CIO or continue night feedings

I've read some prior post but I'm still a little confused on what to do...

My DD are 10 months and one will wake once or twice to feed at night (6oz each feeding). The other will wake twice to feed at night (3oz each feeding). They both feed and then go right to sleep. Do I let them CIO or do they still need to be fed during the night. The daughter who feeds 6oz each time is in the 35% for weight. The other daughter who takes 3oz each feeding is in the 5-10% for weight. I guess I'm concerned that they NEED to feed at night especially the one who is in the 5-10%...she seems so skinny.

My question is...is it okay to have them CIO? Should I allow for one feeding during the night? Should I feed them whenever they wake (all they do is wake to eat)? one more thing, they go to bed around 6:30-7pm and wake at 6am.

Neither of them have every STTN.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

As long as the smaller one has been consistent on the growth chart (i.e., she hasn't recently dropped in percentage), I would try weaning her off those feedings, or at least get her down to one. You could try watering down the bottle a half-ounce at a time, and then when it's mostly water, start trying to comfort her in some other way (or just let her CIO, if you can stand it and it doesn't wake the other) instead of feeding.

That's what we did with one of my DDs, although it was at 13 months. I tried it at 9 months and she wasn't ready, but she was drinking a whole 7-oz bottle at her night feeding at 9 months. By 13 months, she was no longer finishing her bottle, and when I had it watered down and she was no longer finishing that, that's when we let her CIO. It only took about 3 days and I don't think she cried for more than 20 minutes each night.

If the other one is eating a 6-oz bottle at each night feeding, my guess is that she's really hungry and probably won't let you get away with skipping it. But you could try the watering-down thing on her too and who knows, it might work....

Good luck!

 

QUOTE(Minette @ Jun 15 2009, 07:03 PM) [snapback]1355626[/snapback]
As long as the smaller one has been consistent on the growth chart (i.e., she hasn't recently dropped in percentage), I would try weaning her off those feedings, or at least get her down to one. You could try watering down the bottle a half-ounce at a time, and then when it's mostly water, start trying to comfort her in some other way (or just let her CIO, if you can stand it and it doesn't wake the other) instead of feeding.

That's what we did with one of my DDs, although it was at 13 months. I tried it at 9 months and she wasn't ready, but she was drinking a whole 7-oz bottle at her night feeding at 9 months. By 13 months, she was no longer finishing her bottle, and when I had it watered down and she was no longer finishing that, that's when we let her CIO. It only took about 3 days and I don't think she cried for more than 20 minutes each night.

If the other one is eating a 6-oz bottle at each night feeding, my guess is that she's really hungry and probably won't let you get away with skipping it. But you could try the watering-down thing on her too and who knows, it might work....

Good luck!



Is it still better to continue the night feeding rather than CIO? Is CIO to eliminate all night waking or to eliminate those that are waking just to be comforted?

 

my girls have always been in the 90%tile for wt/height so we didnt' have any concerns about doing CIO at 8 months, DD1 was waking up every 2 hours though and we had already dropped the night feeding, it was clear she was waking b/c she couldn't fall back asleep on her own. so CIO was right for us.

If I were in your situation, honestly, I would probably err on the side of caution and continue the feedings since they are under the 50%tile (especially the little one). But check with your pedi and see if it would be okay to try and up the daytime intake to replace the nighttime feedings. Then once they were getting the replacement intake during the day, then try to sooth them to sleep at night without feeding them. If they make it a few nights without a feeding (with your help), then you might feel better about doing CIO. You'll probably never feel comfortable doing CIO if you think they are hungry, I would wait until they were not taking night feedings before doing CIO.

If you dont' feel good about CIO, then just continue, in the long run it won't hurt if you do it another month or two (of course I can say that since i've had good night sleeps for 6 months good luck, I feel your pain!

 

Will they accept soothers or some comfort instead of food? If so, that might be an indication that the feedings are habit more than hunger. I'd experiment a little.

 

My boys have always been on the smaller scale (20-30%) and we did CIO at 8 months. They were waking 1-2 times per night and they'd drink whatever I had to offer but it was becoming a habit. We did CIO and it worked great for us. CIO can be used for whatever you want to use it for, in my opinion. When we started CIO at 8 months it was to eliminate the 1:00am bottle. It only took a couple of nights before they got the hang of it. They slept through til 4:00am at which time they'd get a 6 oz bottle and fall back to sleep til about 6:00. I did this until they turned one and then did CIO to eliminate the 4:00am bottle. CIO can be hard but if you stick to it, it can be wonderful as well! Good luck!

 

In the Ferber book he talks about night feedings. He recommends one of 2 things, either slowly watering the bottles down or slowly decreasing the amounts. As you do that, they should shift their eating to the day. We slowly decreased the amounts in the bottles. First we went to 5oz for a few nights, then 4 oz for a few nights, then 3 oz. We stuck at one 3oz bottle for a few weeks before they just started sleeping through it. Ferber said to keep dropping the bottle size by an oz. But we kept doing 3 oz for a while because they are small. We also used a size 3 nipple during the day and a size 2 at night. The smaller nipple made them drink slower so I they didn't notice they were getting less. If you're thinking of doing CIO, I would consider getting the Ferber book "Solve your child's sleep problems". I think it's really good. He talks about lots of sleep problems besides just CIO. His feeling on eating at night is that after 9 months, waking up to eat is just a habit and you need to get them to switch to eating during the day.

 

Have you talked to the pediatrician about this? I would. Maybe they will eat more during the day without the night feedings. At ten months I would try CIO if the Doc Ok's it.

 

I would talk to your ped regarding her weight and her needs. However, some kids will always be in the 5% (because some are in the 95%) but that doesn't mean she has to continue waking up. I think if they go to bed at a normal time and wake up at a normal time (which they do), they shouldn't wake up more than once, if at all.

The other thing is ... is she truly hungry and/or is it more a habit or something she wants (not needs). I would make sure she eats well (possibly with shorter intervals) during the day.

 

I had these thoughts as well. Both my twins are on the light end of weight percents, DS started sleeping through the night around 3 mo but DD liked the nightime feed. She was consistenly waking b/t 2-4 am, then she inched it back b/t 12-2 am then she inched it again back b/t 10-12midnight- so it wasn't really about food but was more about the cuddle, etc. which was fine. Around 7.5 mo, my husband and I started saying that it was getting time for her to start going longer.- we knew she could and it actually seemed to be more disruptive, she stirred more later in the night but didn't eat really at all. So one night when she woke at 9 p, 2.5 hrs after she went to bed, we decided to see how she did if my husband went in. She is a tough one b/c she actually seems to get more upset when you go in, pats, sh's, pacifiers don't work, so she is hard to comfort- but my husband went in, we heard from her again at 3 am and, honestly, that was the end of it. The next night, I heard nothing from her and that was that. Surpringly! We went to our last dr appt, she is in the 5% weight and dr said all is fine. I know its hard, and as a friend of mine told me- at one point, you'll be ready and so will she. Do it when you feel its right ... or you've just had enough : ) Good luck!

 

Thank you for sharing all your ideas and experiences. I really appreciate the input.

I'm still not too sure what I should do because I don't know if they are truely hungry or if its habit feeding. I have no problems letting them CIO if they truely don't need to eat.