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DS and eating at night
So, night weaning went pretty well with Nolan. Between 12 and 5 were our "no nurse" hours and if he'd wake up during that time DH would get up with him and he'd quickly go back to sleep.
However, as part of that routine we've been giving him a larger snack just before bed, otherwise he would wake up several times. With this pattern, he'd usually wake up just before midnight to nurse and then sleep through until 5. Now our system is failing. He's been going to sleep at 7:30ish and waking up at 2 or 3. DH goes to him and he's inconsolable. I get him--his tummy is rumbling so I feed him and he goes back to sleep and sleeps until morning.
So--I think out new routine is he gets to nurse the first time he wakes up, regardless of time and after that if he wakes up DH gets up with him.
The pedi told us at his last appointment that he doesn't NEED to eat at night, but lately it seems like he actually does need to. He's a good eater and always eats well at dinner at 5:30 and then we do a large snack around 7:00. I'm hoping that this is a growth spurt, and once it's over he'll sleep straight through the night--but I'm not banking on it :-)
Thoughts? Does he NEED to eat at night?
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Re: DS and eating at night
if you feed him, and he goes right back to sleep and it only happens once a night I would just wait to see if it passed on its own. I was never bothered by a single night waking that was just a quick snack and her falling back to sleep without a fight.
Also, I don't think your system is failing. His schedule just changed and he is sleeping longer before waking up hungry.
Agree. Even if he "shouldn't need to eat" that does not mean that it is wrong to nurse him. It could be a growth spurt, it could be teething or he could just need to eat something between bedtime and wake-up. Some systems of our body just can't be controlled and sometimes it is better to go with the flow than fight it.
Thanks ladies! That was my initial instinct--but because this was the second time we night weaned, I wanted to make sure that there was some reason I shouldn't follow my gut on this one.
The last thing I want to do is slip back into mutiple night wakings and him eating all night long. So for now we'll go with eating at the first wake-up if he insists, and DH putting him back to sleep for the others.
Its up to you, but unless he has a problem with his metabolism (medical condition, liver disorder, etc) my pediatrician (kids plus, all doctors are lactation consultants as well) supported night weaning after six months. By that they meant that an infant should be able to sustain their glucose (blood sugar) levels without eating for 6-8 hours after six months. ITs probably a learned behavior for him, its comforting to him, he doesn't need it.
Good luck
Unfortunately, I stopped nursing around 7 months (not by choice) - but I just made a post above that I'm dealing with kind of the same thing right now. G is 11 months old.
I have no advice, as I'm asking for some, too. I just wanted to tell you to hang in there! Good luck. I hope it resolves itself quickly.