When Do Babies Usually Stop Needing a Middle of the Night Bottle?

It really depends on when she gets a bottle before bed. Babies' diegestive tracts are shorter and formula is pretty easily digested. So she will get hungry quicker than an older child.
They do grow out of needing them. It does become more of a habit than anything else. But if you feel like she still needs it and you're comfortable getting up and giving it to her, no one can tell you that you're wrong. Each baby is different from the start. So only you know what is her "normal". Go with your gut. Mommy guts are almost always right on.

I was just asking my 'experienced' friend this very same question! She swears that my 5 month old should be able to make it. And to her credit, my 5 month old has often made it all night. Which is why I was wondering if she is just waking because she likes the comfort of the bottle or being held or whatever it is she gets out of it. I must agree with the mom who said to trust your gut and that is almost always right. As a new mom, sometimes it's just hard to do that and sometimes there is no gut feeling (at least this has been true for me). Not very helpful huh? Maybe it is a small comfort knowing you're not alone...

Dear I.,

My baby boy was like yours, sometimes it was really frustrating. You do have to teach her not to eat during the night. Trust me at the age of 10 months they don't starve anymore. What I did was to feed my baby with less and less milk each time (so in this way, you don't feel that you are not feeding her) at the end he wans't asking for milk in a matter of weeks. If you don't do this you will have to wake up at night every time she asks for it and this is really tired and exausted and the more time you let happen the more difficult will be for your daughter to learn that during night nobody eats. So start as soon as possible, you will realize how great is to sleep without interruptions.

Sincerely yours,

C.

My doc said last month that I have to stop feeding my daughter in the middle of the night (it was her six month checkup). From what I've read, babies physically are able to make it through the night at 11 lbs. I was worried also because I always fed my daughter in the middle of the night around 2pm. Surprisingly, when I tried to stop it worked. Once in a while she wakes up in the am (around 3 or 4) and really can't get back to sleep and I will feed her, but most days she lasts from 7:00 pm to around 5 or 6 am. Mostly, I think she was just used to it but not really hungry. Good luck!

My daughter used to breastfeed in the middle of the night/early morning (3 am) up until she was about 8 months old. She was not bottle fed. I actually sleep trained her at around 9 months old because I deperately needed uninterrupted sleep!
My son started sleeping through the night at 5 months old. He was still breastfed (with formula used for "back up" only.)He will sleep from 7:30 at night until 6:30 the next morning.
Your daughter WON'T STARVE! (Unless she has had malnourishment issues.) There should be no real need to get up for that feeding.
Change the formula for water. When she wakes up before "it's time" offer the water only. It may irritate her because it's not what she's used to, so she may cry. Be prepared. (Of course, that's if you want to change the routine.) Eventually, that early morning bottle won't be worth it for her to wake up to (because it's only water) and she'll sleep through it.
Good luck.

She will eventually grow out of the need for the early morning bottle, with a few phases of needing it, not needing it, then maybe needing it again for a short time. Your child's body is dictating when she wants/needs to eat, and I believe in giving them what they need at this age. Every child is different in their needs, and their needs are constantly evolving as they grow, just go with the flow and it will all be fine.

If you woke up every night in the middle of the night, you would train ourself to need a meal in the middle of the night. Your baby the same. If you first exchange the milk for water for about a week and then just a pacifier ( if she take that) then just rock her she will eventually just sleep. There is no need at this age to wake. She won't starve...just feed her enough during the day.

My son is 9.5 mo old & takes a bottle before bed at 6:30pm & eats breakfast when he wakes up, usually at 7:30am, then has a small bottle after breakfast. I'm not sure what you mean by waking up "early" for a bottle. If she is waking up at 4 or 5 am, then she shouldn't be. At this age they should be able to go to at least 6am without a feeding. But she will need some sort of food when she first wakes up, as she won't have eaten in 10-12 hrs.

I would continue on with it until 12 months and then re-assess. then if she still needs the first am bottle at 12 months then re-assess at 15 months.

My 2 year old still wants some milk when he gets up in the morning - just sometimes- so for him it's not that he's waking up for the bottle (well he gets a sippy- but that's a whole 'nother story w/ my opinions, LOL! I say keep one or 2 bottles a day for however long you want- don't let others pressure you- there's so much pressure to get the toddler off the bottle!)

Good morning I.!

My experience as a first time mom with the bottle feeding was by the time she was 11months I stopped giving her the morning bottles in lieu of oatmeal cereal. I did this so she can get the hang of eating oatmeal cereal every morning and needing only one bottle before going to bed. By the time she was 12months I stopped the night bottle also. She gave me a little resistant with that but within a week she forgot about the bottle period. So it all depends how you want to do it. You can give her the oatmeal cereal with a sippy cup.

Good Luck!

What kind of cereal and or fruit is she getting before bed, and how much? If you feed them, they will sleep. That has always been my motto. My grandson is only 5 1/2 months old and is sleeping straight through the night and he has since 2 1/2 months! He is now up to getting about 3 TBS of cereal and 1/2 jar of fruit for dinner, about 5:30 pm. Then his bath and 6 oz bottle right before bedtime at 7:30. He sleeps straight thru til 5:30am. I have always done this with my boys, and the grandbabies, it works, trust me. Of course, at 10 months, she could have some real food at all three meals. Soft scrambled eggs for breakfast, soup and or yogurt for lunch and then everything you eat at the dinner table, just be mindful of the sodium, and mash it! Good luck!

If she is ten months then she is most likely waking just b/c she is used to it. Babies that age should be able to sleep through a 11-12 hour night without feeding. Some babies do away with the feeding on their own, but we had to help my son through it. I read BabyWise and used that book, although I know some people don't like that technique.

When you say "early in the morning", what do you mean? Is she waking up earlier than 6 A.M.? And, is she staying awake or going back to sleep? With my first daughter, when she was finally sleeping through the night (at 6 months), she would wake up very early in the morning (about 6 A.M.) to nurse but she'd often go back to sleep and then wake up at around 8 A.M. to nurse again but she would be up for a couple of hours or so. Every baby is different, as I have 3 of them and they all were very different. I would say if your baby at 10 months old is still waking up during the night to nurse, or take a bottle, I wouldn't offer her anything at all. A baby at 10 months old should be sleeping through the night. There is nothing wrong with nursing your baby (or giving a bottle) before bedtime but she shouldn't be waking up at all during the night unless she is waking up very early and she is an early riser. I always nursed my children first thing in the morning, fed them breakfast, and then nursed them to "top them off." If she is naturally waking up early and staying awake, I'm afraid their isn't too much you can do about that. My second daughter was an early riser but rarely went back to sleep once she was up.