Breastfeeding at Night

[katriona]

DS is 9.5 months and still feeding at night. We're trying to reduce this to 1 feed after 3am at the moment, with varying degrees of success.

When talking to my pediatrician, she felt that 12 hours without b/f could be pretty long for some babies, and said that she had b/f her son once a night up till he was a year old, if he woke after 8 hours or so and seemed hungry.

I'm just wondering how common it is to still be b/f at night (between bedtime and wake up) at this later stage, especially once the df is dropped?

Thanks!

Katy

[clh]

Katy--
DS doesn't feed at night except for the rare occasion (sickness, teething, etc), so I didn't vote.  He stopped probably around 6-7 months.  He wasn't *nursing* as much as he was comforting, judging from the way he was sucking.  So dh started going in to him at night.  Soon he decided he had rather sleep, if he wasn't going to get Mommy.    HTH

[lisi's mum]

We're trying not to, what was that, night feeders anonymous? 

Ever been to a La Leche League meeting? They do great work but it's still scary the amount of 3 year olds feeding every couple hours through the night!

[tiki_mama]

3 year olds?!?!? can't they get up and go to the refridgerator like everyone else!?!?!? LOL 

[RachelC]

Katy (and Stacy)

https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=55035.0

We moved it to the FAQ section... although the poll stops at 6 months.... and is going 8+ hours between feeds

[katriona]

Thanks, Rachel (& Stacy!) 

[CaedensMama]

We were doing a "df" and one after 3 until just shy of 11 months - stopped both cold turkey and he adjusted and was sleeping thru the night within the week. Went in the first couple nights and held him and offered the paci and left and he would fall back to sleep after a scream or two. After that and since then if he wakes, he fusses but settles himself within a minute or two. I was so surprised at how quickly he adjusted, but I guess it was just that point that we were both ready for it. I think that makes a big difference. I too know a number of kids that are still nursing at night past 2 yrs and though if that is what their moms want that is fine, but I couldn't handle it. 

I think if you feel that you are both ready and he is more comfort nursing then sustanance then you could work on dropping them. Are you pumping at all - can you offer a bottle at those feeds so you know how much he is taking and then start decreasing the amount and wean slowly? Or if not pumping then just nurse for a specfic time frame - 10 minutes the first night and then every couple nights drop a minute off.

[Samuel's mum]

Can I just point out something that may be obvious?
Many guests and visitors to this site have younger babies so your poll is naturally going to get higher numbers for 'younger' babies having night feeds.
Do check out the link about 'sleeping through' as paigejalyn suggests.

[katriona]

Thanks Samuel's Mom  I didn't want to be too exclusionary and wanted to keep the poll as simple as possible (not if your child is older than, and if you're not doing a df, and if he sleeps past 10.5 hours etc.). Everyone is welcome to complete it! In this particular poll, the most help for me (and perhaps other night feeders of older babies) is not figuring out the # of younger babies having night feeds, more finding out if any older babies are still feeding, and if so, why/how/when. There seems to be a tiny few of us still out there 

Hope that explains my intention? The other poll is very helpful, but is targetted slightly differently, kwim?

Katy