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How do I wean at least one night feeding?
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Anonymous
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Hi- I have a 7 mo DD and I nurse her around 10-11pm, 1-2am and 4-5am. I want to try to wean the 1-2am feeding because i know she isn't starving and can go 6 hrs tops wihtout nursing (she's previously done 8 hrs). However, I have no idea how to do this. I haven't done any sleep training (obviously) and tried to just soothe her (both picking up and crib-side) but she cried for 45 mins before falling asleep. I didn't ever leave her (and her crib is in our room), but felt awful knowing if i snapped her on the breast, she'd be happy and fall shortly asleep. PLEASE HELP! THANKS SO MUCH! |
Anonymous
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I read the Baby Whisperer I don't have the book in front of me but she suggested something along the lines of
1: first night nurse the baby but cut the session short 2: second night nurse even shorter and give the baby a pacifier 3: third night give the baby a pacifier and try to put her back to bed following nights do the pacifier and back to bed and her theory was they baby would start sleeping through the night feeding time. I have not tried this yet so I don't know how well it works. Good luck! |
Anonymous
| Maybe try nursing her at that feed for about 3 min less for the fist two nights and then gradually decrease the time on that feeding until it's gone. And when doing this, try to nurse her before she is fully awake. Good luck! |
Anonymous
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Thanks for your replies to this. I can't stand not nursing her when I know that is all is takes, but the other part of me thinks this is going to go on...endlessly if i dont help her self-soothe back to sleep without me. |
Anonymous
| Do you have a partner? You could have your partner try to comfort your child instead of you, whom she associates with nursing. On the advice of our midwife, around this age, we had my husband offer a small bottle of expressed milk for a night feeding. It initially made my son REALLY angry, but eventually when he realized he wasn't going to get nursed, he stopped waking up at that time. |
newmama
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| Another thing to consider is, if possible, move the crib from your room so she doesnt sense/smell mama and want to eat. |
Anonymous
| Can anyone report on the Baby Whisperer approach described above? |
Anonymous
| Try the Sleep Easy Solution apprach--take notice of how long you feed her, then gradually decrease it by 2 minutes each night. If she is fussy after you've weaned her down to 0-2 minutes, she most likely is wanting to nurse for comfort and not for food. |
Anonymous
| I've heard that you can have dad give the baby a bottle of water for a few nights instead of nursing. Eventually, they will stop waking, in theory. Has anyone tried this? |
Anonymous
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My DD had the same schedule at 7 months. She's 8 1/2 months now and only on 2 feedings a night: 12-1ish and 4-5ish.
At 8 months, I started not giving her the 11 am feed, and tried my best to comfort her back to sleep instead. I would fed her 6 hours after her last feeding only. First couple of nights were hard, but she got used to it by the third night. Now she sleeps a solid 6 hours from 6:30-12:30. Since daylight savings she's waking up earlier in the morning than I want to, but I'm gradually trying to push that back using the same method. |