Need some guidance on how to gently wean from 2 night feedings, please...
DD is just over 6mo, on 3 meals a day and thriving. Until recently, and since she was quite young, she was waking just once between 7pm&7am for a feed. However, we've just been through some colds and I think she is teething, too, and suddenly she was waking 3 times a night. WHilst she was sick, I BF her during these night wakings to ensure she was getting the fluids she needed (and at the outset we'd only started solids so she wasnt quite on 3 meals a day).
Now she is healthy and eating well in the day, I am ready to stop feeding her at night or at the least get back to one feeding. She has been wakign about twice a night for the last few days at different times so WTS not an option. She genuinely seems hungry when she wakes and is inconsolable if not fed (i tried last night not to pick her up immediately), but am worried that feeding her at night means she is eating less in the day and we are creating a bad cycle.
Here is the background:
How old is your child? 6 months
What’s his/her daily routine? see below
What’s nap routine? quiet time in room, song, sleep sack and music/night light machine
How long are naps? Still battling short naps - so sometimes 30 or 40 mins, but starting to get some longer ones - between 1 and 2 horus
What's bedtime routine? Time? as for naps, except she gets a BF before song etc. down in cot awake by 7pm
Do you bottle or breastfed?? BF morning, evening and overnight, bottles during day
How much? or how long? really varies, she is pretty efficient. If given a bottle o/n by DH she will down 5 or 6oz.
If breastfed.. one side or both?? (at each feed) offer both, usually just takes a little from second side
How many wakes per night? currently 2
What’s your LO like when waking at night? How long is he/she up? If fed, will feed for about 10mins and go back to sleep very easily within minutes.
When you go to him/her is she fussing or crying? Or is it a mantra cry? escalates quickly to a real scream
What have you tried to settle?? to date, have been feeding her. last night delayed going to her but she quickly got v upset and I now have her cold so i fed her in order to get some rest.
What do you do for A time and how long is it? she has an older (2.
sister, so lots of playing all together, trips to park, singing etc, the usual. Working on extending to help with naps, but sometimes she is ready for sleep within 2 hours.
Are there developmental issues such as teething or milestones? POssible teething, she is almost sitting up but not quite, we try to give her plenty of chance towork on this during hte day
Have you introduced cereal? Why, how much, and how many times a day? (for LO’s under 6 months) Yes, on 3 meals a day
Do they have a prop? If so what is it? no
Do they have a lovie? yes
Normal schedule is as follows, altho we sometimes adjust for short naps still:
7am BF
7.30/8am solids
9/9.30am nap (sometimes we just get 30 mins, sometimes 1.25 hours)
11.30 Lunch then bottle (working to get this to later, but depends on length of first nap)
Nap 12.30 (nap length varies, working on getting at least 1.5 hours here)
3pm Bottle
4.30 cat nap of 30 mins
5pm Dinner
6.30pm Bath then final BF
7pm bed
We dropped DF quite early on, as before this current situation she would wake around 3 or 4am for a feed whether we'd done the DF or not.
Many thanks in advance.
