My 8 month old doesn't want solids yet. I want to work with him on sleeping longer than 2 hours at a time, but don't want to starve him , either. Would an 11, 2, and 6 am be enough at this age for a baby who is 100% breastfed? My husband is taking me on a 3 day weekend getaway in 7 weeks (I'll be pumping) and I don't want watching him to be a nightmare for my mom.
I trully appreciate EVERYONE'S suggestions. Sometimes hearing all the different ideas makes it easier to discern your own true feelings, because as you read things, it immediately resonates in you "I feel good about doing that" or "I don't feel comfortable doing that".
In the end, I have decided not to change anything about his sleeping. We cosleep, and I do recall, after hearing other moms say it, that when my first son stayed overnight with grandma he woke less for her since I was not there. He probably does eat so much just because I am right there. He does take naps in his crib and sleep by himself until I come to bed (from 7-10) so he is able to sleep without me.
While I practice many activities that would be considered attachment parenting, I do not do them for the sake of attachment, because I have observed all the families I personally know who practice attachment parenting maintain child-centered homes, and my husband and I want our home to be whole-family centered (what's best for *everyone*, not revolving around the baby). I cosleep because it is a proven way to increase lactational amenorrhea (period of infertility after childbirth), since my husband and I do not practice any form of birth control and want pregnancy to come when I am physically ready for it; and because he can feed all through the night but I don't really have to "wake up", which gives me energy for the day with my toddler. As far as leaving him for this trip, I know that my husband really craves some time with just me. He has been working very hard, and this getaway is to replenish his spirits. As much as my baby needs to be nurtured, sometimes my husband does too, and while I understand this may be hard for the baby, I know my baby well enough to believe he will respond to the separation satisfactorily and all our children will benefit from harmonious, in love parents. I have to go with my gut.
As far as food goes, I am in no hurry for him to try solids, I only mentioned them to reflect the fact that his night feedings are not due to hunger for solids since he rejects them. We have food allergies in our genetics and will not introduce grains til WELL over a year.
Get him on some solids asap. If he is full he should be up 0-1 times a night at this age unless he is sick or teething.
Breastfed babies, especially exclusiev (meaning no solids or supplements at all) need to be fed on demand (I'm sure you know). Especially at this age when they are getting more active and don't nurse as much during the day...they make up for it at night! I wouldnt limit his feedings at night if I were you. If he's waking to eat, he needs it. Is the only reason you want to limit him because you worry he will be hard to handle for your Mom? If so, its only temorary and I'm sure she'll manage. She may be tired a few days, but also, because you arent there, he may not wake as frequently for her as he does for you. He senses you and smells you and it reminds him to wake and eat. Also too, 7 weeks is almost 2 months away, and as I'm sure you have already learned, babies change weekly. So by the time your trip rolls around, he may be on solids by then, or may be sleeping better by then. Point is (and I'm so glad you are doing baby-led solids...so many women push solids much too early) with the breastmilk being his sole nutrition, it's best to let him decide when and how much he needs. He sounds perfectly healthy and normal! I hope that helps! Good luck and enjoy your trip.
My 9 month old isn't really eating solids yet either and for the most part was only getting up twice to nurse. Once at 12or 1 and then again around 4. I would start trying to slowly get him to the two or three feeding now though. It's going to take some time. When he gets up to nurse in the middle of the night try with every other waking to just rock or bounce him back to sleep. Use nursing as a last resort. I'm back in that boat right now with my little man. Good luck.
Hi there,
Babies should show signs of readiness for solids and even then solids are an introduction. Signs include sitting up securely, keeping tongue back when swallowing, interest in your food and has the pincer grasp ( can pick food up himself). The baby who needs food swiped back in his mouth is not ready yet! Pureed foods are not really needed. Try peas, pasta, mac/cheese. Introduce one at a time and look for reactions. Feeding solids too early just causes allergies later in life and is damaging to the gut. There's many books out like "Baby, Let's Eat!"
Oatmeal in a bottle is not current information and is not considered safe. Most people posting are not childcare specialists and just opinions of mothers with varying degrees of education. Try to find reliable sources of info: books by Jay Gordon, MD or William Sears or La Leche League.
I hate to point this out, but 9 months is not a recommended time to have separation from your infant. Read through your parenting books and you will see that this is a time that can cause separation anxiety for your baby. It's not only a feeding issue but an emotional one.
Since you seem like you have high standards for mothering, take a look at http://www.attachmentparenting.org/
Best!
H.
hi R., you got lots of good advice here, im not gonna repeat..... just wanted to add in a little fyi... i went to fla and pumped the whole trip, came back with my little cooler bag full of precious breastmilk in those 5 oz bags. in the airport, they made me unpack all the bags and lay them out and they swabbed each one with these thingies. though i wasnt thrilled about these people handling the milk, and neither were the million people on line behind me, it all worked out thank goodness, and they let me bring them on. but they werent going to at first, it took some real "convincing" on my part. just wanted to give you a heads up, it might be worth a phone call to the airline. in any case, have a woooooonderful vacation, i hope you have a great time!
Are you cosleeping? I find that with my 9 month old, if we're sleeping in the same bed, he wakes up practically every 1-2 hours and insists on pretty much being stuck to me most of the night. . . but, if I go out for a few hours at night and my husband is home watching him, he sleeps *great* for him and will wake only once or twice the entire night!
It's being near me that keeps him waking up, between my movements and him being able to smell me and therefore he knows he can be stuck to me, I think. We're still cosleeping, but I know it helps me find some peace of mind knowing that he at least sleeps well for my husband (although we haven't left him with anyone else at night yet, so I'm not sure how that will work when the time comes).
If you're not cosleeping then what I just said is probably useless to you, sorry :)
Would an 11, 2, and 6 am feeding be enough for an EBF 8 month old? I think it depends- is he waking up and really EATING, or is he looking for snuggling and comfort nursing?
Good luck!
by 8 months even a purely breast fed child can go at least 8 hours without any concern for hunger... your child is probably still waking up frequently because he loves to snuggle and nurse with his mom - not out of nutritional need. i would start working on cutting back your night-time feedings... otherwise he could continue to wake up wanting to nurse until he is 2 or 3! aren't you exhausted? you need sleep too.
My pediatrician told me that we had to cut out night time feedings at 6 months (some books say 6 mos, some say 9 mos). I told the doctor that I didn't want to, because night time feedings were when my son would actually nurse for about 20 minutes - during the day he nurses for about 5 minutes. I was concerned that he wouldn't be getting enough to eat. The doctor said that once he went a couple of nights without anything to eat, he would start to eat more during the day. We stopped the middle of the night feedings that very night and that week was horrible - but worth it. My husband had to help out a lot because I wouldn't be able to comfort my son since he was used to nursing. We were told that we could offer him a bottle of water, which we did - he didn't want it though. Supposedly, if you offer a bottle of water the baby won't want it and eventually will stop waking up looking to eat, knowing that he will only get water. He is 9 months old now. His last feeding is usually somewhere between 8 and 9 pm. His first feeding is anytime after 5am. He still doesn't sleep thru the night, but we know that he isn't waking up from hunger at this point. We have been VERY slowly introducing solids since he was about 5 mos old. He has reflux, so I don't want to give him too much too soon. He is now up to 3 solid meals a day, and I am still breastfeeding him. My advice would be to cut out the 2am feeding, and continue with the 11pm and 6am feedings, if you are comfortable with that. I hope that you have found this to be helpful. Best of luck to you!
At 8 mo old even a breast fed baby should be sleeping the night through. Perhaps he is not getting enough to keep him satisfied long enough? I would say he should at least be taking 2-3 tbsp of cereal evenings which will curb his hunger and help him sleep the night through. I breast fed all four of mine and all were sleeping through the night by the time they were 2mo old, the oldest started solids around 3mo, the twins started solids around 7 mo, our youngest not until 9 mo (he slept the night through at 1 wk old! he did make up for it during the day and was gaining weight so we didn't worry.)Blessings & good luck.
I would think your Mom would get him on a good schedule while you are gone..a change of caregiver may help his situation. Yes every 3-4 hrs is fine. I always like to feed my babies at 11 then go to bed and wait for them to wake up. I would encourge you too try food every few days to see if he is ready, this will also change your routine at night. I am so glad you are going away hope the pumping goes well. Have you started him on a cup? He should be very capable of using a cup for juice or formula/breastmilk. Will your Mom use any solids while you are gone? Babies take things from other that they won't take from their Mom. My second baby never had a bottle because I did not try to introduce it until he was older 4 months...I never did that again! haha Hope your time away is blessed!~D.
Hi R.,
It sounds like he's feeding for comfort since it's that often. My daughter didn't eat solid food regularly until 11 months. She played with it but ate little.
You might want to get a magnetic sleep pad for the baby. It will induce more delta level sleep. There's no need for him to be eating at night anymore and I think 11 and 6 would be adequate and if he's sleeping on the pad he's highly unlikely to wake up. Disrupted sleep is very unhealthy and will age you faster than you probably want to age.
I wish I had known about the pads sooner. I ended up with chronic fatigue from the constant night wakings and studied quite a bit about sleep after that.
S. Hoehner
www.ncdpro.com/detoxqueen call me if you'd like more info about the magnetic pads.
Have you kept trying to start him on solids? I read that it could take up to 10 times for a baby to accept new foods. If he didn't like cereal (it is bland!) perhaps he would like Stage 1 apples or pears. My son eats everything in sight, so we started on peas and he gobbled them up. But in your case, you could start with the "good stuff" first to get him used to eating solids. That will help fill him up so he sleeps longer through the night. A good site for feeding is www.wholesomebabyfood.com. It has tips for introducing solids and also sample menus by age. Good luck, and have a wonderful trip!
Hi there- I have a 7 month old and have exclusivly bf frm the beginning however i have introduced food. Here are a couple of things that helped him sleep through the night.
I load up his before bedtime breastmilk bottle- i did it gradually and am now up to 10 oz- i know it sounds like a lot, but he takes it. The bottle is all breast milk but some moms use formula before bed which i heard helps them sleep too. Also, i introduced oatmeal(rice cereal made him really constipated). I mixed the oatmeal with breastmilk and he seemed to like it. I also heated up the milk before mixing it with the oatmeal. Once he was on oatmeal i gradually mixed in other stuff to the oatmeal and he takes it. I occasionally use water now with the oatmeal and occasionally use formula with the oatmeal because it's a whole lot of pumping for me for that night time bottle and he eats three oatmeals a day. Hope this helps!
PLEASE, remember to take your pump with you! A breast infection can ruin a romantic time together. If you don't have a pump, you can hand express the milk. Have you tried bananas, avocado or sweet potatoes as first foods? If your son if refusing these good foods too, his body is telling you he is not ready for solids. But, seven weeks is a LONG time in the changes of a baby. Otherwise the timing seems good if that is what he currently does. ;)
I am a mother of a 3 month old who has been sleeping 6+ hours at night since 6 weeks old. He is 100% breast fed. The trick here is to feed them up until 10:00pm-12:00am and then put them to bed. Once in bed after midnight let the child call the shots on being fed. If they wake up and cry for food then feed them. Do not stay on a 2-3 hour schedule at night otherwise they will not learn to sleep on their own for long periods.
Since about 7 weeks we have been able to feed him around 7:30pm, put him to bed, and he will sleep through until about 2-3:00am and then stay down until about 7:00am. I made sure that I started letting him call the feedings at night instead of forcing him to eat on a schedule. If they are hungry they will ask for food...better that your son gets used to this now before your trip. Good thing you have about 7 weeks to get him into the swing of things. I worked back progressively from about 10:00pm until 7:30pm. Now he goes down without a problem. My sister with a 9 month old, 100% breast fed baby has done the same thing with the same results.
By 8 months even an exclusively breastfed baby should be able to sleep through the night without any feedings. Don't let people pressure you into starting solids before you are ready. There is nothing wrong with waiting until your baby shows interest. I have several friends who waited until their little one was 10 monhts before starting solids. Their babies are all healthy and eating fine. But babies are definitely ready to try some foods by 8 months so if your baby seems interested it might help to try some cereal at bedtime. . .
Anyway, Chances are a alot of his waking is due to habit. Maybe try having your husband get up with him during the night and at first just rocking him back to sleep without any food, and then after a few nights just leave him in his bed and pat his back until he falls back to sleep. . . then eventually try to let him fuss for a couple minutes and just see if he can get himself back to sleep. Alot of times they'll surprise you and go right back to sleep after a minute or two. I say it's a good idea for you not to be getting up with him during the times when you want to wean his feedings because he'll expect milk from you.
Anyway, hope that helpds! Good luck!
