How to drop middle of night feed for a 10month old

[Amberthorne352]

Hi
My 10mth old baby has always had a middle of the night feed around 12-1am. He wakes crying and distrubed. I’ve tired sips of water and it doesn’t settle him. He always takes a full 7/8oz bottle. His current routine is
A 6.15/6.30
E 6.30 6/7oz bottle followed by breakfast 1hr later
S 9.30/9.45
E 11/11.15 I’ve recently dropped this bottle (after he began to refuse lunch an hour later) and he has lunch followed by a snack before nap
S 2/2.15
E 3.30/3.45 6/7oz bottle
   Dinner around 4.30/5
S 7.30pm
E midnight/1am

He is quite a big baby on the 90th centile. My health visitor said to keep giving him it if he needs it and personally I think he does but I’m keen to try options in case it’s more of a sleep association/routine for him. My little girl slept through at 9wks old but my little boy is different in every way.

Any advice would be greatly welcomed. Thanks
 

[Lolly]

I’d swap things around a bit in the day - does he get a bedtime bottle at all? That would help the nights if he does. At that age my DD had a wake up bottle, a bottle after lunch just before the afternoon nap but not fed to sleep and then a bedtime bottle. If she needed them solid snacks.

For the nighttime, we dropped the bottle by reducing the bottle very slowly. I dropped 1oz and kept that amount for 3 or 4 nights then dropped another oz and kept going like that. If they drink less than expected one night that’s the amount they get the next night and hold that for a few nights. When it got done to 1oz I just offered water.

They gradually get used to having less to eat but you do need to make sure they get enough during the day and they are getting good fats and protein in their foods. Giving a bottle at bedtime rather than the late afternoon spaces it out a bit more too.

What do you think?

Laura

[Amberthorne352]

Thanks for responding Laura.

His usual schedule is
6.15/6.30 bottle 6/7oz following by breakfast an hour later
9.30/9.45 - 11/11.15 nap
11/11.15 bottle usually 6/7oz
12.30 lunch
2.15/2.30-3.30/3.45/4 nap
3.30/4pm bottle 4oz
5pm tea
7.15 bottle 6/7oz
7.30 bed
Middle of night feed around 12.30/1am

We noticed he wasn’t really eating much lunch and figured solids might fill him more so we’ve been testing whether he needs that. Today he refused his bottle and just had lunch. He hardly had any bottle at 4pm or bedtime either. I think he is teething so not a great day to measure things.

When I haven’t offered him a bottle at 11am he has had lunch straight away and a snack before his afternoon nap.

I’ve tested trying to give him a bottle before his afternoon nap rather than a snack but he isn’t interested. Again this could be teething or the fact he is full from lunch. He has a mix of BLW and purées.

Last night before bed he hardly had any bottle (maybe 4oz) and woke at 10.45pm so we gave him a feed then and he slept until 5.30am but he wouldn’t go back to sleep and it’s way to early to be darting our day so I gave him a bottle and he slept until 6.45am but then refused anymore bottle when he woke. We are going to do the same tonight (a feed around 10.30-11pm) and see how he goes. If it doesn’t work (and I have to give a bottle at 5.30) Do you think I should go back to feeding him around midnight and reduce the intake? Worried he may start waking at 5.30 hungry again?? Although my first always started stirring around 5.30am and she slept through from 9wks

Thanks again

[Lolly]

If he's teething that will throw things off for a while.

I would wait until he wakes in the night before feeding but start to reduce the intake anyway. You may find he just doesn't wake some nights or the waking gets later, if you feed at a set time you won't know what his body does naturally. The night intake could actually be having an impact on the day intake so it's worth working on cutting that night feed.

Laura

[Amberthorne352]

Hello again
So we’ve had a tough few weeks as he developed Rosalea. Thankfully he is better now, or at least he seems it. Problem we have now is that he is only taking around 60-80ml at bedtime.
The dietician advised us he only need 450ml at 11mths old. He roughly has around 650-700ml per day plus three meals. He is a good solid eater. This is his schedule:
A 6.15/30am wake/ bottle 180ml/ breakfast an hour later
S 9.30/45am -11.30 nap
E 11.30 130 ml/ lunch an hour later (we’ve tired offering him a bottle before nap but he consistently refuses it).
S 2.45-4pm nap
E 4pm dinner solids/ bedtime bottle at 7pm and now taking only 60-80ml
S 7.15/7.30pm
E Midnight/1am 170ish ml
A 6.15/6.30am

We want to drop the night feed. He has enough solids through the day and now the dietician says he is having enough milk we just need to bit the bullet. Should I just go ahead and reduce the volume of milk every 3rd or 4th night?

The other issue we have is he comes into our bed when he stirs. It’s a bad habit we got into so he didn’t wake his older sister. We need to get him to sleep overnight in his own bed. He sleeps beautifully for naps in his cot. Should have nipped this in the bud earlier. Never had these issues with my first.
Thanks
S 7.15/7.30

[Lolly]

Definitely drop the night feed, he’s not far off 1 when milk becomes a drink not a food so he really doesn’t need that night feed.

Reduce it gradually every 3rd night and see how it goes. Don’t cave and offer more if he protests though, stick to it. If you don’t want him in your bed, now is a good time to keep settling him in his cot too. I wouldn’t worry about him disturbing his sister either, she may well sleep through. I remember a night when my DD had a stomach bug, we were up with her every 20 mins for a few hours. She shared a room with her brother at the time and he slept all through it...!

Laura

[AmberPic]

My youngest son used to wake up in the middle of the night and want to eat. Now he eats less for breakfast, more for lunch. The pediatrician said it was normal, but sometimes he wakes up at 5 am and wanted to eat. I think things will get better with time.