Feeding FAQ: 9-12 months – Breast Feeding

How do I stop my 10.5mth son still wake for a feed at 10pm?

My baby is 10 1/2 months old and still wakes up at 10.30pm/11.00pm for a feed and we can’t get past that. Plus he also wakes at approx 2.00am but my husband cuddles him back to sleep for that one and he then sleeps till 5.00 when he wakes for a feed.
How can I stop him waking up for the 10.30/11.00 feed?

He is fully breast fed and takes both sides at each feeds. The feeds are about 15-20 minutes in length at 5.30am, 2.30pm, 6.30pm and 10.30pm. He takes 1 weetabix with cow’s milk, a rich tea biscuit and 1oz of milk from a cup at 8.30am. Lunch is a 190gr jar of food or homemade followed by chopped fruit or raisins. He takes water from a cup. At 5pm he takes a 190gr jar of food, ½ yoghurt and some finger food.

My son naps at 9-10am and 12-2pm.

As your son is not sleeping through the night and is waking before 7am it would appear that your son is hungry, which may indicate that your milk supply is low. He also may benefit from having a greater proportion of home cooked food, which is more sustaining and has a higher protein content than jars.

Look in Gina’s Contented Book of Weaning which describes recipes for meals which you can offer him at lunch and tea. Many of these can be cooked in bulk and then frozen so you have a ready supply of meals each day.

At his age your son needs 2ozs of protein daily in the form of chicken, fish, lamb or beef. Also, at tea-time he needs a meal which is high in carbohydrates. Offer him things such as jacket potatoes and beans, thick vegetable soups, pasta and vegetable bakes. This will help to fill him up so he is not woken by hunger in the night.

To help boost your milk supply by day use the following plan for a few days. At 2.30pm offer your son one side only. He may need to be given his tea earlier, around 4.30/4.45pm, if he is hungry by that time. Offer him a drink of cow’s milk from a cup before taking him up for his bath and, once he is ready for bed, feed him from the breast which was not given at 2.30pm. This should help you have a good supply by the 10pm feed which will then see him through the night. Once he has slept through nearer to 7am for at least a week, begin to cut back on the 10pm feed. This may take a while as your son has got into the habit of waking at this time. Once you feel that your breast milk supply is sufficient for his needs in the day, and he is being offered a wide and varied diet, you can begin to offer him water should he wake in the night. Your son may need to have some form of sleep training to help him learn how to settle alone once his nutritional needs are being met in the daytime. Take a look at The Complete Sleep Guide, especially Chapter 4, to help you do this.