DF - is it time to drop?

[Martini~]

Hi Ladies, just interested in your opinion.

My DS has been acting very strangely about DF recently. He is 6mo and for last 2/3 weeks he is mixing:
- one day of DF about 4-7oz (I started to limit to 5oz now)
- one-two days of refusing DF at all or drinking around 1oz.
Furthermore when he takes DF bigger than 100ml his morning feed is around 5oz (we had couple of days when he took 3-4oz!), when without DF he is soundly sleeping till 7, I wake him and he calmly waits for feed and than drinks 7-8oz. When he drinks very little in the morning he is hungry at 11, takes 200-240 and refuses lunch at 12 which is a problem as we are introducing solids and I would like him to be a bit hungrier at 12:).

His daily intake is around 30oz plus about 75g of solids and the amount he drinks on DF is not connected to what he drink/ate during day. So he takes about 800-850ml plus solids and than DF which varies in amount:).

Do you think it is time to drop it? Have anyone had a situation like this when dream feeds were so different in amount?

[Kellyjs]

Yep we had this hun. Tbh I kept offering the DF for a good month or so after just to check it wasn't anything else and was scared she wouldn't sleep through! Even tried doing as Tracy advised and offering less and less every few nights to wean her off it. Turns out she wanted to drop it and I wasn't listening!!

Our warning signs were just as you mentioned about not taking as much first thing in the morning... Then she'd happily take loads at the 11am ish feeding. I think DD was 6.5mo when it started and we finally dropped it cold turkey at 7.5mo. It unfortunately coincided with the 8mo sleep regression and a spot of teething that caused EW's and I suppose I'll never know if it was because the DF went or if it was the ww, regression or teething!

His total intake for the day seems fine without the DF. Suppose it'll be a case of biting the bullet to see or keep offering as I did for a while? X

[Martini~]

In our case it seems to be a cause of introducing a bottle formula feeding. I think he now takes more during day feeds as bottle fed so doesn't need additional portion at DF. Thanks God someone had the same:).

[Kellyjs]

That's the beauty of this place! Always found someone that'd been through the same  xx

[Martini~]

I am still thinking what to do. I am offering DF right now, but limited to even 100ml as when taking more, morning feed is small.
Would you suggest to drop it cold turkey or ounce by ounce?

[Lolly]

I would stop cold turkey and see what happens really. If he is only having 100ml it's probably not making much difference. Is he sleeping when you give that feed?

Laura

[Martini~]

Sleeping.
Couple if times even woke with a cry as we were trying to force him to drink it:).

Yesterday I limited to 80ml and he still didn't cry for food in the morning and took 200ml. So I will try probably cold turkey drop... And will be hoping for good 240ml feed in the morning!

[Martini~]

Ok, I had one day of 80ml and than 3 days of 60ml. I limitied the amount but he still wasn't eager to drink. he took a sip than escaped with his head. And again i put a teat in his mouth, a sip, and escape. So i would say he was not very interested.
He slept till 7am when I woke him every 4 days and definitely wasn't starving.
Should I try without it today, what do you think?

[Kellyjs]

Do it! I'm sure it'll be just fine. I had the same concerns as you too and kept it for a long time. It's so nice when you don't have to keep watching the clock in the evening waiting for the dream feed. GL x

[Martini~]

Ahhh, will try today:)! What a crazy woman I am, dropping a 60ml feed! Wohoho!

[tachaorama]

I am in this same spot too!

My son is 6 months + 10 days. He is barely eating 3.5-4oz in the morning lately. And even that is a struggle. Also, he doesn't consistently finish the 6 oz bottle, sometimes only does 4 oz. And worse yet, lately it seems to be waking him up. If he wakes during his dream feed I know we are in for a restless night too. So I am debating dropping it and seeing what happens. I figure worst case he'll wake up looking for food? He wakes up half the time from it anyways, so it's not like it would be much different! haha

Eager to see how things go dropping it cold turkey!

[Martini~]

So we are NOT doing a DF for 3 days already and he soundly sleeps till 7am. His milk intake is not going up however, not in a spectacular way I was hoping for... He is now drinking almost 6oz for breakfast but still some struggle here. However he is taking nice 6-8oz portion through the day so I am hoping he will self-regulate.

However I do not know if you can call it a cold turkey drop:) as we reduced it gradually from around 150, through 80-100 ml till finally 60ml for last 3 days before dropping.

Moreover, the reason I have decided for dropping it was not a small feed in the morning (which is a problem but only in theory, because if he drinks 140ml for morning feed but he still can make till 11am I have nothing against), but his very different intake for DF: from nothing to 6-7oz, depending probably on the moment of his sleep:P. And I just hate throwing milk away!

But I would make a try on your place. You can always reintroduce if needed!