middle of the night bottle wean?

[Anonymous]

I am just curious as to when everyone’s lo’s stopped taking a middle of the night feed? We were down to only 4oz in the middle of the night but since his teething and ear infection, I have not been able to get down any lower than 5oz and that makes him mad usually, but I can get him back to sleep. I tried to stop with 4oz last night, but when I put him on my shoulder his little head popped up and he looked at me like, ” well where is the rest” so I broke down and gave him 2 more oz. He is 17lbs, and he eats about 36oz during the day and is taking solids 2x/day, we just started fruit on Friday so that is when the 2nd time started. He loves his solids, but still takes 6-7oz at his bottles when he eats the solids. I am not giving him more than probably 1.5tbsp of solids at a time, still making sure there are no allergies. I guess my question is, does it work better to just feed them a regular bottle and hope that one day they just won’t wake up to eat, or is it better to gradually decrease the amount that they eat at night until they aren’t getting but a few oz and will eventually not wake up for that? People look at me like I am crazy when I tell them his is on formula and still wakes up for a bottle in the middle of the night. TIA. I am not going to try anything new until we get back from visiting family as I know that could be disastrous if I do.

[Anonymous]

To me it sounds like he is genuinely hungry at night. Not all babies are sleeping through the night without a feeding at his age. What I would do is try to increase his daytime intake gradually and then wait for him to decrease the amount he needs at night. I always knew when my babies didn’t need to be fed at night anymore because they’d wake and cry but then they’d only take an ounce or two and conk back out. They were waking out of habit, not hunger. If he’s sucking down five ounces he’s probably really hungry. I think things will change once he’s eating more solids and gets just a little bit bigger.

[Anonymous]

We just stopped the 4 am feeding about 3 weeks ago. I had never even heard of cutting back the # of ounces. I would just always make 6 ounces and sometimes she ate the whole thing and sometimes she’d just take 2-3. Eventually, she just stopped waking for it. Also, I would always feed her right next to her bed in almost complete darkness. Sorry if it’s not that much help, but thought you may like to know that it is possible for them to just stop!!!

[Anonymous]

Alana naturally weaned herself, one night she just didn’t wake for it. It coincided with her intake during the day increasing. Whilst I am sure its a bit of a pain, I would let Cooper wean naturally.

[Anonymous]

Ben just weaned himself at night too. Just stopped waking up for it. While he did wake up, I would always feed him in the dark, keep it very low key, so he knew it was still night time and time for sleep.

[Anonymous]

My older son stopped taking a middle of the night feeding around 6 months and he gave it up on his own. Boy am I looking forward to #2 sleeping through the night! By 9 months for sure they don’t need a middle of the night feeding but before then I would let him eat if he is hungry.

Do you guys all keep your babies upright for 1/2 hour after the middle of the night feeding? Brian usually falls asleep on my shoulder and I keep him upright for 1/2 hour that way but am wondering if I can lay him down sooner so I can get a little more sleep too

[Anonymous]

my little one is 9 mo and stills takes 2 bottles during the YES TWO!!!!! but after much trying to wean (which never works) i just accepted the fact that if he is asking for his bottles is because he needs them and when he is ready he just wont wake up asking for his bottle

[Anonymous]

I have heard of watering down the bottle more and more until eventually they realize that it isn’t worth waking up for. You still keep the ounces the same but slowly add more water than formula over time.

I was lucky to have both mine start sleeping through the night when we got the meds/intolerances thing figured out. Cooper has cut way back on his formula intake ( thanks for answering my other post! ) since starting solids, so for a while I was waking him up to feed him at night. He seems to be leveling out now and getting enough formula during the day if I add it to his cereal too.

It seems they tell us what they need, sometimes it doesn’t match the baby books I’m learning.

[Anonymous]

Some babies take a night feed up until 9-12 months. It’s really hard to know when to start cutting it out. If you’re having a hard time, I might wait until he’s over this hump, then try again later.

[Anonymous]

If Carson wakes during the night – I give him Neocate in a bottle. He is over 2 years old!! That is the only way he will take Neocate – in a bottle – as many older kids on special formula are. If your little one wants a bottle in the middle of the night. I say give it to him. He knows when he is hungry. Don’t you worry about what others are saying. They don’t know you and your baby.

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