Author Topic: Weaning the early morning feed at 7 months  (Read 1124 times)

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Offline LovelyLilyandJack

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Weaning the early morning feed at 7 months
« on: September 29, 2013, 07:09:44 am »
My little boy will be 7 months soon and in a couple of weeks I'd like to try wearing the night / early morning feed.  He's trying to drop a bottle in the day but I'd rather he dropped the night one first :)

He tends to go through phases with night feeds and will have a few good nights when he'll go to 4/5/5.30 am from a 7pm feed but then he'll have a few nights of waking at 11/12/1. He always takes a full feed (bigger than he has in the day) and only has one nf. I have 2 questions.... Do you think the 11/12/1 might be routine related rather than hunger?  He's always done this pattern of a few good nighs then a few bad ones but he always wakes happy in the night.

Also, when I start weaning the nf, do I just pick a time to start the day and offer a diluted feed before then and a full feed after it?  What if I pick 6 am as the cut off and he wakes at 5.30ish?  I don't want to fill him up on a diluted feed at that time but I don't want to get him up then either and get into the habit of starting the day then!  Should I offer a smaller diluted feed at 5.30, or try and hold him off til 6 and get him up then?

ETA: Forgot to say I'm planning on trying the method in the faqs for this board about weaning the night feeds for a 9 month old.  Sorry,  can't add the link on my phone.....
« Last Edit: September 29, 2013, 07:32:32 am by LovelyLilyandJack »



Offline goldmom

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Re: Weaning the early morning feed at 7 months
« Reply #1 on: September 29, 2013, 23:01:14 pm »
Listening in and would love to hear how it goes.

Offline PaulsMom

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Re: Weaning the early morning feed at 7 months
« Reply #2 on: September 29, 2013, 23:57:49 pm »
Hi there! 

I have a couple of questions for you?

What does his daily routine loom like? 
Is he eating solids?
How big are his DT bottles vs his nt bottles?
Do you settle each nw with a bottle?

At his age, some babies are no longer eating at night whereas others are.  If he's taking a lot at night, then he needs the calories.  If he's just sucking for comfort, then it's definitely time to wean the nf's. 

Wrt weaning the night feeds you can try the dilution method or just put less in each bottle over time.  If he wakes at 5:30 am but your day starts at 6 am, then I'd try to settle without a bottle and see how he does. 

HTH

Offline LovelyLilyandJack

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Re: Weaning the early morning feed at 7 months
« Reply #3 on: September 30, 2013, 09:03:46 am »
Thanks. I do always feed when he wakes, yes, cos he always drains the bottle and has only started solids in the last 6 weeks so I've always assumed he was hungry.  It's only the last couple of weeks since he's been eating a bit more and cutting down on the amount of milk he has in the day that I've thought about weaning the night feed in preference to him dropping daytime feeds.  Also, he sometimes takes a long time to go back to sleep after a feed which makes me think it's a routine thing rather than waking for hunger and going straight back to sleep iykwim?

His naps are fairly predictable now but wake up time and feeds vary depending on when he's had his night feed so here's how yesterday went:

Nf@ 1am. 6ozs (was all I offered and he drained the bottle)
Wu: 6.05 am
E: 6.30 - 4 oz
E: Offered toast for breakfast at 8 but he didn't really eat any.
A: 3hr 25
S: 1hr 30 (9.30- 11). Just increased this A time to try and stop long nws.

E: 3oz at 11.30
E: Meatballs and pasta at 1.30ish. Had a reasonable amount.
A: 3hrs 30 (pd at 3hrs 20)
S: 40 - 45 minutes but at a friends house which could have interfered. Would typically have 1hr 20 here but the odd 40 minute nap has been creeping in, especially if I pd before 3hrs 20.

E: 5oz at 3.30ish
E: 5.30ish - cheese sandwich
E: 6.20 - 4-5 oz
A: 3hrs 20-30 I think.
S: By 6.45 at the latest.

Nf@ 11.45. Drained 6 oz again. As far as I know he settled fine afterwards.
WU: 6.30am today.

Other nights he'll go to 4/5ish and will drain 6ozs again. He then tends not to eat much again til 11 or 12ish.

The only other thing that's been going on recently is he had a 3 day food and milk strike where he only had 9/10 oz in a 24 hr period, and most of that at night cos he had a tooth coming through.  He's over that now but I'm aware he might try to make up the calories this week so I'm offering milk if in doubt. What he's doing now is fairly typical of the last few weeks though, I'd say.



Offline PaulsMom

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Re: Weaning the early morning feed at 7 months
« Reply #4 on: September 30, 2013, 13:39:13 pm »
Hmmm..  Your routine looks pretty good.  I agree that his DT bottles are small in comparison to the nt bottles. Have you looked at the tips on getting your Lo to take more from a bottle?  Tip's on how to get your LO to take more oz's during the day

I would try a few things to try to get him to take more milk during the day and then reducing the milk at night just so you can be certai he is getting enough, iykwim? 

Offline LovelyLilyandJack

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Re: Weaning the early morning feed at 7 months
« Reply #5 on: September 30, 2013, 14:18:29 pm »
Yeah, I've had a look through those tips before.  I'll try giving him a break and then feeding again but normally once he's done he's done and is outraged at the suggestion he might want more! ;)  The only other one which is relevant is the one about teething.  He's had 3 teeth come through in the last month - two are cutting at the moment.  But this pattern of having bigger bottles at night has been going on forever I think - certainly since I stopped breastfeeding at 5.5 months and could see what he was having and even before that I thought he was having bigger feeds at night than in the day.  He's also always cycled between going ages at night and then not going so long for a few days at a time.  It's weird. 

I'll have a go at getting more into him in the day and also log how much he has I think so I can see if it's increasing or not.  Hopefully by the time I start trying to wean the night feed these teeth will be through as well so that factor will be gone.



Offline PaulsMom

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Re: Weaning the early morning feed at 7 months
« Reply #6 on: September 30, 2013, 23:24:47 pm »
Sounds good. Keep us posted.