Dr recommends baby stop nursing at night at 4-6 months?

[twins+1]

My 4.5 month old had his check-up today and I was surprised that the pediatrician (whom I reallly like - she nursed all 3 of her kids to 12 mos+ and is NOT pushy with vaccines, recommends safe co-sleeping, and urges parents to not circumcise). Anyway, I was surprised when she told me I could start to not nurse my baby at night to help him learn to sleep at night. I asked 'what if he cries real hard' and she said 'just pat him on the back and after a couple nights he won't wake up to eat'.

The thing is:

1. I don't mind nursing him at night. He hardly wakes up, nurses and then goes right back to sleep (and then we cuddle the rest of the night ) He goes to bed at about 8pm, nurses at about 2am and then 5am (not too bad IMO).

2. He is honestly hungry! I remember waking up at 4am every morning when I was pregnant with him and was starving. So... I can sympathize with him cause I know I was so hungry at night too cause I was growing him!! So, I'm guessing because he is growing so fast, he really is hungry!

3. I want to keep my breastmilk supply up. So its either nurse him (which is easy) or pump (not so fun).

So.. you can safely guess that I'm not going to refuse him his breast milk just cause I want to sleep. But, do babies actually ever begin to sleep thru the night on their own without denying them food? With our twins they were barely drinking any expressed milk from bottles at 7 months and we stopped offering it to them and they did well and slept thru the night since. I was also a complete zombie, losing too much weight from lack of sleep and needed them to sleep thru the night back then. With 1 baby, I'm getting so much more sleep since we side-nurse in bed at night.

Thoughts?

[Ruthla]

There are probably some individual babies who are ready to "not nurse at night" at this age. It's safe to let the baby sleep all night without eating if the baby is one of those few- it's not like having a newborn who may not grow properly if denied food at night.

However, there is no harm in night-nursing a child of any age. The vast majority of 6mo babies are NOT ready to go all night without food, and it's not healthy to deny food to a hungry baby! It's very common for older babies to be distractable and not nurse well during the day, and thus NEED the calories at night. This is less likely to be an issue with bottlefed babies, as they can drink their bottles while looking around, and will eat enough during the daytime hours. I suspect that most of this "sleeping advice" is gleamed from the habits of formula-fed babies, then given as recomendations for ALL babies.

If your doctor is saying "it's safe to let the baby sleep through the night" then he or she is correct. If your doctor is saying "It's bad for 4mo babies to nurse at night" then he or she is dead wrong. If your doctor is saying "It's bad to let the baby co-sleep; you need your sleep; night wean and get that baby in a crib!" then your doctor is handing out parenting advice, not medical advice. Feel free to ignore parenting advice from any source (even me. )

From what you described of your doctor, I think she's just saying "it's safe to nightwean if you want to." If you don't want to, you don't have to. My DS didn't stop nursing at night until he was about 3 years old.

[Heba]

What Ruth said.

Apparently there are babies who sleep through the night at that age, but not mine .

[twins+1]

Originally Posted by Ruthla

There are probably some individual babies who are ready to "not nurse at night" at this age. It's safe to let the baby sleep all night without eating if the baby is one of those few- it's not like having a newborn who may not grow properly if denied food at night.

However, there is no harm in night-nursing a child of any age. The vast majority of 6mo babies are NOT ready to go all night without food, and it's not healthy to deny food to a hungry baby! It's very common for older babies to be distractable and not nurse well during the day, and thus NEED the calories at night. This is less likely to be an issue with bottlefed babies, as they can drink their bottles while looking around, and will eat enough during the daytime hours. I suspect that most of this "sleeping advice" is gleamed from the habits of formula-fed babies, then given as recomendations for ALL babies.

If your doctor is saying "it's safe to let the baby sleep through the night" then he or she is correct. If your doctor is saying "It's bad for 4mo babies to nurse at night" then he or she is dead wrong. If your doctor is saying "It's bad to let the baby co-sleep; you need your sleep; night wean and get that baby in a crib!" then your doctor is handing out parenting advice, not medical advice. Feel free to ignore parenting advice from any source (even me. )

From what you described of your doctor, I think she's just saying "it's safe to nightwean if you want to." If you don't want to, you don't have to. My DS didn't stop nursing at night until he was about 3 years old.

well that sounds about right. she wasn't telling me to stop feeding him, but saying its okay to nightwean. So maybe I was just taking it the wrong way?. She did say to follow my intuition and feelings though. So, if he is waking to eat, you would assume he isn't ready to sleep thru the night, then?

[Bluegoat]

The other thing that sometimes doesn't get passed on is that doesn't mean a 12 hour, or even an 8 hour night. A 6 hour period of sleep is "sleeping through the night" for an infant.

I would never try on purpose to night wan before 6 months, and then only if I was really struggling. But I might try and juggle feedings to be more convenient. OTOH, I find their habits change so frequently until about 6 months, and even after, the PITA factor may not be worth it.

[LadyCatherine185]

It is pretty common for doctors to recommend nightweaning at such a young age.

But that is way to young, IMO, to nightwean. Their tummies are still so tiny and they need that extra nutrition at night.

It sounds like your LO is sleeping GREAT (heck, WAY better than my 13 mo) and that you are enjoying the extra nighttime cuddles, and it doesn't seem to be negatively affecting you.. So, why mess with something good? Keep doing what you are doing Mama, you are doing a great job!

[femalephish]

[QUOTE=Ruthla;14459346]

However, there is no harm in night-nursing a child of any age. The vast majority of 6mo babies are NOT ready to go all night without food, and it's not healthy to deny food to a hungry baby! It's very common for older babies to be distractable and not nurse well during the day, and thus NEED the calories at night. This is less likely to be an issue with bottlefed babies, as they can drink their bottles while looking around, and will eat enough during the daytime hours. I suspect that most of this "sleeping advice" is gleamed from the habits of formula-fed babies, then given as recomendations for ALL babies.

QUOTE]

Smart post!

I think if you want your Babe to stop nursing at night, you could try to nurse more during the day. (like, limit distractions a few times a day to make sure Baby is filling up.) But it sounds like you aren't having trouble- so just keep up what you're doing!

[Bokonon]

Frankly it's none of your doctor's business how, when, or where you nurse. If baby is gaining weight and meeting milestones, that's all she needs to know. She's not the one getting up with the baby in the middle of the night, after all.

[Super~Single~Mama]

If your baby is legitimately hungry in the middle of the night, then nurse him. They need to eat when they are hungry. I wouldn't nightwean that young - my son nurses all night even now (but he reverse cycled so thats another issue) at almost 9months.

And if its not bothering you then its a non-issue!

[twins+1]

Thanks! I'm glad to know I'm not doing anything wrong by letting him nurse at night. He is SUCH a good baby that it would just feel awful to have him cry when he really is just hungry at night. He really only cries or fusses for legitimate reasons, so it makes sense to listen to him.

[PatioGardener]

Originally Posted by twins+1

Thanks! I'm glad to know I'm not doing anything wrong by letting him nurse at night. He is SUCH a good baby that it would just feel awful to have him cry when he really is just hungry at night. He really only cries or fusses for legitimate reasons, so it makes sense to listen to him.

It sounds like you have awesome Mama instincts!

[AFWife]

Originally Posted by Ruthla

However, there is no harm in night-nursing a child of any age. The vast majority of 6mo babies are NOT ready to go all night without food, and it's not healthy to deny food to a hungry baby! It's very common for older babies to be distractable and not nurse well during the day, and thus NEED the calories at night. This is less likely to be an issue with bottlefed babies, as they can drink their bottles while looking around, and will eat enough during the daytime hours. I suspect that most of this "sleeping advice" is gleamed from the habits of formula-fed babies, then given as recomendations for ALL babies.

The bolding is my DS! He barely eats during the day unless he's going down for a nap. It started last month when he learned to sit up...suddenly the world was even cooler.

Originally Posted by twins+1

well that sounds about right. she wasn't telling me to stop feeding him, but saying its okay to nightwean. So maybe I was just taking it the wrong way?. She did say to follow my intuition and feelings though. So, if he is waking to eat, you would assume he isn't ready to sleep thru the night, then?

Exactly, trust your instincts. I've seen moms on here that say their 12mo+ isn't sleeping through the night yet...


FWIW, I still wake up hungry from time to time...and I'm 22 years old.

[MountainMamaGC]

When my DD started moving and exploring more she actually started to nurse more at night. My 19 MO still wakes once per night to nurse.