How often should my 6 m.o. "need" to nurse at night?

[RachelW]

O.K., first let me say that I know that babies nurse for all sorts of reasons and not just because they are hungry. But, that said, I wanted to know how often a 6 m.o. should be nursing at night? Is it the same pattern as during the day? DH and I just moved our DD out of our bed and into a crib in our room. She goes to sleep at 8 and wakes up at 11, 2, and 5. I nurse her as soon as I hear a peep from her at those times and then she goes right back to sleep. Last night, at 2 I had to use the bathroom right as she was waking up, so DH walked over to her and rubbed her back, planning to sooth her for a minute until I could get there to nurse her. But, she went right back to sleep. Does this mean that she doesn't "need" to nurse every three hours for hunger, but rather for comfort? I guess I am just trying to figure all of this out and trying to make sure that I am not denying her food if a typical 6 m.o. is "supposed" to eat through the night.

[alegna]

There is a great rage of normal. I would say that the average 6 month old needs to nurse somewhere between every hour and every 7 hours at night ;) Listen to your child. If she's asking to nurse then she needs to nurse.

-Angela

[irwinleah]

My pediatrician just told us that our 6-month-old daughter should be able to go 10-12 hours without eating at night. I think it's hogwash! Maybe she could....but why should she? It would be a battle to get there....but I've experienced similar things to you. I usually try putting her back to sleep without nursing if it's been less than 4-5 hours since she ate last. If it works and she sleeps another couple hours, I assume she wasn't hungry and didn't need it. But my daughter doesn't really nurse for comfort....what I mean is she doesn't start looking to nurse at random times. She pretty much nurses when she's hungry and that's it. I also know when I offer to nurse her at night, if she eats super slow or not very much (you know how your baby nurses if super hungry or not) then I know she's really not hungry.
I think nursing for comfort is wonderful if it works for you and your baby seems to want or need it. I just find that I'm totally awake when she's nursing in bed at night, so if she's OK to not nurse except for hunger, then that's what I prefer for my own sanity.
I find myself asking that same question, though--should I feed her? I also have the issue of gassiness with her and it seems like the more she eats during the night, the more issues she has towards morning with gas (she won't burp after feeding at night). So I'm trying to just give her what she needs physically and emotionally and that's all. Make sense? Good luck.

[wsgrl84]

a 6 month old doesn't NEED to nurse everytime they wake up. I discovered this when DS was 4 months... I try to stretch the hours longer between feedings..now he can last 5 hours w/o feeding! Just watch ur baby, u will know. Try soothing back to sleep instead of feeding everytime. Eventually they will "sleep through the night"...eventually...at least thats what I like to tell myself :p

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

I have tried on occasion to get ds and dd when she was nursing to go back to sleep without nursing. If they will go back to sleep with soothing and dont keep wanting to nurse then I know they were not hungry, but if they will not go back to sleep with soothing then I know they need to nurse. I did this with dd till she weaned at almost 32months. I will do the same with ds. I think it is a great idea to always try the soothing first then go onto nursing if it dosnt work. That way they can learn differnt ways of relaxing.

[wannabe]

HUGE range of normal here, I would say.

My particular six month old - yes, she was hungry. She ate every two hours during the day and every four at night. She would NOT resettle without eating.

I don't think you'll lose anything by attempting to settle her back with patting, and if she simply wakes more, then yes, she's hungry.

I agree with others that I'd experiment with soothing her to sleep without eating if she wakes in the night. You could also try letting her make more noises before you go to her. My daughter will often make one or two squawky sounds as she squirms and goes back to sleep.

[smilla653]

My LC actually told me that babies don't need to eat at night after 6 months, but I have yet to meet a baby who wasn't sleep-trained who did that!

I wouldn't stress too much about the semantics of what you do. We cosleep and I'm sure they are plenty of times when DS stirs and I just subconsciously snuggle him and he goes back to sleep. Your baby will let you know when he's hungry. As to my DS's feeding pattern, he usually wakes about 3 times per night to nurse. When he's teething it's much more often. Occasionally it has been less. Lately, he has started comfort-nursing for a few sucks just to get himself to sleep and eats a LOT at around 4 AM or so. There's an ebb and flow to these things.

[royaloakmi]

In my LLL group, the leaders had info that suggested that some babies have a biological need to eat at night till about 18 months - how often? Only you can know.

I would try soothing first. You will probably know within a minute or two if she actually wants to nurse, or is just transitioning to a new sleep cycle.

I nursed my twins before they barely peeped (b/c they would wake my husband and eachother and it would be mayhem). Now, they are over 2 years and still need the boob to get back to sleep everytime - I really wish I had tried a little more variety of soothing at a younger age.

[gottaknit]

Delete the word "should" from your vocabulary. Don't should on yourself, and don't should on others. :wink

If your DH can rub baby's back and she goes back to sleep, that's a great thing to know, and a great skill for dad to have. If she really needs to nurse, it won't work, and then you nurse her. :)

[Abylite]

Hi Rachel!!!

As you know...my DD is 6 mo old too....

I wonder the same things sometimes. Lately I"ve been putting her to sleep in her crib that's in our room between 8 and 9. Last night she slept until 2:00am. That was miraculous to me!! I didn't even want to "try" anything else as far as soothing....I just grabbed her in bed and fed her. I figure if she doesn't need to eat, then she wouldn't wake up??? So just to let you know that I'm going through the same kind of situation except that I'm not yet ready to put her back in the crib after a middle of the night feeding in fear she won't settle! The boob usually works!

[chiro_kristin]

My babe is 5-1/2 months and nurses about every two hours at night. We co-sleep. Sometimes he nurses like he's hungry, sometimes he's obviously nursing for comfort.

[turtlemama77]

I usually just nurse dd (13 months) back to sleep because it's less work for me (we cosleep). If I tried to soothe her any other way, or heaven forbid, dh tries, she's wide awake for much longer than if I just nurse her. I doubt I'll be nursing her when she's in college, so we're just going with it for now. I personally don't feel I have the right to say whether or not she's hungry. Even I get hungry at night sometimes.