How much solids does a baby need to drop night feedings

amother

Goldenrod

Mon, Feb 06 2017, 9:10 pm

So we are seven days into training my ten month old to sleep through the night. I have hit some bumps. She used to nurse for comfort all night long. While sleep training her I tried doing two night feedings and she started doing streches on her own except that some nights she would have a period of off and on crying for two hours. Than I would nurse her and she would sleep a while. In the interim I started her on more solids. I also decided to experiment with nursing every time she wakes and putting her down after 15 minutes. Well. Now she is waking at least four times a night. She is a 20-21 lb girl who likes to eat. Her current daily solid intake is about half a banana and half a small sweet potato. Is that enough to go cold turkey on feedings. I dont know how to sleep train a baby and still nurse her at night. It is not working for me. I just want to add that this journey to sleep train and get her on a normal schedule is very hard for me emotionally. I struggle with anxiety and it has been standing in the way of me being able to feel confident and secure in what I am doing so please if you can all be supportive. Thank you in advance.

amother

Coral

Mon, Feb 06 2017, 9:33 pm

amother wrote:

I just recently started solids and I want to waita few days between each new food. So far we are doing bananas, carrots and sweet potato.

Got it. I don't think there is magic amount of food that will help the nights go better.. but as of now she is eating 'less than average amount' of solids for her age.

I don't have specific experience. Hug

amother

Goldenrod

Tue, Feb 07 2017, 6:24 am

Faigy86 wrote:

I know common wisdom says that more solids equal a better night sleep, but if you think about it - if you'd eat less protein (milk) and more fruits and veges - you wouldn't stay fuller longer - it would be the opposite - wouldn't it be?

I think it is more that in order for a big baby to get all its calories from milk it needs to have a lot more feedings. I don't feel comfortable letting her go all night if she is not on enough solids.

amother

Honeydew

Tue, Feb 07 2017, 6:34 am

Oatmeal is what is filling so mix that with water and apple sauce. Agree, that baby may sleep through the night with no additional food just 1-2 formula bottles a day. I didn't give my baby much formula either but he started banana at 6.5 months and by 10 months he was eating a bowl of Cheerios and milk for breakfast, then yogurt and banana and sweet potato and chicken for example. Let child have time to digest food before bedtime so baby won't sleep with a stomach ache. The longer you wait in between nursing, the more milk you will have and the better feeding baby will get. Try pacifiers or water in middle of night to help sleep longer. It's tough

amother

Goldenrod

Tue, Feb 07 2017, 6:41 am

amother wrote:

I am confused by your post. First off she is not on formula. she is breast fed. Second, are you saying that it's enough solids and I don't need to nurse her at all at night or are you saying to up her solid intake. I can try oatmeal. She reacted to cheerios but it may have been some other ingredient.

rachel6543

Tue, Feb 07 2017, 6:42 am

amother wrote:

A friend of mine advised me to not her feed her at all at night (12 hrs) and than let her eat to fill by day, that she will end up eating more. Please weigh in.

Honestly I'm not a fan of this advice.

I'm not an expert in sleep training, but I'll share what worked for my son. Now my son was older when I did this, like 16-17 months old, he was nursing every 2-3 hrs all night. What I did was slowly wean him from each night time nursing over 2 weeks. First went the 11pm nursing. Instead of nursing I would offer a paci, rock him and/or pat his back until he fell asleep. I did that for a few nights. Then went the 1-2am feeding. I repeated the same thing. Pack back or rock until fell asleep, but no nursing. Then went the 4am feeding. It took about 2 weeks, but then he was sleeping through the night!! I still allowed nursing, but only during the day on demand. However in a few weeks my son just stopped asking to nurse and weaned himself.

I don't think suddenly stopping food for 12 hrs at night is a good idea, esp since your baby is younger. However a gradual weaning like I did might be a good approach. But it is tiring during the transition, but for me it was worth it. Baby was sleeping through the night, but it wasn't a traumatic experience for me or baby doing it in a slower way.

Good luck whatever you decide to do!

amother

Goldenrod

Tue, Feb 07 2017, 6:47 am

rachel6543 wrote:

Thanks for taking the time to share. My baby is very different than yours. She doesn't wake every few hours to feed. She wakes every hour and sucks for comfort. When I tried nursing only a few times a night it confused her. Than I tried nursing whenever she awoke. First two nights she woke only 4 times. And by the third night she was back to waking every hour and not settling afterwards. I think it would help her sleep better if we just didn't do night feedings at all.

rachel6543

Tue, Feb 07 2017, 7:11 am

amother wrote:

Does your baby take a pacifier - if your baby needs to suck for comfort, maybe try offering a pacifier in place of nursing? That definitely helped my son when I quit nighttime nursing. It wasn't my top choice to continue to use a pacifier at an older baby age, but it was the best compromise for us.

amother

Smokey

Tue, Feb 07 2017, 9:28 am

I have a baby around the same age as your baby OP. I feel for you but please dont listen to the advice to stop feeding your baby cold turkey in the night. It is very harsh and can be very painful for your baby. It sounds like you have two issues. First of all your baby sounds like she is hungry. .the amount of food you mentioned is not enough to keep your baby full through the night. My baby nurses through the day and the night Smile

and has three full meals a day and snacks . I could give you a " menu" if your interested... The second issue is it seems like in addition your baby got very used to comfort nursing which is not a bad thing as long as mom can handle it. It sounds like you need more sleep which makes a lot of sense. If I were you, I would keep a log of how often your baby is waking up and I would tackle each wakup gradually over a few weeks so your baby wont be traumatized. You first need to make sure your baby isnt hungry and is eating much more solids during the day. Then the first time she wakes up have your husband ( so u wont be teasing her) go in and offer her a drink and and pat or shush or rock her to bed. Eventually she will hopefully stop waking for that feeding as it isn't being reinforced by nursing. I would just focus on one feeding for a few days ..dont go cold turkey I would nurse her the rest of the night when she wakes up and then gradually have your husband go in for the next wakeup etc until she eventually learns to fall asleep on her own. Also if you know your husband will be going in a) your not letting her cry b) you will have a break. Much hatzlacha its aounds like a very stressful time! Hugs...you will get through this and your a great mom!

amother

Smokey

Tue, Feb 07 2017, 9:37 am

Amother honeydew...im sure you mean well but to clarify its not true that a mother that waits longer in between feedings will have more milk. That is "old school" info ...a mother that nurses more often and follows babys cues aka demand feeding will have more milk and better fattier quality milk and its much better for the baby. The APA recommends demand feeding and if a mom can do it , it is the best for baby...hatzlacha! Very Happy

bookie

Tue, Feb 07 2017, 9:50 am

My baby is bottle fed and almost a year. Until a few days ago she was waking up at night to eat and also just for a paci. I knew she was hungry and would never deprive her of food at night. Based on your babys menu she is probably hungry. From my experience if she takes a paci then first offer that. If she wont take it then she needs to eat.

FranticFrummie

Tue, Feb 07 2017, 9:59 am

In my experience, 10 months is a HUGE growth spurt. Babies eat like there's no tomorrow at that age. If you wait another month or two, and the eating slows down a bit, you'll have a lot better luck. Hang in there!

If your anxiety is really messing with you, please talk to your doctor about it. You may have mild PPD, and not be aware of it.

amother

Goldenrod

Tue, Feb 07 2017, 10:16 am

FranticFrummie wrote:

Thanks for that. I am in therapy. This is actually a major success for me to be able to sleep train her. I am thinking to do one night feeding in the am hours and up the solids by a lot.

amother

Smokey

Tue, Feb 07 2017, 10:33 am

Once a night might not be enough especially if she is going through a growth spurt. Breastmilk is digested super fast and its a long night. Maybe have a talk with your pediatrician. Also you dont want to bombard her with 10 new solids at once. Do everything gradually so as not to confuse ur baby! Hugs ..you will get through this! Your a great mom that ur reaching out for help!enjoy ur cutie Very Happy