10 month old eating 8+ oz overnight, not sleeping.

[JulieInChicago]

So, we figured out 10 month old was just a non-sleeping model, seeing as how he has yet to sleep through the night.  The best we've ever done is for him to sleep 7:30pm - midnight, nurse, midnight - 3am, nurse, 3am - 5:30am.

Well, I had to go out of town for work and my husband was feeding bottles, so for the first time we saw how much he was actually eating overnight-- it was 8-9 oz.  No wonder he's not sleeping!

So, I feel like night weaning is sort of harsh, but there's no way we'll get him to sleep more (which he needs as much as we do) without somehow nudging him toward eating less at night.

Does anyone have any ideas for how to help him either consolidate those feedings (i.e. eat one big bottle at midnight) or just eat less at night?  During the day we feed solids and milk (pumped, since I"m working) on demand.

[Parker'smommy]

How much does he eat during the day? That's where I would start....maybe try to feed him more during the day?

But.....when I worked, I know that my ds nursed more at night  to make up for lost time in connecting with me during the day. Nursing is more than nutrition. 

Why so many oz in bottles at night then? Well, it could be he is used to nursing at night, so he kept it up with the bottles. He may have woken to nurse, but took the bottle anyways as a substitute. 

I think 10 months is personally too young to nightwean. But it's my opinion that babies need to eat around the clock the first year or more. 

Good luck!

[porcelina]

First of all, he may not really be eating all that, just because drinking from a bottle is different from drinking from you. After all, he has to wait for let down, etc. But, even if he is taking in that much, it's probably normal. My 10 month old is also nursing about twice a night, at around 10 and 2 am. If you want to nudge him towards eating less, you could cut him off the breast a little sooner, and have him settle back to sleep without the nipple in his mouth. Say, for 3 nights, feed for 5 minutes, then 3 nights for 3.5 minutes, then 3 nights for 3 mins, etc. Then, eventually, he will be taking in less, and it will be easier for him to live without it. Maybe even focus on one feeding at a time, so that he can make up for it with the others. First, maybe phase out the 2 am one, then work on the midnight one.

I'm trying to do something like this, but not very systematically. The problem is, at 2 am, I am just really tired! I really, really, don't want to have to deal with crying and it is so much easier to nurse. But, in theory, I'm working on it. Sometimes I get up and bounce him for 30 seconds, which is about all it takes (for now), and sometimes I'm too tired.

Good luck!

[JulieInChicago]

thanks so much for the ideas.

So, Saturday I focused on feeding him ALL DAY- I picked him up to nurse every hour or so.  Plus, I made sure he had good naps.  Saturday night was much better!  Then yesterday I did the same- lots of nap time, lots of nursing, lots of mama time, and last night was better too.

We're back to 12am and 3am wake-up nursing.

Porcelina- I'm like that too!  I'd rather nurse him and doze off than fight it and have his screaming keep us awake.