Don't feed him & let him cry (7 month old)

[Young_Mommy89]

So yesterday was ds's 6 month checkup (he's late on it bcuz he was late to his 4 mo for shots), he's 7 & 1/2 months old. Anyway the two pediatricians that I LOVED have moved far away & we weren't seen until over an hour after my appt. The dr seemed rushed & I expressed how ds doesn't seem to sleep well at night lately (he had been waking 1-2 times to eat recently).
The dr told me, "Don't feed him. Feed him right before bed (I do) & if he wakes up let him cry. He does not need to eat at night nutritionally speaking"

Wtf? He's a baby & he gets hungry I'm not going to starve my child.
Btw, he's 19lbs & 29in long he's 50th percentile for weight & 75th for height so he's not overweight

[Young_Mommy89]

My MIL says my kids are monster kids lol dd is 4, 45in tall, & 42lbs. I guess bcuz they aren't small for their ages that makes them huge lol. Yea he's been getting baby food 3 times (sometimes 4)a day for the past week (on a regular basis).

Quoting ExquisiteMomof2:

Have you started solids? Wow, you son seems a lot smaller than my chunky butt. lol. He's almost 9 months (in a week and a halfish he will be 9 months) and he is 26lbs and 31in long.

I ask about the solids because my son started not sleeping through the night again and we had been trying to introduce solids prior to that and he wanted nothing to do with them. Finally, he was ready and about 2 weeks ago we started solids and he sleeps so much better now.

[AmyL3469]

If you're breastfeeding, I'd still feed him in the middle of the night. Formula though, I'd let him cry it out, that's what I did with my kids. As moms though, we know our kids cries. If it's his hungry cry, feed your baby. Doctors are stupid sometimes, sorry to say. Especially pediatricians with no kids of their own.

[Young_Mommy89]

According to some moms they seem to think there's a magic age that they "don't need it" =/ I probably would've thought that with just my dd.

Quoting kailu1835:

Your pediatrician is a total idiot. Babies' metabolisms are fast, and yes, they do need to eat at night, because yes, they do get hungry.

[Denecia]

I have got the greatest support from my son's pediatrician. Even when he was gaining weight she never once wanted me to stop trying and gave all the info she had.

Quoting bebe_ju-rah:

Oh man. Bfing advice from pedis is rarely beneficial!

[Young_Mommy89]

No, what kind of nasil spray? Like Little Noses kind?

Quoting megz0511:

If he's starting to get stuffed up his reflux might he going into his nasal passages. My ped told me this once. Have you tried the nasal spray?

Quoting Young_Mommy89:

I've tried but he gets sooooo ill. Crying, arching his back, shaking his bed back & forth =( When he's tired his little eyes get red around the eyelids, & he starts rubbing his eyes really hard, grabbing his ears.





I have started giving him 6 oz rather than 4. I have noticed he coughs a lot & has thick boogies now. But the pedi acted like it was nothing =/

Quoting DonnaPinitonya:

Is it possible to elimate his late day nap? (If he takes one) To help keep him asleep. And a larger or heavier bottle at night before bed? Maybe he is getting sick and laying flat is not comfy. I put my 7 month to bed in her crib and if she wakes up, like she has the last few nights I pull her into bed with me and she sleeps until her 5 am bottle. She has a runny nose right now- not a cold though, seems more like allergies. 

Quoting Young_Mommy89:

The problem is he wakes up crying, not he wakes up to eat. He will wake up 4-5 times a night out of that 1-2 times is to eat.

Quoting silverdawn99:

I mean its normal for a child to still eat at night at that age and other than suggest she doesnt feed him there really isnt anything that a doc can say right?

Quoting DonnaPinitonya:

The doctor is supposed to take the time to ask about the feeding schedule and eating history and suggest age appropriate HELPFUL answers. 

This is a new doc to this baby that passed mom and baby off with out regard. 

Quoting silverdawn99:

i guess i dont see the point in getting mad at him

you are the one that brought it up to the pedi

what is he supposed to say?

[Young_Mommy89]

My son was 12lbs at 3 months. That was with nothing but breastmilk til that point. My son doesn't over eat, he isn't overweight nor underweight. In fact, he's always been at a great percentage & grows at the same rate.

I could do cry it out with dd but he cries until he's screaming & choking, that's not ok

Quoting Amiehart62:

It's metabolic. At 12-13 lbs metabolically a baby can go 6 hours w/o eating. Do what you want obviously but baby doesn't "need" the middle of the night feeding. My son is 5 months old adjusted age is 2 1/2 months he was EBF until a week ago weighs 12 lbs and sleeps through the night 10 pm to 7:30 am with no feeding. Baby is waking because that's his routine not because he is starving.



But if you want to feed him feed him either choice is fine for baby.

[BelleVernonGirl]

 "Some peditrician" spent 8 years in college...just sayin 

Quoting Young_Mommy89:

I didn't say he would die, but no I'm not gonna let my 7mo cry until he's screaming & choking bcuz he's hungry simply bcuz some peditrician thinks its easier than making him a bottle or grabbing one out of the fridge.....

Quoting BelleVernonGirl:

I think your missing the point to what he said...If you make him wait to eat, when he does eat, he will eat more and sleep longer...I did this with mine..OMG they lived...no one starved...all the doc is trying to do is make it easier on you...

 

[Olivia11812]

I would get mad because anyone knows that you don't just let your baby scream and cry when they are hungry in the middle of the night!!! Obv the correct answer is not "don't feed your baby" that just sounds dumb

Quoting silverdawn99:

i guess i dont see the point in getting mad at him

you are the one that brought it up to the pedi

what is he supposed to say?

[SaGe_Ed]

Well he's right in saying that nutritionally speaking your son doesn't need to eat at night.  As of now it's probably waking from habit or for comfort.  Whether you continue to feed him at night is up to you, the ped is simply suggesting crying it out.  Which isn't uncommon.

[Ashora1990]

my first was ff and if she woke up i FEED HER!! how would you feel if you woke up hungry and was told you couldnt eat? (for those saying you should let him cry)  if a bf baby shouldnt cry when they wake up to eat then neither should an ff baby. sorry for bad spelling i have a headache.