11 feed and not drinking morning bottle

[melsy]

Is it time to just go cold turkey on the 11pm feed, as dd2 (going towards 9mths)is now playing around with her 7-8 am bottle and drinking 1 oz may be. At night for bed she easily has 8oz and then at 11 anther 6-7 oz , then the morning one is played with and so is any other day bottle like mid morning /lunch time ish. She will drink the last afternoon one. She has about 5 bottles a day.

Shes on 3 small meals a day ; cereal , cheese , fruit veg , chicken , egg yolk etc.

Thing is she wakes for the 11pm one, do we just stop it and get her through that time , (she may very well wake during the night instead) , but Im hoping we can shift her milk intake to the morning , which I feel is important.

[Beanstermummy]

Seems as if she has her timings all to cock! I would try to cut down maybe to just a few oz's at 11pm to 2 or 3. then maybe replace with water as this is as filling but less long term satisfying so she should wake up hungry. Trying to think back to DD at that age (now two in a few weeks) and think she had milk at 8ish then bed - in a way you need to get her to start sleeping through (for your own sanity if nothing else!) and try to get her onto 'normal' meal times. Sounds harsh refusing her milk but a bet it'd only take a day or two. My DD still has a good 5 oz drink of milk for brekkie plus on her cereal and then 8oz before bed - but nothing inbetween. I know friends who had the same thing as you and didn't change - their DS is now nearly 4 and still wakes for a drink at 11pm ish

good luck - just also thought that as it's coming up to hot weather (hopefully??) cool water in small but frequent amounts (almost leave a bottle around for her to have when she wants) should get her into the daytime=food and drink, nightime=bed bit

[pudding77]

Melsy, I would try and leave it. When ds woke through the night we started giving him water and he soon stopped waking up. It also meant he had more milk at breakfast.

hth

[melsy]

ok so loz the 11pm bottle or just reduce a bit and replace with water?

Its gonna be a rough ride for few days as she adjusts to having it at a different time , but it doesnt seem right to not drinkg the morning bottle but have like 15oz between 2 bottles at night time.

[HenriettaHippo]

melsy, I would reduce the 11 pm bottle over a few days, dropping a couple of ounces every 3 or 4 days. Worked for us. Or you could dilute the formula, so only add 5 scoops to 7 oz, then 4 scooops etc. Although that way she's still drinking the same amount.

[MrsShrek]

My niece has just recently lost her 11pm bottle for the same reason. She was given water and first few nights were rough but now she sleeps 8pm till 7am. She still doesnt have a great breakfast bottle but its better than it was.

hth

[melsy]

hmmm , its such a leap isnt it, as she has quite a lot !

So may be no more 7oz bottles and do 5 oz tonight and then 4 and then 3.

Going to f=run it by dh later and see how he feels. Hes the one who does it the most !!! (I claimed exhaustion from breast feeding at night for months on end !!!)

[melsy]

Seems like dropping a few oz over a couple of nights each drop makes more sense , as hopefully it will be less of a shock and she will then want a little more during the day to make up for it.

I think it will be less traumatic and it seems its worked well for others that way.

[pudding77]

Good luck melsy!