Skip the night feedings?

My son is 5 months and in one of the books I read recently (the one
from the American Academy of Peds) said that at this point, they
shouldn't need to be fed at night.

Last night after eating before bed (at 9), he woke only once at 1AM. I
was asleep and DH comforted him and put him back down without eating.
He woke at 6AM and I fed him then.

Does this make sense? Should I be skipping night feeds at this point?
I am exclusively BF and just started adding some rice cereal about 2
weeks ago.

If he was hungry, wouldn't he not go back down after being comforted?

Thanks in advance,
m

wrote:
My son is 5 months and in one of the books I read recently (the one
from the American Academy of Peds) said that at this point, they
shouldn't need to be fed at night.

Last night after eating before bed (at 9), he woke only once at 1AM. I
was asleep and DH comforted him and put him back down without eating.
He woke at 6AM and I fed him then.

Does this make sense? Should I be skipping night feeds at this point?
I am exclusively BF and just started adding some rice cereal about 2
weeks ago.

If he was hungry, wouldn't he not go back down after being comforted?


If he goes back to bed easily upon being comforted without eating,
fine. But I wouldn't expect it to last. I've never had a baby that
young sleep through the night consistently--my 18 month old still
nurses at night once or twice--but all babies are different.

Leslie

wrote:
My son is 5 months and in one of the books I read recently (the one
from the American Academy of Peds) said that at this point, they
shouldn't need to be fed at night.

Last night after eating before bed (at 9), he woke only once at 1AM. I
was asleep and DH comforted him and put him back down without eating.
He woke at 6AM and I fed him then.

Does this make sense? Should I be skipping night feeds at this point?
I am exclusively BF and just started adding some rice cereal about 2
weeks ago.

If he was hungry, wouldn't he not go back down after being comforted?

Thanks in advance,



'Sleeping through the night' consists of a block of 6 hours of sleep
without nursing. So, as my 5 month old baby does this: nurses at 7 pm,
goes down at 8. Wakes at 11 or 12 pm, nurses, goes back down until 5 or
6 am. That is considered 'sleeping through the night', since there's
generally a block of time that she sleeps for 6 hours without waking to
nurse. Sometimes she changes it up a bit, nurses at 7, goes down at 8,
sleeps until 4, then nurses, and sleeps until 8. She has on occasion,
slept all the way through, but hasn't made it a regular deal. If your
baby goes down without having to nurse, then good for him!

Stasya

wrote:
My son is 5 months and in one of the books I read recently (the one
from the American Academy of Peds) said that at this point, they
shouldn't need to be fed at night.


Stuff and nonsense. Some kids can sleep through at that point, but most
100% breastfed babies will want to eat in the night, and should do so
as needed.

Last night after eating before bed (at 9), he woke only once at 1AM. I
was asleep and DH comforted him and put him back down without eating.
He woke at 6AM and I fed him then.


If he was okay with it and is gaining well, okay, but 5 months is
awfully young to go 9 hours without eating, and 9 hours is a LONG time
for you to go without emptying your breasts. I would think for comfort
you'd *want* one feed in there.

Does this make sense? Should I be skipping night feeds at this point?
I am exclusively BF and just started adding some rice cereal about 2
weeks ago.

If he was hungry, wouldn't he not go back down after being comforted?


Maybe, mabye not. Some kids are more hunger-sensitive than others. My
first one couldn't go more than 2-3 hours without eating her first
months. My second one could go 6 hours without eating from day one,
and it was NOT an improvement, because my first daughter gained like
crazy and was extremely healthy and robust, and my younger has a lot of
issues and lost weight. You're the best judge of your kid. With my
first child, if she'd gone to sleep with just comfort, I'd have known
she wasn't hungry because she always let me know if she needed to eat.
My younger, at 14 months is *finally* telling me when she wants to
eat... I had to schedule her because otherwise she simply wouldn't eat
enough.

My rule of thumb is to look at the individual kid. If he's gaining well
and your supply is good, no problem skipping a feed. If he is not
gaining well, you'd do better waking him up or letting him nurse
whenever he wakes himself up.

Jenrose

wrote:
My son is 5 months and in one of the books I read recently (the one
from the American Academy of Peds) said that at this point, they
shouldn't need to be fed at night.

Last night after eating before bed (at 9), he woke only once at 1AM. I
was asleep and DH comforted him and put him back down without eating.
He woke at 6AM and I fed him then.

Does this make sense? Should I be skipping night feeds at this point?
I am exclusively BF and just started adding some rice cereal about 2
weeks ago.

I would go ahead and *try* to skip night feeds, as it seems he *may* be
ready, but I think the book is full of hooey to say that *all* kids can
do it by this age. Five months is plenty old enough for *some* kids to
sleep through, and a remarkable number do, but you cannot count on it.

Personally, as one whose babies all had actual sleep problems, I think
any routine that allows your baby to be happy and spend most nighttime
hours sleeping and not crying sounds pretty good. (Okay, assuming that
means you too can spend most nighttime hours sleeping and not crying
;-) )

--Helen

wrote:
My son is 5 months and in one of the books I read recently (the one
from the American Academy of Peds) said that at this point, they
shouldn't need to be fed at night.

That's the kind of statement that I find is best ignored.

Last night after eating before bed (at 9), he woke only once at 1AM. I
was asleep and DH comforted him and put him back down without eating.
He woke at 6AM and I fed him then.

Does this make sense? Should I be skipping night feeds at this point?

Depends entirely on what's working for all of you as a family. I went
on nursing Jamie at night until he was sixteen months, purely because it
was the quickest and easiest way to deal with it when he woke in the
night - I didn't have time or energy to spend standing by his cot
comforting him, so I just pulled him into bed with me, stuffed a nipple
in his mouth, and went back to sleep. If nursing him at night had been
a problem, I'd have stopped it a lot earlier.

If he was hungry, wouldn't he not go back down after being comforted?

I agree. I know Jenrose told you that her second daughter didn't have
normal hunger signals and needed to be fed on a schedule, but, as you
may or may not know, this was actually due to a rare genetic problem
that Jenrose's daughter has (and that made itself obvious in other ways
as well, so wouldn't be something undiagnosed or unnoticed). Some
people say that some newborns don't wake to feed as often as they should
- but your son isn't a newborn, and I think it's fair to assume that if
he wants food he'll let you know loud and clear. Conversely, if he's
settling without food and staying asleep for hours after that, he isn't
hungry and you can quite reasonably do whatever is easiest for you as a
way to put him back to sleep.


All the best,

Sarah
--
http://www.goodenoughmummy.typepad.com

"That which can be destroyed by the truth, should be" - P. C. Hodgell

wrote in message
oups.com...
My son is 5 months and in one of the books I read recently (the one
from the American Academy of Peds) said that at this point, they
shouldn't need to be fed at night.

Last night after eating before bed (at 9), he woke only once at 1AM. I
was asleep and DH comforted him and put him back down without eating.
He woke at 6AM and I fed him then.

Does this make sense? Should I be skipping night feeds at this point?
I am exclusively BF and just started adding some rice cereal about 2
weeks ago.

If he was hungry, wouldn't he not go back down after being comforted?

Thanks in advance,
m

I think at 5 months, you should NOT skip a night feeding. Just my opinion,
but they go through so many growth spurts, it doesn't seem right to try and
restrict a meal. My first child didn't go without a night feeding until 8
months or so, and we're at 6 months right now with EMily, and she still
needs 1-2 feeds per night.

Now, if your child is easily soothed back to sleep without a feeding, maybe
it's not critical, but if your son is difficult to get back to sleep, he is
probably hungry and should be fed.

Dear,

Health experts recommends exclusive BF for first six months and then
weaning plus BF for more than two years. Haven't u started cereals a
bit early?
anyway it was just an advice. Thumbs up on BF.
wrote:
My son is 5 months and in one of the books I read recently (the one
from the American Academy of Peds) said that at this point, they
shouldn't need to be fed at night.

Last night after eating before bed (at 9), he woke only once at 1AM. I
was asleep and DH comforted him and put him back down without eating.
He woke at 6AM and I fed him then.

Does this make sense? Should I be skipping night feeds at this point?
I am exclusively BF and just started adding some rice cereal about 2
weeks ago.

If he was hungry, wouldn't he not go back down after being comforted?

Thanks in advance,
m

I would play it by ear. I don't think there's any one
right or wrong answer. Questions to consider: what are
reasons you want him to sleep through the night, and
reasons you don't want him to? For example, if you're
desperate for a longer sleep, it will be of some importance
to you to get him to sleep longer. If you don't mind waking
to feed him, that's not much of an issue. You might want to
keep the night feedings to keep up your milk supply or to
try to keep your periods from coming back (or vice versa).
It might be easy or difficult to get him to sleep through.

I don't think there's any "should" here. You just
consider your reasons and make a decision. You may
change your mind again later, too.

When he's teething or sick he may need/want to nurse
frequently through the night for comfort. Hunger is not
the only reason to nurse; and hunger doesn't always keep
a person awake.

In article .com,
" wrote:

My son is 5 months and in one of the books I read recently (the one
from the American Academy of Peds) said that at this point, they
shouldn't need to be fed at night.

snort

Please ask the AAP to post that book to my son. He is 1 year old and wakes at
about 1am, then again at about 4am, followed by frequent feeds till 6:30,
whereupon he's ready to start the day.

I have a 5yo who woke regularly at midnight for a feed until 3.5yo. BUT he
now sleeps a good night's sleep and night wakings are very rare. Unless a
chld is waking at the end of every sleep cycle, I don't think there is
anything wrong.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"Parenthood is like the modern stone washing process for denim jeans. You may
start out crisp, neat and tough, but you end up pale, limp and wrinkled."
Kerry Cue