Hey everyone! A quick "what would you do" question: We are about 4-5 days into weaning our DD from the night feedings she picked up when she was around 4 months old. Prior to this she began STTN on her own from 5-6 weeks (swaddled) up to that point. About a week after she started waking once in the night at 4 months, we had to ditch the swaddle due to her rolling over, and ever since we have been trying to get her sleep back on track. We have actively been incorporating the 4 hour EASY for about a week now, and Monday night was the first night we did not feed her when she woke twice in the night (just used shush-pat or PUPD). Tuesday and Wednesday nights she only woke once (3:30am Tues, 4:30am Thurs), and last night she woke twice. We haven't fed her in the night since Sunday.
In an effort to "go by the book," I also introduced a 10:30pm DF, and I'm still conflicted about this. My thinking is that the 4 month sleep regression, loss of swaddle, and growth spurt likely caused her to wake up more in the night, making her used to getting extra feeds (or just mom time!) when she didn't used to have them. So in an effort to get her back on track and STTN again, we would eliminate the NFs but add in the DF so that she would begin by going 8-9 hours without food instead of right into the 10-12 hours of a full night without food (which she used to do without a problem). This being the first time I've ever done DFs, though (4 days on now), I'm finding it very stressful! I always worry about waking her, and last night she woke every 3 hours after the DF... 1:30am, 4:30am and up for the day at 6:30am. I'm worried that the DF is maybe making her think that she can expect to get a meal every 3 hours in the night, even though we are no longer feeding her after the DF.
I guess my real questions are: Would you keep up the DF, or lose it and focus on the minimizing the NW's? If we do cut out the DF, do we need to go through the tapering process, even though she's only been having it a few days? I hope it doesn't come across as purely selfish reasons for me to want to cut out the DF...I'm genuinely concerned that the quality of her sleep is compromised by incorporating it. Plus I know it will have to go away eventually and would love to not have to wean from yet another thing!
Quick stats: DD is 5 months/1 week old, weighs 16+ pounds, 26+" long, and is EBF. As I mentioned, we are on the 4 hour EASY, and working on improving naps and making some progress. Bedtime is typically 7-7:30pm, wake up time is usually 6:30-7:30am. ANY advice is welcome!!! Thank you in advance!
