Dropping Night feeds for 3 month old

[Sharon P]

Hi,

DS2 is 12 weeks old and is a great night sleeper. This is totally foreign to me, as DS1 feed 11pm and 3-4am through till 10 mths or more, it is a bit of a blur.

DS2 has only feed 1 x per night since he was 2 weeks old. So here is a sample of our current EASY.

7.30am wake (give reflux meds)
8am E
8.20 A
9am S

11am E
11.20 A
12.30 S

2-2.30pm E
2.20-2.50 A
3.30-4pm S

5pm E
5.20 A
6pm S
6.30pm A (give reflux meds)
7.30 E
8pm bed for night
 wakes once anywhere between 2.30am and 4.30am for a feed


He is showing signs of being able to move towards a 3.5-4 hr EASY and also may be able to drop his night feed as he has slept through without a feed a few times. I am not fussed by the night feed, clearly I have it good. But if he can do it, I would like to try to make it happen as I believe the night feed will become habit in time and therefore harder to break.

My thoughts are to wait and do nothing before his 3 mth growth spurt. Then I thought I may try and settle him at night with a dummy at first and if he wakes soon after I will know it is hunger not habit and feed him. He is able to self settle to sleep during the day, but still wakes at the 45min mark most naps and needs me to replug with the dummy and leave him to self settle again. So, if I was to go in and give him a dummy at night it would be something he is familiar with as a message to go back to sleep and I think he would only protest if he was truely hungry. Does this sound like a reasonable plan? Or do you think it is too early to try and just to wait and see?

Also, if I do try this out, is it better to be on the 3 hr EASY, so he is getting more feeds in the daytime, or should I continue to follow his lead in the day, and move towards the 4 hr EASY if it is what he wants. The signs I am noticing is taking smaller feeds at the 3 hr mark and not seeming as interested, but when I have let him go to the 4 hr mark he takes a good feed. That said, today he is doign a classic 3 hr EASY, so he may not be ready. He is 12 weeks and 1 day old.

Any advice, thoughts most appreciated.

 

[Erin (redstarfalling)]

He seems a wee bit young for 4 hr feeds if you're also planning to drop the overnight.  What about aiming for about a 3.5 hr cycle?

The other thing that occurs is the dummy - what are your plans for weaning it?

[Sharon P]

The last few days he has taken his feeds at the 3-3.5 hr mark. I am not pushing anything, so I will just follow his lead.

I am not planning on weaning the dummy unless it causes nightwakings. I know he is addicted, I tried to see if I could wean him from it 2 weeks ago and teach him to self settle between sleep cycles. But he didn't want a bar of it and by the end of a day, neither did I. Unless it impacts at night I am happy if all I have to do is replug between sleep cycles.

So, assuming I am going to be on a 3-3.5 hr cycle, and he has slept through a few times, do yout hink it is reasonable to try to settle him before feeding at night? From a breast feeding perspective, will he simply make up the feeds during the day or will he potentially not be getting enough?

[Erin (redstarfalling)]

I'm not too sure.  He'd be getting about 5 feeds in a 24 hr period, right?  I certainly wouldn't suggest less than that. I know other babies who have done it, so I there's really no reason to think he won't get enough if he drops the overnight feed.  You could always try!  If his weight gain remains good, and he's otherwise healthy (what reflux meds is he on?), then he may be fine.  Have you ever done a dreamfeed?

[Sharon P]

Thank Erin.

Yes Noah would end up with 5 feeds in 24 hrs. The last 24hrs he has definitely been feeding like a baby having agrowth spurt. 9 feeds in 15 hrs. It has slowed down a bit today, so I will see what he settles back into.

Good idea about monitoring his weight if I try to drop the night feed. I am in two minds about it. Given he wakes at inconsistent times, I suspect he is waking in hunger. So my thought is to hang back a little while and see what happens before changing anything. That said, if I could prevent a habit of eating at that time of day, I think it needs to be done sooner rather than later. I will see how thigns feel in a few days or so after this growth spurt is over and he has settled back to his own routine.

I have tried the df early on a few times but he either didn't take it or still woke at 3-4am anyway. Last night I did give him a df, to help with the growth spurt and whilst he did feed it was not a full feed as such and seemed to impact on his 4am feed. I think he has settled in well to the last feed for the day at 7.30pm'ish and then not waking till his hungry in the early hours of the morning.

As for reflux meds, he takes Losec (omprezamole) morning and night.