Anyone have a baby who dropped NFs on their own?

[~inbalance~]

Wow, loved waking up this morning to a whole discussion here, lol. 

She is not waking out of hunger, she is waking for other reasons (mainly teething but maybe sometimes tummy, too cold, etc) and feeding is a prop in the sense I can't settle her without it (not that I have tried all that hard!) but she doesn't feed back to sleep, always goes down awake still. 

She was sleeping much longer stretches before 6 months, often only waking once.  We even had one sttn before everything fell apart!  (earliest any of my kids has ever sttn!).

I guess in the back of my mind I keep thinking I'm just making it more of a problem by feeding her (especially when she has been waking between 10-11pm), but at the same time I don't really mind and it's so quick.  Also I keep telling myself this is my last baby and I want to enjoy the cuddles and motn feeds. 

I am coping fine really, tired but not exhausted and getting through the days without feeling run down.

But yeah, I am so hoping that she will just drop them and start sleeping better after she's cut a few more teeth.    I just don't want to think about all the screaming that would come with proper sleep training plus she would wake the boys for sure and they need all the sleep they can get.  Gotta keep the peace!  lol

[anna*]

I am convinced (hands on my ears, singing) that these stories of BF babies who drop night feeds on their own are myths.

(with apologies for mums of babies who did).

[jessmum46]

ROFL Anna!!

[mumofalice]

I have had one of those myth babies 

DD used to feed between 10pm and midnight, then between 3 and 4am and wake at 7.20am (yes, that precise LOL!) in the very early days. She dropped the MOTN feed at 5 weeks  woke at 6am the next day and then got back to her 7.20am WU within a few days. A few weeks later I found BW and her post BT feed became a DF - we did keep that for a while though as she wash such a little dot.

However, DS is completely the opposite and is still having (at least) one NF at 10.5 months - he hasn't STTN once, the longest he's gone was 4.37am and that was one off. I can now settle WO feeding so try and settle him unless it's post 3am otherwise he seems to WU earlier for another feed - but TBH no 2 days and nights are ever the same anyway 

Em - I was (as you prob remember) feeding at least twice (and usually three) times a night at 7 months too . . . I still beat myself up that I've created the 'prop' though - I think I responded to him way too quickly in the early days as I was conscious that he would wake DD - he is sooo noisy!! I also tended to feed because I knew it was the quickest way to settle him and get back into bed myself 

[~inbalance~]

With my DS2 I pretty much always fed him, but I do remember getting fed up somewhere between 7-9 months and started settling him without feeding for that first waking, and I think that encouraged him to sleep longer stretches (he was always a lousy sleeper right from the get go, up every 3hrs from birth until probably 9 months!).  But other than settling that first feed I always fed him, and he dropped the other feeds on his own.  It took awhile, I think he was down to only a 5am feed around 11 months, and then dropped that one around 16 months, and all was fine.

It's just DD has always been good at doing long stretches, and just last week was sleeping until 1/2am again and then around Friday started waking around 10, so it is always up and down with her, and because I know she has done it and can do it, I just don't feel like bothering with resettling.  I just feed her hoping that this phase will pass and she'll go back to her own ways.  Again though I am aware that by feeding her I very well can be encouraging that 10pm wakeup to continue, even though it doesn't bother me in the least that she does wake.   

She is cutting her second tooth right now, so that could be the reason for the 10pm waking.

But I also know that the longer I let it go the harder it may be to fix, which is why I'm always thinking about it (trying to think ahead, yk?).  Because I can already tell a lot of things are harder to do now that she is older.  She used to self settle a lot easier than she does now, and she is more willing to put up a fight when she is upset. 

And on the other hand (because you know, I'm always coming up with excuses for why I do what I do ), I feel like it's a good thing we have this wonderful thing called BFing to calm our babies when they wake due to things like teething, and that's what BFing is there for.  It's meant to be comforting (I guess this is the attachment parenting side of me talking! ).  So then I figure, if it doesn't bother me, and if it gives her comfort, and if it means we all get back to bed sooner and without tears, then I really shouldn't worry about it. 

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

I am convinced (hands on my ears, singing) that these stories of BF babies who drop night feeds on their own are myths.

(with apologies for mums of babies who did).

lol Anna, I have two of this mythical babies! Really hoping for a 3rd (just jinxed myself didn't I?  )

So then I figure, if it doesn't bother me, and if it gives her comfort, and if it means we all get back to bed sooner and without tears, then I really shouldn't worry about it. 

That says it all to me...I would have kept feeding Spencer at night for ages just to keep things peaceful...she went from a DF and 2 NF to sleeping through one night out of the blue...holy sore boobs that morning when I woke and realized she hadn't!

[~inbalance~]

holy sore boobs that morning when I woke and realized she hadn't!

haha, yeah on the nights where DD has slept really long stretches I find myself lying awake hoping she will wake up to feed just so I can get comfortable!  lol

[eva026]

Mythical baby here too;)
We did the DF with EBM and BF the 2nd NF between 3-6am. Suddenly at 9.5mo she started refusing the DF so we had to drop that and 3 days later she stopped waking for the other NF too. She does occasionally wake hungry now if her BF feed was small.
What is important is that she has a lovey and BF was never a prop. More like the opposite in fact, she can't wait till it's over and she's full so she can go play.

 

Really hoping for a 3rd (just jinxed myself didn't I?  )

lol, you so did!

[*Liz*]

Well I'm with you Anna  .

I guess it is the comfort thing that is the issue - and we use it like that - they become more aware and then want to keep it - and Mama's end up weaning the feeds.

But that obviously doesn't mean to say you should do anything other than what you are doing Em  . I ended up weaning Megan's snuggle prop at about 13 mths and it was easy enough, and we kept it because at the time it was actually helpful to have that prop anyway.

[shivi]

my babies never used me as a prop - couldn't - I was out of the house for 8 hrs + everyday from 4.5 mths in Oscar's case. I kept up the DF and the late afternoon feeds as long as I could for this reason....I was the prop-aholic, not them! Emma was self-weaning at 17 mths and I was so determined to get to 18 (really wanted to get to 2 yrs but with me out of the house, work stress and her spirtedness and like Eva's baby, always in a hurry to get nutrition over with to get back to playing) that I reintroduced a kind of DF around 9pm when she was asleep for the night! For a month!

I really do think the DF (the original one, the one from birth, not 17mths LOL) is what helped mine BEGIN sttn. Their bellies were full, totally, and it was on MY terms, not theirs.....not very IBCLC or attachment parenting but such is life. I wonder what I'd be like with a third....probably will never know!

S x

[~inbalance~]

Yeah, I keep thinking that if it becomes an issue where I really have a problem with it, then I will be ready and know what to do to fix it.  I think dreading it is worse than actually going through weaning the feeds, kwim?  So I think about it in anticipation and it scares me, but I have done it before and can do it again if needed.  I guess we'll see where it goes.  I'm certainly not thinking I should try weaning any feeds now with only tooth number 2 cutting!    And I did find with both the boys their sleep improved greatly after those first 8 teeth were out of the way, so hopefully she will get a move on with the teething and pop a few more, and then either start sleeping better or give me a big enough break from teething to feel confident trying to resettle without a feeding.  Because goodness knows I'm not going to try it if I think she is teething! 

[Erin M]

Yeah, I keep thinking that if it becomes an issue where I really have a problem with it, then I will be ready and know what to do to fix it. 

I think this is what it comes down to.  If you're ok with it, then don't worry.

DS was also mythical -- and trust me, I thought that was *never* going to happen as he had a df+a nf still at 8 months -- I slowly weaned the df around 9 months and he miraculously dropped the nf at 11 months.  Granted, I always tried to keep NFs short (one sided instead of two) when he'd let me get away with it so maybe that helped?

[Mama2Athena]

My DD dropped her last NF right around 4 months old.  Prior to that she would always stir around 3:30/4:00 AM and to get her back to sleep quickly before fully waking, we would rush in to feed her.  But then we noticed that she was not as hungry for her morning bottle.  One night my DH decided not to NF her and just let her work it out.  There wasn't any crying, just lots of stirring and it did take her a while to resettle.  Of course it helped that she is a very easy going baby and learned to self settle very early on.  We have not had to NF her since, unless she is sick and we feel she needs the extra fluids (she tends to drink very little during the day when ill).  Now if I could get her not to EW (5:30/5:45) every morning and also take better naps at daycare, we would be set .  There's always something, right?