Why should we drop night time feeds?

I had the exact same question, my little boy is now 6 months old and I also read the baby sense book and worried that I might be doing something wrong. Ethan still wakes up at 2am and I then give him his bottle which he will finish. I tried giving him a bit of water last night and he fell asleep again after taking a few sips. I assume that he just wants to sleep with a bottle but when I tried giving his dummy for suckling purposes he didn't want it.

I'm now going to see how it goes throughout the night. He only had one night where he slept right through and that was only because he had a bottle at 8pm. I gave him breast also last night and he always falls asleep with the booby still.

This is just my personal opinion, and I'm sure there are people who might differ.

I think your LO's drop their feeds when they are ready to do so. For me personally, if Hannah wakes up at night and wants something to drink, then I give her a bottle. Even for Mia, she has her toddler-bottle-type thing that is next to her bed and some nights she has a sip or two and other nights she doesn't touch it.

I just figure that even though they're small, my children are still people and I'm a grown up and I still get thirsty and want a drink of water some nights, so why should I expect or demand anything less from my children.

So my advice, let him to do it at his own time. when he is ready and his body is ready he will naturally drop some feeds and sleep better, until then just cherish the moments of closeness you have with him.

Zodwa, that is a really great question since I don't really mind getting up at night.

B still has a bottle, or not during the evening (round 11 - 12) then sleeps till the next morning 7 - 8am. I'm not too phased about taking it away. Perhaps she just wants it ever once in a while because she needs the extra cuddle.

Some nights she sleeps straight through so it's not really an association thing for her.

I can understand someone doing it for their child when it has become nothing more than a bad habbit.

Zodwa, my LG is 7 months old. Since I started working again (she was about 4 months), my mother would give her bottle at about 16h00-17h00, and I would give veg at 18h00 and then bottel after that, but she refused the bottle.

Now, she doesn't always want to eat at night, and I don't give a bottle after the meal and she sleeps from 18h30/19h00 to 05h00 without even waking one time. Thus she has her last bottle at 17h00.

In the beginning I also though that maybe she would starve, but also realised that she would drink or eat if she was hungry. Also, she would cry, which she doesn't.

She does however LOVE her bottle at 05h00. I have it ready before she is awake and she drinks it with passion.

Hi,

My paed adviced me to let LK stop night feeds on her own. He said if she wakes at night she is hungry and if she does not she is full and I shouldn't wake her .

She has been sleeping throughout the night (from 10pm til 7-8am) for weeks now.

My assumption is at 5 months, if she wakes up she might still be hungry but I do not know.

Zodwa, my babysense book advises to drop the night time feed from 5 -6 months. Medically speaking they should be getting all the nutrients from food and milk during the day, in other words, studies have shown that if you carry on feeding at night time, it is purely for comfort and not nutrional needs.
I would strongly advise (if you love your sleep) to try and stop the night bottle from about now. It becomes a problem if you continue giving the bottle because it becomes a way to fall asleep (sleep ascotiation) and later when they wake up they expect a bottle to fall asleep again.
Start by reducing the the amount of scoops gradually in the next week or so.
Make sure your LO gets enough solids and milk during the day.

Iv assumed the night time feed is the one btwn midnight & 2am. my baby still hasnt fallen into a routine so it falls btwn those times but he does sleep for 5 to 6hr stretches.
I read somewhere that once they get their 1st teeth u must drop it to prevent tooth decay? Has anyone experienced this?
Im bottlefeeding, he has no teeth yet but is busy teething

Im worried that I'll drop his feeds then my poor baby will starve & still not sleep well. Iv also assumed that they eat at night coz they hungry.
Iv tried to google this but cant seem to get any straight forward answers.

Iv assumed that babies drop feeds when they are ready...
Have I assumed wrong? Should I let him drop the feeds himself or just take it away from him & why?