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Dropping the night feed

Hi Girls, just after a bit of advice/your thoughts...

For a few weeks Isabelle has been waking in the night but not crying for a feed and when I have fed her she's literally just fed for a couple of minutes before falling back to sleep. I read that this could be a sign that she's ready to drop the night feed so for the last week when she's woken up I've popped her dummy in which settles her back to sleep. The problem is she then keeps waking every half hour or so until we get up at 6.30/7ish. Do you think she's waking because she's hungry? I'm obviuosly happy to carry on the night feed if she needs it but as she's only feeding for such a short time I'm not sure she does. I just don't know what to do for the best!

Any thoughts appreciated...
Thank you! Becky x

Replies

  • does she sleep through once you've fed her? I'd be tempted to offer her it and just play it by ear. We dropped the night feed when izzy started just having an oz or so and would settle back to sleep with a dummy. She still wakes every so often and i have to resettle her but not as often as every half an hour. Sorry, thats not hugely helpful is it?! xx
  • Sorry I can't really help, when my lo wakes up she guzzles 5-6oz! lol. I wish she'd be less interested in it and then I could start to drop it too! Maybe you should persist with the dummy and settling and she may click that food for comfort isn't coming and gradually get used to the idea - am thinking of bedtimes really as I used to be in and out like a yoyo settling Isabel but now she goes to bed and we don't have to go back in (or rarely anyway!) as she knows it's not playtime now as we always just shushed her and walked out again. She might just take a few days/a week to learn the new routine?

    xx
  • Yey, its the Isabelle/Isobel/Isabel trio again!

    I was wondering if the waking was just habit and whether after a while she'd 'forget' to wake up - makes me think I should keep going as we are - but I don't want to be depriving her if she wants food - I guess she'd cry if she was hungry though?! It doesn't help that I am breastfeeding so don't know how much she was taking at the night feed - her feeding times have dramatically reduced at all feeds recently so maybe she's just got more efficient in her sucking!!

    Saying she wakes every half hour isn't as bad as it sounds because its only every half hour(ish) from when she would normally wake up for a feed at around 3.30/4.30 ish - so its not like she's waking up every half hour throughout the night - and when she does stir she's pretty easy to settle again. PP in answer to your question, she didn't always sleep right through after a feed - but she did sleep in longer stretches after a feed than she does now.

    I just wish they could tell you what they want!!!!!!

    Thanks girls! x
  • Lol @ the trio! image x

    Well my little angel slept till 6.45am last night! The only thing I did differently was we went to a friends for tea so she wasn't put to bed till 9pm - to be honest (and this will sound awful) I think I'd prefer the couple of hours in the evening with hubby when she goes to bed at 7/7.30pm than put her to bed late so she sleeps through till a more sociable hour! lol. It was a nice treat though and to wake up and it's daylight was a shock! lol.

    I agree with you rhr I wish they could say what they would prefer and I wish they understand why WE prefer too!!! lol

    xx
  • hi hun Emily used to sleep through the night from her dream feed at 10.30pm until 7.30am but then a couple of weeks ago she started to wake up at 4.30am again, when I spoke to the HV she advised me that if she wasn't hungry which I knew she wasn't as she wasn't doing her hungry cry then to try and pacify her with a dummy or leave her for a few mins to see if she settle as she may have started to wake at this time and it had just become a habit. So when she woke the next morning at 4.30am I left her for 4mins and she drifted back off the when she woke at 5.30 I gave her a dummy, she then woke again at 7.30 when I got her up I did this for a few days and within a week she had gone back to sleeping through. So it might be worth perservering for a few nights with a dummy etc and seeing what happens.

    Happywife and Emily 15 weeks
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