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6 month old night feed

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JCN:
My little man is 26weeks/just turned 6 months. He has always had a night feed around 2-3am, which was always a full 5-6oz feed.
Recently I read (on a couple of different baby sites) that night feeds shouldn’t be more than 4oz or babies become dependent on it, so i cut it down to 4oz Which he settled fine after and then  he was waking around 6-6:30 rather than 7, although strangely not starving hungry and still having his WU feed at the same time of 7:15.
I also read that at this age they shouldn’t need a night feed and it’s often for comfort and that it’s an idea to wean them off the night feed by slowly reducing it down over a few days at a time.
So for the last 2-3days I’ve made him 3oz and fed him whenever he wakes between 2-3am and on the last 2 days he’s then been EW at 5:30/45 and crying for his bottle by 6-6:15. On one day he then got up for the day and on another day he settled back to sleep but then I had to wake him at 7 to try and keep a schedule.

So I’m thinking that his nightfeed isn’t for comfort and he just needs it? Is this ok?? DS1 dropped MF himself at 4 months so I’ve never been in this position but lots of friends and family telling me that now he’s 6 months he shouldn’t need it.

His E times are 7, 11, 3 & BT 6:45. I DF at 10:30 although he often wakes earlier for this at 10-10:15pm. Then wakes again around 2-3am. He has 5-6oz per bottle and though I’ve tried to increase this he’s not interested. DS1 was the same and never had more than 5oz feeds.
He’s weaned onto 3 “meals”, as we started weaning at 5months on docs advice, it it’s minimal amounts and I know none of this counts towards calories or filling him up for the night.

I feel like I’m doing something wrong.

Katet:
Firstly no parent does things wrong if they give loving care. All babies are different and 21st century parenting makes us feel we need to have all our ducks in a row... it’s a totally impossible task. Just because your baby isn’t following a textbook pattern doesn’t mean a parent is doing something wrong rather, the baby isn’t 100% textbook.

Yes books say babies don’t need feeds at night... yet over 50% of babies still take night feeds up to 12 months old... For many reasons and sometimes it is for emotional comfort. Historically emotional needs haven’t been considered, yet now research is showing that night waking to feed is meeting emotional needs.

Given that when you cutback the volume you get earlier wakings, it’s a pretty good indication that either for nutrition or emotional needs, that time spent feeding is what your baby needs at this point in time.

Could also be a 6month growth spurt. As solids take up more tummy space, for less calories, the solids may actually be part of the hunger too. I know from my own 2 boys eating habits can be different as my second hardly ate an evening meal for the first 5 years of life, while he ate a big breakfast, my eldest was much more even in how he ate.

One thing I know (having teens) is that poor sleeping babies can grow into delightful teens, it’s definitely not going to harm him long term.

JCN:
Ok, so last night I decided to go  back to 4oz on the nightfeed (2:45am) and he drank it all & moaned a little when it was gone but then settled to sleep ok with dummy and comforter. He then woke at 6:00 (which isn’t too bad in my books as it’s the time he will have to be up when I return to work) - Happy, chatting (which he hasn’t been lately) and now it’s 6:45 and he’s only just starting to grizzle with hunger, rather than at 6:15 like he has done when the NF was reduced.
This was after a day of normal feeds: 4x 4 hourly 5-6oz bottles, and then a 6.5oz dreamfeed (which he woke for himself at 22:15) - so he was no more full than usual etc.


I think for me, that this cements that he needs this amount of milk to remain settled. He is a big baby (he’s on the 98th centile on the charts) and perhaps just needs more. I have tried to no avail to get more into him during the day but he just doesn’t want it. 🤷🏻‍♀️
As long as it’s the only time that he’s waking then I don’t really mind. Which some nights this is the case and others he will also wake inbetween haha.
His brother was a terrible sleeper - dropping his NF at 4 months but woke several times a night/EW  until he was 18months old. I suppose you can never win haha.

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