9 Month Old Still Eating at Night

My now 4-year-old son had a bottle at 4:00 in the morning until he was over 1 year old. I really felt he needed it--he was hungry--he'd eat the whole 8 ounces. I knew he didn't need it anymore when he started eating only 2-4 ounces or just playing with the bottle, so then we just cut it out gradually.

im so glad to hear that you are not for crying it out! im totally against it, and it makes all the difference for my son. :) :) im so proud of you for following your gut and doing what you know your son needs.

as far as the ped saying he doesnt need to eat, im not so sure. perhaps try a second opinion? it doesnt sound right. my son (though breastfed only) was still nursing at night when he was between 13-17 months before he stopped. it was all on demand, and he wouldnt accept any alternatives to that, so i did what i had to do and he grew up to be just fine.

babies tummies are about the size of their fist, and when they go through a growth spurt, those tummies empty QUICKLY. i think its totally insensitive for your doctor to say that because your son is 24 lbs that he shouldnt have to eat at night. if hes hungry, hes gonna eat and theres no way in hell i as a mother would deny my child the right to eat if thats what he needs. so basically, im one of those "the doctor can shove it" opinions; doctors advice has its place and certainly can make a world of difference under a lot of circumstances, but in this circumstance, i think that your ped is totally wrong and totally off base giving this kind of information

check www.askdrsears.com. hes a breastfeeding supporter, but hes got some good info on bottlefeeding also. i guess the "idea" with formula is that it lasts longer in baby's tummy (like why is that a good thing again?) but fact of the matter is that it doesnt much matter. if your baby needs to eat, he needs to eat and anyone who thinks that they have the right to say otherwise is just asking for trouble.

so
basically, you do what you feel your son needs. it doesnt matter if hes 15 lbs or 25 lbs, if you know hes hungry, feed him, it doesnt matter what the time on the clock says or the weight on the scale. he will thin out tremendously when he starts getting around more especially walking.

each baby is different no matter what doctors or their dumb percentage charts think they will all grow at their own pace, whether that means they weight a lot or a little what matters most is that they are growing at a steady rate compared to themselves, not anyone else. so dont let this doctor convince you that you are doing anything wrong or that your son is fat just because he might be bigger than many kids his age; hes his own person, will grow at his own rate; ive known petite babies that grew up to be overweight and ive seen fat roly poly babies grow up to be rails. it doesnt matter as long as you know your son and are giving him what he needs. :) :)

just keep listening to your instincts! you sure have it made - when you do that, nothing can stop you from keeping your son connected and close to you!

Hi,
My son sometimes wakes up to eat and he's pushing 11 months. I think it was bold of your ped to say "no" to this. The way I see it, if he's hungry and taking the bottle, give it to him! Soon enough he will be able to go longer without food but I wouldn't rush it. Every child is different and they (typically) know what they want...our job is to abide by it.
Hope this helps,
S.

Try feeding him something filling before his bedtime bottle. I have six kids and that helped a lot. Try gerber jarred breakfast cereal that's mixed with fruit (it comes that way) their favorite was oatmeal with pears and cinnamon or some king of oatmeal. 3 of our kids are really tall and even once they slept through the night they would still wake up hungry durring growth spirts. My pediatrician told us that shouldn't happen either so - did some asking arround. It turns out it was quite commonn on my tall side of the family and I finally took families advice and put a couple of tablespoons of infant cereal in their bottles and it worked. A few people gave me some grief over this, but the happy baby and sleep were worth it and it only lasted until arround their first birthdays when they were eating only "real" food and switched to milk. Hang in there.

Pedi's are good sources of info for medical things but they ARE NOT TRAINED on nutrition or safety (such as car seat safety). If he is still getting up to eat, he probably needs to. What you could try, if you believe he is getting up out of habit, is hold him when he wakes up and see if you can rock/cuddle him to sleep.

I'd find a more educated "ped". Not everybody in that field has the training and education that you would expect.

Babies are not all the same because if they were, we would not have our instincts.

hes 9 months an not getting any solid food yet?? try a bowl of rice cereal with a bottle afterwards before bed-bet he sleeps all nite for you.hes growing and formula just isnt enuff for him-both my kids were on rice cereal by week 2..hes starving,,,,,

It's interesting that your pediatrician provided exactly the opposite opinion compared to ours. Both of our kids were still taking a bottle/nursing in the middle of the night until almost 1 year.

The best advice he told us was that all kids are different and are going to have different sleep patterns that are always changing for the first few years.

One question is how much solid food he's currently on? I have a feeling that the milk may not be satisfying him enough and perhaps more solid food would fill his stomach better.

In our daughter's case, it was more a desire to suck her bottle than it was to actually drink it.

I'd recommend getting on some pediatrician websites (HealthyChildren.org, etc) and see what advice they offer to either back-up your pediatrician's opinion or to contradict it.

I am with the idea of reducing the amount you are giving him gradually. The hardest part will be the night that you don't give him any, but he'll figure it out quick.

If you would like to end these middle of the night feedings I have a method that worked well for us.

Right now his little body is use to waking and expecting to be fed. And although he may not need these calories, his body has come desire them. We did a gradual weaning system. For example if he is taking 8 oz bottle now... cut it down to 6 oz for a couple of nights, then 4 oz, then maybe 3 oz, down to a watered down little oz or two. This way you are "teaching" his body to not eat in the middle of the night and take in more calories during the waking hours.

I agree that it is not fair to the child to cry it out, when he usually gets a bottle at this time during the night. That would be so confusing for the child.

Good Luck! We have had good success with this process within a couple of weeks.

Try some cereal. We started rice cereal and it really helped, but when we started oatmeal right before bed it was a godsend! If that doesn't work, I would say it's time for cry-it-out, but if you don't wantt to do that you'll have to probably talk to your pediatrician again. I will say this, however, that having a child who is 2 and still waking up at night is a nightmare.

Hi, other than not responding to his desires (so in effect letting him cry it out) I don't have much advice on how to stop it. I just wanted to let you know that both of my boys (now 5 and 3) have gotten middle-of-the-night snacks well beyond their 2nd birthdays. At first I, too, wanted to find out how to stop it (in part to just sleep through the night myself again), but I wasn't willing to do the cry-it-out thing either. I then just decided to cherish the night cuddles (I was nursing them). Somewhere after 2,5 years old they both just stopped coming without any actions on my part. If it doesn't bother you, I wouldn't worry about what your boy is "supposed to" do. His need may not be food at all, just a little nightly reassurance that all is well.

My kids were eating during the night at that age too. They were small, and later we learned we all have hypoglycemia, and they just needed to eat frequently. If the nighttime feeding is not a problem to you, and if you think he really needs to eat, then I'd let the doctor's comments go. Giving my kids solid food - cereal, mashed potatoes, etc, did help a lot (before, they were waking up every 2 hours). Your son might naturally get through the night on his own if you give him solid food before bedtime.

Try a water bottle at night so he is getting a bottle but not food.
This worked for me for all 3 of my kiddos! Good luck!