How to reduce the Frequency of Feeds at Night

Hi!
I had a problem and asked a couple of my friends and relatives for advice. I'm reprducing all of it here so we all benefit from it!

Me
Hi!
I need advice.
Srushtee is 13 months old now. So far, if she'd had a good dinner, she would sleep for 4-5 hours at a stretch and then ask for my feed maybe every 2hours or so. I'd get enough sleep that way and things were fine.
Of late, even if she's had a good dinner, she wakes up every one hour for a feed. Then, somewhere between 3 and 5a.m., she wants to feed continuously for about an hour or so before she sleeps for the next two hours. I am unable to get enough sleep this way.
Did any of you face this kind of a situation? What did you do to come out of it? Is this a phase that will pass by itself? How long did this phase last in your kids?
All your experience will greatly help. I really need help!
Love,
Sonu.

Niharika
hi!
this seems like a growth spurt. the metabolic activities increase making
them more hungry and demanding. also she maybe playing more between her
sleep and meal, thus digesting the meal sooner.
one way is to put her on bottle feed, it works. once she is into her sleep
for an hour or so, offer her about 6 ounces of milk (plain or junior
horlicks).
put her to sleep in diapers because winter can make her pass urine often and
disturb her sleep, for which she needs to feed on you for longer hours to
pacify herself.
hope this helps.
take care,
love,
niha.
(Niharika Tiwari is a dear friend and a mother of two wonderful children! Her younger daughter is around 15 months old.)

Jayashree
Are you still breast feeding her? I had this exact same problem. My
pediatrician advised me to stop/wean her away. It took a couple of months,
but things settled down. She was 15 months old at the time.
Love,
Jayu
(Jayashree Chava is my aunt. Her daughter is around 22 years old. So this advice stems from EXPERIENCE)


Frian
i noticed that khushru wanted to feed a lot when he had growth spurts, so see if she does it for a week or so n then stops. maybe she is just going thru a growth spurt!

Otherwise she is probably just growing up n breast milk is not enough for her. usually after a year kids need something more substantial n filling, n invariably breast milk is too light by then. i know that breast milk is best but by the time baby is a year it is not sufficient by itself. I had the same problem with Khushi n i used to give him a tin of custard in the night when he first woke up n he started sleeping better n longer.

Try increasing her solid intake in the evenings with maybe a good snack before dinner.

Also she is probably comfort feeding more than anything else. I breast fed Khushi till 15 months but it was more just a comfort n bonding thing rather than nutrition food. You need to introduce regular milk or formula soon as it would be more filling n just breast feed 2 or 3 times a day, or completely stop it. The problem with Khush was he didn't want to take any other milk once i weened him off n till today he doesn't drink any milk. So I supplement his calcium intake with lots of custard n cheese. Besides he knew I was trying to ween him off n he would keep demanding more feeds as a comfort thing. See what works best for u.

Just another thing..... check out if she has worms by any chance. That might also explain the increase in appetite.

good luck n take care. will catch up another time, been real busy with 2!!

love
Friu.
(Frian Patel works with children! Also, She has just delivered her second baby boy just about a month ago and still took the time to help me out. Friends truly are God's gift to us!)


I hope to receive more advice from other Mom's I'd asked for help. I'll post it here as I receive it! I'll also try out all of it and tell you what worked best for me right here!

Until then, take care and do share your experiences here with us!