wouldn't be waking due to hunger in the morning.  So if I'm feeding her at 3/4/5ish, then I know the EW's aren't hunger related.  Does that make sense?  What are you thinking?   

[texasmom]

Oops, I forgot to answer your other question.  I give her 6 ounces b/c that is what she was taking, and I didn't want to increase it if I'm going to try to wean that feed too.  It's enough to fill her up and then she might take a decent amount in the morning, although today she took 1 ounce at 7.   

[*Nicola*]

LOL @ 1oz at 7!! Callie used to do the same.  Monsters!

I don't mind you asking at all.  I appreciate the input. I guess I was thinking that she's more likely to sleep in the middle of the night rather than in the morning.  I read somewhere that the deepest sleep is until about 1 or 2.  So I thought if she could make it until 3 or 4 am, then she wouldn't be waking due to hunger in the morning.  So if I'm feeding her at 3/4/5ish, then I know the EW's aren't hunger related.  Does that make sense?  What are you thinking?   

Makes sense I would have done it the other way so I really was just curious! I would have fed full feed on first waking then not again until morning.  If you are dealing with early night feeds and EWs too then makes sense to do it your way.  Love to learn!

[texasmom]

  !!  They are monsters, aren't they?!  Too cute.  I love that expression. 

[*Nicola*]

LOL yes, Ciara calls Callie 'baby monster' LOL

[OJ30]

Hi,
I hope you don't mind me jumping in here but very interested to know if your technique is successful.  Our very spirited lo is 8.5 mo and still would like 2 feeds at night.  We tried losing the second bottle first with some success but we are also dealing with some quite extreme ews.  Currently he has a bottle at 6pm then another between 11pm and 1am.  He then starts to get restless around 3.30am and wakes up anytime between 4.30 and 5.30am.  He is ravenously hungry from about 4am onwards even if he has a feed earlier on at night.  Should we try pushing out the first feed by reducing amount, diluting and then worry about that 2nd feed?  If he fed at about 2am I am sure he wouldn't need another feed until 6.30-7am.  I hope this might help with his ews.  Currently he has 8oz milk feeds at 6am, 11am and 6pm.  we have tried giving him milk at 3pm but he is just not interested.  He has 3 solid meals a day too (usually 1 hour after his milk).
Would be really grateful for advice.
Jo

[texasmom]

Jo,
I have heard that the tecnique is successful.  Not sure what happened with us, but I only diluted for 3 nights (from 6 oz to 5 oz), and then all of a sudden she started waking just one time.  I don't know if it is a fluke.  It's been 3 or 4 nights that she has done this. 

If I were you, I might try diluting the first feed since he is so hungry early in the morning.  You take away 1 ounce every 3 nights, keeping the same amount of water, from what I understand.  I might still try the 3 pm feeding too.  As you take away that night feeding, you might find that he wants it during the day.  Not sure if that is good advice, but I do know that you want him to make up calories during the day that you take away from the night. 

Hope I've been of help.

As far as EW, have you found some help? 

Brooke

[OJ30]

Hi Brooke,
Many thanks for your input.  We will try reducing/diluting his first feed and see if this helps.  Glad to hear it was successful for you.  Our lo has always been an early riser (as are we) but i do feel anything before 5.30 am is just too early.  We are currently working on pushing his bedtimes later as it seems he has a body clock that only allows him 11 hours in bed!  At the moment we seem to be stuck at 6.15pm and he is still waking between 5am and 5.30am.  Because of these ews we can't get his bedtime to go any later just yet!  We are trying really hard not to exceed a 13 hour day.  He woke slightly later this motning at 5.50am so aiming for a 6.30pm bedtime tonight.  Unfortunately he woke after only a 50 min nap this morning (we are also working on extending A times!) so I guess I need to extend that first A time again by another 10 mins or so.  There's always tomorrow!  Bedtime is always so dependent on his naps too.  He is teething again so naps have been awful and short again!  Trying hard to fit 3 or 4 of these in but any nap after about 3.30pm just messes up bedtime!  Its never simple is it!
How are your ews and night feeds going?

Jo

[*Nicola*]

I have heard that the tecnique is successful.  Not sure what happened with us, but I only diluted for 3 nights (from 6 oz to 5 oz), and then all of a sudden she started waking just one time.  I don't know if it is a fluke.  It's been 3 or 4 nights that she has done this. 

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[texasmom]

Yes, a big YAY!!  Last night she slept till 6 am w/o a feeding, which is KIND OF a good thing.  Good b/c she is going longer, but not so good b/c she could not go back to sleep at that point, and she didn't get enough sleep for the night.  Hence we had an OT day.  So fine by me if she wakes at 4ish until she can go 12 hours w/o a feeding.   

Jo,
How is it going with feedings? 

Claire is the same when it comes to hours at night.  Usually the most she will sleep at night is 11 hours.  Collin sleeps 10.5 and always has.  Right now Claire actually has a nap from about 4:30/4:45 until sometimes 5:30.  That of course pushes bedtime to 8ish, but it keeps from the EW's.  She woke one morning at 4ish, and at that point (it had been getting earlier and earlier), I just said, no way.  That night I kept her up till 7:30, and it's been better ever since.  I know that can backfire, but I was willing to try and see.  Early bedtime does not usually work for Claire.  Only for like a catch up night, but not on a regular basis.  At least for now.  So she is taking 3 naps right now, generally a 40 min, then an hour 15 min, then another 40 min.  She has shorter A times b/c of the short naps.  Sometimes she'll take longer naps. 

One thing you can try (and you may know this already) is to start the day, and push everything back 15 minutes, so he will go to bed 15 minutes later.  Then wait about 4 days and do it again. 

But no, it ISN'T simple.   

Hope you are well. 

[*Nicola*]

Brilliant news Brooke!!! Thrilled for you x