Thinking of going back to nightfeeds for 6 month old...Advice?

My DS is 6 months old and has only "slept through" maybe 6 or 7 times. I stopped night feeds at around 3-4 months (cant remember exactly, it seems so long ago) as he didn't seem to need them anymore.

When the waking every hour became a problem i said to my MCHN that i was going to start night feeds again and she said not to, that it wasn't a good idea to start again when they had stopped. He was waking every 3-4 hrs though so to me it seemed that he was hungry. So i started night feeds again, against her advice, (around 4 1/2 months) for about a week and then stopped again. When i was doing this, he would sleep for another 4 hrs as opposed to waking every 1/2 hour. Then he started to wake again every half hr so i stopped the night feeds as it seemed hunger couldn't be the problem.

Now he wakes at 2.30am every morning after sleeping straight through from 9pm. This would indicate to me he is hungry?? What do you guys think? I know that they go through a growth spurt at this age so being hungry would make sense to me?? He is formula fed and has 3 x 210ml bottles, plus 2x solid feeds. He has been on solids since he was 4 months old and only in the past 3-4 weeks have the number of bottles decreased from 5 x 180ml, plus 1 solid feed.

Im sorry, i know it's a long post!:redface:

My advice, ignore the MCHN and do what feels right to you. My DS is almost 6 months and still feeds during the night. He goes down between 6.30pm and 7.00pm, wakes at about 10.30pm and 4ish for a feed. If I don't feed him, he grizzles, squirms and wakes almost hourly. I don't see the point in both of us being awake when a quick 10 min feed is all he needs and he is straight back to sleep.

So what I'm getting at is do what is right for you, if you think he is hungry then follow your instinct and feed him.

HTH
Spring

Oh and I should say my DS isn't on solids yet but he is still fed 6/7 times a day still. I don't know much about formula but I think 3 bottles might be not quite enough at his age.

Just give it a go and see how you both feel.

Good luck sweetie

Spring x

My DS is 9 months and he still feeds at (roughly) 1130pm and 0530am. We then usually wake at 0730am. He is breastfed but I am of the belief that he will sleep through when he is ready and stop feeding when he is ready. Although, TBH he IS sleeping through by sleeping 5-6 hours in a row :) You are doing a great job and whether you choose to feed him or not is a decision only you can make. You know him better than anyone.

Thank you! It just seems to make sense to me that he is still hungry otherwise, he wouldn't wake at the same time every night. If it was pain ie from teething, that wouldn't wake him at 2.30am on the dot, i dont think?

Im just sick of hearing "he should be sleeping through by his age" and feel like it's something im doing wrong. We have a consistent bedtime routine and everything else i have read to try to get him to "sleep through" but i really think the only answer is he is still hungry.

I just wonder will it create future problems going back to night feeding or will he simply stop them when he's ready to?

He will stop when he is ready to. And he is sleeping through if he is sleeping 5 hours in a row. It is a fallacy perpetuated that *good* babies sleep through all night. Some do - most don't. It does not make you a bad parent to have a baby who wakes to feed or even just for reassurance. Sometimes he will just be thirsty - as you are at times when you wake through the night and have a drink of water. He just can't get up to get his own drink. Sometimes he will need a cuddle. He will be grown up soon enough and this phase of parenting will be gone in the blink of an eye. Do what you need to for a happy mummy, happy baby and happy home.

I agree with Michelle. I was so pre-occupied with DS sleeping through that for a few weeks there I spent hours trying to re-settle him when it is so much easier to just feed him. Now I figure who cares, he will stop it when he is good and ready and until then I get lovely night-time cuddles.

Don't let other people pressure you either way.

Spring

I agree with SA in that my son is on EBM bottles and will have at least 5, 200ml bottles a day. Maybe more bottles through the day will satisfy him, and he wont need the extra night feeds?? At his young age, solids should contribute to his diet, not take the place of any milk feeds. Good luck honey!!

id feed him.... i spent months with a wakeful baby determined not to 'give in' and feed her thinking she wasn't hungry and i was teaching her to want milk during the night.... in hindsight maybe if i'd just given her a dam bottle she may have gone back to sleep instead of being unsettled for hours on end in the middle of the night.... aaagh hindsight is a great thing huh?

ps my girl is 11 months and still has three bottles, sometimes four, albeit only around 150mls.... maybe he needs more than three bots...?? good luck... i'd be doing whatever gets him back to sleep the quickest...