Nurse told me to stop breastfeeding at night

[fawou]

@amandak695 This advice is outdated at best. Continue to nurse your baby on demand, as breastfeeding fills all nutritional requirements (but supplement with vitamin d and iron).

I’d try baby led weaning! My LO was never really interested in purées or spoon feeds, but she took really quickly to feeding herself “real” food. I love this book for information and food prep inspiration.

 

[pennyr]

@amandak695 Night weaning at this age is up to you.

 

[imawhat]

@amandak695 Have patience. I noticed my girls weight gain slowed down around the time of starting solids. She was playing and exploring more than eating. We did blw with some purées but she only self-fed. Her weight gain picked up around the 9 month mark after a period of teething that impacted her appetite. Do not wean if you’re not ready. We also cosleep so I know how much that means to preserve and your supply will be impacted if you do. Baby’s main source of nutrition before one is breastmilk (or formula). Food is supplementary to that. You can’t force baby to eat more solids by starving them of breastmilk. I would recommend you try encouraging self feeding for solid meals. It definitely motivates them to play and eat more. Even if you don’t want to do blw; you can do preloaded spoons of purées. It’s messy at first but it’s worth the effort when they figure out how to do it on their own. All babies are different and will progress differently in terms of weight gain.

 

[medic85573]

@amandak695 Pediatric Medical Assistant here (8 years & counting) and mama of two breastfed boys (2year old and 3 month old). I may have some medical knowledge but this is just my insight and personal experience.
I cosleep/bedshare with my kids.
I weaned my 2 year old from night feedings when he was 15 months old mainly in preparation for new baby. At this age, I knew he was sufficiently eating solids during the day and he was "feeding" for comfort and I didn't oppose. He transitioned as to a toddler bed as difficult as one would expect any kid going into a new environment. I dont expect to be doing anything different with my current infant.

I think what you offer during the day is wonderful and most definitely KEEP offering! Heck, offer everything and anything! Once babies start moving and grooving, it is TOTALLY normal to see weights plateau from the curve. Dips aren't normal unless they are sick.

Have you thought about maybe asking for a referral for a pediatric occupational therapist? They can help with strengthening oral motor skills needed for solid food intake! Could be a more helpful route rather than stopping night feeds altogether in hopes it would "make" your baby eat more solids during the day, especially if this isn't something you want to do.

Also, if you did stop night feeds, your body would only adjust to not produce as much milk at night - it shouldn't affect your day feeds

 

[19nanny55]

@amandak695 I mean, my 8m son eats a ton of purees (2.5oz meat, 4oz fruit or vegetable, and 2-3oz oatmeal in addition to 12oz pumped breastmilk per day at daycare) but still wakes 3 or 4 times a night. Whether it's for thirst or comfort, I don't know. Eliminating night nursing won't necessarily make your son desire solids (purees or otherwise) more.

 

[frenchmom]

@amandak695 That's terrible advice and I'm sorry you've been made to feel so worried about it all. I co-sleep/co-slept with both kids and they both fed through the night. Some kids sleep through naturally, some kids don't. It's totally normal for babies to wake up through the night, my 3 year old still does!

Your baby is getting pretty much everything they need from you, the food is just a bit of fun and to get them used to it. Trust yourself and your instincts! My first child took a long time to gain weight, and he's still a string bean. My second is the total opposite and is an adorable squish. Not all kids are the same in the way they gain weight, but nurses and health visitors have to go by what's on paper and how it tracks.

 

[sam26]

@amandak695 Totally anecdotal, but between birth and 6 months my now 3 year old tripled her weight. In the intervening 30+ months she has gained about 10 pounds. She keeps getting taller without much weight gain. Some kids growth just plateaus for a while. As long as he doesn’t fall off a growth curve I wouldn’t worry. He isn’t even one yet! Breastmilk is way more important.

 

[elizabethtrevor1]

@amandak695 Meh. My daughter is 2 years 3 months and she still nurses at night

 

[princessbychrist]

@amandak695 Night weaning won’t affect your supply this far postpartum - you’ll just make up for it during the day as long as baby is eating during the day.

I’m not saying you should night wean if you don’t want to, just wanted to let you know!

 

[andybrooks]

@princessbychrist This very much depends on the person. For some people it will be fine, for others it can absolutely tank supply. It is hard to make generalizations about nursing. Bodies vary.

 

[cortexhair]

@amandak695 Yeah, weaning at night time is difficult! Baby is tired and needs comfort, you're tired and need sleep, and the boob is right there to solve at least one of those issues.

If you want your baby to eat more solids, there are a few things you could do instead: offer different kinds of foods to figure out what he likes (in different "forms" too - mashed, whole, bite sized, etc.). Some kids don't want to be spoon-fed, so try serving food whole in appropriately sized pieces. The app solid starts has a great database. He doesn't seem to be too hungry in general (or he would probably wake up more at night to feed and/or accept the spoon), so you could skip a nursing session during the day to make sure he has an appetite. You can always nurse him after a meal of solids to make sure he's full.

While there's nothing wrong with nursing for as long as you like, there's nothing wrong with introducing other kinds of food either. Solids are a great addition to nursing, both nutrition and calorie-wise. Furthermore, solid foods are an exciting sensory experience to a baby. They get to explore new textures, flavours, smells and sensations, and they will get lots of good practice for their oral motor skills and their dexterity.

 

[elsbred]

@amandak695 I’ve always understood that starting solids around 6 months is just for the experience and not for nutrition until around 1 year old.

 

[akshatha]

@amandak695 Food before 1 is just for fun is the advice I heard. So if baby isn't having "Fun" and just wants to nurse I'm sure you're good. Just offer high iron/nutrition foods when you do offer solids and I'm sure you're good.

 

[perticus]

@amandak695 My 7 month old loves to eat, eggs, apples, pears, mango, sweet potato, like LOVES food. I was not able to breastfeed after an early emergency delivery. All this convo about kids not eating much is so surprising to me.

 

[katrina2017]

@amandak695 Maybe try and mix the food with some breastmilk, it may get your kid to open up more to it. Them seeing you eat it too is a good way to show them what the do when eating solids

 

[iklog]

@amandak695 Have you tried baby lead weaning? My baby is the same age as yours and she will feed herself with her spoon but prefers real food - she even eats chicken and venison and beef. She loves the mini beef tacos from Trader Joe’s and she’ll eat a whole banana fresh out the peel. She will not let us feed her. We can even get her little kids meals when we go out. She hasn’t had anything she doesn’t like and she does eat it she doesn’t just throw it on the ground.

 

[heavenwardbound]

@amandak695 Keep nursing and continue to offer solids. Baby will eat when he's ready. My second wouldn't touch solids until she was 12 months. Seriously. I would offer multiple times a day, purées and finger foods, and she would spit everything out. One day she just decided to start eating (spaghetti & meatballs of all things) and never stopped. She's 21 months now and snacks and eats alllll day long.

 

[atapia94]

@amandak695 I would understand if your baby was 12 months, but not 7 months for night weaning. While it's nice to have an infant sleep through the night, it isn't necessary.

 

[stan123]

@amandak695 I would just like you to know that my 20mo basically stopped gaining weight around 8 months. He stalled around 20 lbs. and just sat there for months. He was healthy and happy and following his own curve. He was discovered movement around this time. He is nearly 21mo now and is only about 22lbs now. Don’t night wean unless you want to. We pushed through to a year and then I decided he shouldn’t need the extra calories anymore. It was a fairly easy transition for us.

I would just say make meal time a positive and not a stressful environment. Try to offer more high-calorie foods (yogurts, fatty fruits, etc). Hopefully baby is eating what they need!

 

[dazza101]

@amandak695 Just let yourself remember - the nurse is one person with one opinion. There’s a million ways to parent and raise littles. It sounds like nursing at night is working for you both for a variety of reasons. I’d say let it be