How many nights does it take to cut out 3 am feeding?

[Anonymous]

My DD is 9 1/2 months.

She does not need the 3 am feeding - rather does it out of habit.

We started last night working on cutting this out . When she woke up, my husband went to get her, and got her back to sleep (yes there was a bunch of crying in the process - but no nursing).

My question - how many nights did it take for you to eliminate this feeding? We should have started this on Friday night since we are home today and tomorrow - but for a variety of reasons, started last night.

[Anonymous]

It will take a while to kick the habit but some babies take longer than others. I stopped middle of the night feeding the first night my son didn't wake up in the middle of the night. That was around 3 and a half months. If your husband can help get up and soothe the baby, that would help. Don't cave in. At 9 months, your baby is way past needing to be fed in the middle of the night.

[Anonymous]

OP - it's not clear what you are currently doing to discourage the habit - you say your husband goes to get her, but the what? Just holds her, gives her a bottle anyways, sings to her, or what?

I am not sure what the problem is because it sounds like your husband is able to get her to go back to sleep without the nursing, right?

There is no magical number as to how many nights it will be. Every child is different and some "adjust" to the eliminated feeding quicker than others. Some do a transition (like we just offered a sippy cup of water - for us, it was a sucking for comfort issue) and others do cold turkey like what you are doing.

[Anonymous]

I gave my 9 mo. old a bottle of water in the middle of the night (only because it was totally clear he was not really hungry -- i.e., going back to sleep after one ounce) and he started sleeping through after about three nights of that. But he started waking up again when his next teeth came in, then again when the molars came in.

[Anonymous]

It took us a while because we started by switching to a bottle, and then watered-down bottle. But once we cut it out, it took about 1 1/2 weeks. I think it can go quicker for others, though.

[Anonymous]

We had my husband give my son a bottle of expressed milk (only two or so ounces). He took it for three or four nights, but once he realized he was not going to get nursed, he started sleeping through. He was about eight months.

[Anonymous]

OP here -
we intended to start this 3 months ago....
and then teething.... and traveling for the holidays ... and colds....

you know how it goes.

My husband is not giving my DD anything - no bottle of water or expressed breast milk. Just holding her to get her to relax and get back to sleep.

Hope tonight is a little better than last night and that it doesn't take too long to break this habit

[Anonymous]

maybe have a bottle of water on hand to help ease thirst?
good luck!