If you started solids late, did your baby nurse ALL night?

[Acugirl]

My dd is 8 1/2 months...we have started solids, but she is really not eating anything substantial..just a bit of baby oatmeal, and a few spoons of fruit or veggie one time a day...

She is nursing ALL Night long! She has always been a frequent night nurser, but now it is insane! Literally every hr-I have to change her diaper 2 times a night-soakng wet!

Is this because she really needs all these calories at night? I try to get her to nurse more during the day, but she won't...she has always only taken one breast per feeding and now she is so distracted, she doesn't even finish one sometimes!

I am tired and frustrated...I want some more sleep, but I also don't know how to stop nursing dd all night-she cries if I don't nurse her the minute she wakes up!

Any suggestions? I have tried to give her her paci when she wakes, but she wants the boob!
she is teething too, so maybe part of it is for comfort.

[abranger]

You are living my life! Our dd will be 8 months next week and we haven't strated solids yet. I am thinking of starting so MAYBE she will sleep more at night. She is already doing just what you described. Up until a few weeks ago she was waking once or twice a night and I could usually sooth her with the paci the second time. I was thinking that we needed to start solids b/c she was looking for more calories. She is also going to crawl any minute.

I wait on baited breath for responses to your query :



Amy

[Island Mommy]

Oh Acugirl, I hear you. My dd is just the same. The night nursing is getting more and more frequent. Then today she went 6 hours without nursing!! It's just the way it worked out with her nap. As I write this, dh is trying to stuff rice cereal into her. Well, that's overstating it somewhat, but he is trying to encourage her. So far she's just had a bit of peas and has only nursed twice since she got up this morning...it's 6 p.m. I'll probably nurse her only one more time before she goes to sleep. She's a dynamo at night. Last night she was up from midnight until 2:30 a.m. I finally gave her a toy to play with as it was obvious she was not tired.

[Acugirl]

Glad to know I'm not alone-but sorry for you mommas!

it is HARD! I can't force dd to eat!

Last night I was so tired-I had dh wear dd in the sling-and I went to bed at 9. She slept on him until midnight and then brought her to me at 1...I feel SO good this morning having almost 4 hrs of straight sleep-amazing! She was actually better the rest of the night too-not nursing every single hr and slept til 7:30!

Maybe I should try that more often?!

If anyone has been through this and made it out the other side, please let me know!

[Naturalmomma]

I've been there! My older son started solids quite late, but was always an avid night nurser. I remember during growth spurts and teething, his night nursing would be literally every 15 minutes. The oral stimulation helps with the teething.
Even after starting solids around 9 months, he continued the frequent nursings particularly at those times. We co-sleep, so I got to the point where I could just latch him on without waking up all the way! We made it though!

[veganmamma]

Dd just started solids almost a week ago. She is 8 1/2 months old. She doesn't nurse all night, but nurses at least ever 2 hours during the day. Probably going for a real meal every 4 hours or so. Then she nurses once or twice at night but I don't really wake up, so it might be more. I think she is just better able to focus on nursing than some babies. I hear very often that babies who are crawling age start nursing more at night. I could be they need solids, or it could be teething, or they get distracted during the day and don't eat enough then. I would try creating a quiet, calm space to try to get her to focus on nursing more during the day. She isn't going to just start eating tons of solids just b/c you're tired. I don't believe it's good to trick babies into eating more solids. They'll eat exactly how much they need when given the opportunity,
Lauren

[melaniewb]

Well, my DS started solids at 6 months (by HIS choice, not mine- I wanted to wait) and he still nurses ALL night at 8.5 months. Some nights he eats nothing, like tonight, and others he will eat some cereal and a veggie or fruit at dinner, yet he will nurse the same no matter how little or how much he eats.