Eight months old and still wants her nighttime feed
It is quite difficult to break the habit with older
babies without much crying and fussing as they have
gotten accustomed to night feeding. A healthy baby,
by six months or weighing 13-14 pounds, is looking out
for a soothing suck so it is safe to discard nighttime
feeding as rest assure you will starving your baby -
they can go 8-10 hours or more without night feeding.
If the cries are unbearable, a gradual approach may
help. At this age babies should be having 3 meals a
day with milk and solids. You can try feeding your baby
with one more liquid feeding before calling it a night.
Next, each time your baby wakes up in the middle of
the night, give your child 10 minutes to see if she
will fall back asleep. Employ other soothing techniques,
making milk your last resort. Don't carry your baby
but try patting her back or stroking her face to help
settle her. Your final resort will of course be offering
her drink but offer her water or watered down milk because
it is less filling and hence less likely to interfere
with her daytime meals.
Generally, as babies grow older, night time feeding
has more to do with comfort than hunger. So the next
time when baby wakes up offer him comfort but get Dad
to do it.
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