Author Topic: Eliminating the nightfeed - success story...  (Read 1160 times)

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Offline Loujo

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Eliminating the nightfeed - success story...
« on: July 28, 2006, 09:53:26 am »
Hi all!
Just wanted to let you know my success story - have waited a few weeks to tell it just in case he reverts back to his old ways but 'touch wood' everything is fine...

Thomas has been on 4 hour easy for a while now and has always been a good feeder - emptying both boobs in less than 10 minutes  ;D!  So at 4 and a half months I really felt that he should be sleeping through the night.  His dreamfeed was at 10.30pm, he was waking erratically between 1am and 5am and having a short feed then refusing to take anything at his breafast feed which resulted in a really short morning nap cos he couldn't then go the 4 hours till his next feed.  Which resulted in a grouchy baby...

He used to cry and as soon as I walked in he would start giggling, I would put him on the bub and he would smile at me and the take his feed - he would take both breasts if I offered them to him.  I was so confused - i thought because it was erratic that it must be hunger and wished it was the same times every night so that I could blame habitual waking!!  :)

So I made a plan to stop!  I started off by just offering him one boob and as soon as he fell asleep or started doing the loose jaw thing I would put him down in his cot.  This went on for about a week - his morning feeds naturally increased in time - then I thought 'let's shh pat him and see what happens'.

The first time it took me about 2 mins and he went off to sleep.  I couldn't believe my luck - and he didn't wake until 8am - I never usually let him sleep past 7 so this was a complete shock to me!  But it gave me the confidence I needed to know that he didn't need the food.  The next night wasn't so quick and took me an hour and a half during which time I used shh pat and PUPD, but again he slept in past 7am so I knew he wasn't hungry.  The next night was only an hour and gradually over less than a week it took shorter and shorter until it got to the point where he would wake up and make noises then drift off to sleep on his own... we don't even hear him now!!!  ;)

Several weeks later and he is still sleeping through from 10.30pm df to between 6 and 7am - wonderful!

That one week was v hard.  I nearly gave up so many times - I was more tired than when i was feeding him (I used to do this in a beautiful dreamy haze and sometimes fell asleep walking back to bed!!) and was a bit grouchy but it has SOOOOO been worth it!! 

I know everyone is different and yours may not be ready to give up his night feed, but I wanted to share to give some mums a ray of hope that there is sleep at the end of the tunnel!

Thanks for all your support
Louise
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'you've got to take all you have and pour and pour...'

Offline Ennypen

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Re: Eliminating the nightfeed - success story...
« Reply #1 on: July 28, 2006, 12:32:58 pm »
Louise its so lovely to hear success stories as well as hearing about when times are tough!

Congratulations on your success.. you know you deserve a lot of credit for listening carefully to your babies cues and recognising his needs..

Thanks so much for sharing!

Helen x

Offline Colin Macs Mom

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Re: Eliminating the nightfeed - success story...
« Reply #2 on: July 28, 2006, 16:45:07 pm »
Thank you so much for sharing Louise! It really is hard work to sort things out, good for you for sticking with it and going with your intuition!  :-*
Jessica
Mom to Colin Ronald, August 18, 2005
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Offline CLJK

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Re: Eliminating the nightfeed - success story...
« Reply #3 on: August 02, 2006, 03:31:05 am »
Thanks for your account and the motivation it has given me!  I am trying to slowly wean DS (6 months old) from night feedings.  He was going as much as 11 hours before, but then his 6 months growth spurt hit last week and we are still recovering from that.  Plus my milk has been really slow in coming in and he was feeding less during the day the few days after the spurt, so I was just letting him nurse at night as much as he wanted.  Last night I only let him nurse on one side and he went from 11:00 to 5:30, and then ate a lot.  I know he can go longer, but I am trying to make it as relatively painless as possible for all of us.  Talk to me in another month, though!  LOL!  I do think he is expecting some of his calories at night and I am just not down with that anymore!  Glad to hear of your success!

Offline Loujo

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Re: Eliminating the nightfeed - success story...
« Reply #4 on: August 02, 2006, 17:11:33 pm »
So pleased that it has motivated you!  There were so many times that I thought 'maybe I should keep feeding and let it die out naturally' but I didn't want to lose lol!  I am so competitive even with myself i just had to beat it!
Anyway - good luck!
Louise
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'you've got to take all you have and pour and pour...'