Do your 12 month/one year olds STTN? When can I night wean?

[Zeri]

Hi, my little boy is just over 12 months old. He goes to bed between around 8-9 pm and wakes twice nightly for a feed - usually around 12:30 am and then at again around 3-4 am. Then he'll be up for the day anywhere between 5:30 to 6:15 am.

Is it too soon to cut out his night feeds? I'm not sure if he's waking because he's hungry or whether it's just for comfort. He's woken twice nightly since around 6 months old (for breastmilk). He gets ff at daycare.

Are your one-year olds STTN? And when did they start?

Thanks!

 

[_Meep_]

Mine is 15 months and still wakes at least twice. She usually nurses back to sleep, but I get the impression it's only really for comfort or because she's thirsty. I could probably just give her water from her cup but it doesn't bother me too much at this point.

 

[Kitteh_Kat]

DD started sleeping straight through at 5 weeks, so she night weaned herself - but she was exclusively formula fed. Not sure how it works with babies still breastfeeding, sorry!

You could try offering a bottle of water when he wakes up for a few days and see what he does; I've seen several women night wean that way. But ultimately it's up to what works best for you guys, and what he still needs.

 

[LeannieB]

Hi my little boy has just turned one and he has never slept through and he sleeps in bed with us. When he wakes I have to BF him back to sleep. X

 

[CaptainMummy]

My almost one year old goes to bed aroubd 6.30pm and sleeps until 4am (ish) and she will then take a bottle and go back to sleep until around 6ish. She takes about 5oz of cows milk in this bottle (it is the only bottle she drinks, she doesnt touch milk the rest of the day)
She does sometimes wake for her dummy but usually not long after she has went to bed.

 

[tallybee]

My first was still waking 1-2 times a night to nurse at that age. I cut them by offering water instead until he stopped bothering, it was a couple weeks of bad nights but once that was over with he sttn from then onwards no issues at all.

 

[Zeri]

Thanks so much for your feedback. I might try the water thing and see what happens. I have a feeling he wakes mostly for comfort or out of habit. Last night I fed him both times when he woke, but he kept crying and kicking when I tried to put him back down, so I let him CIO. He eventually went to sleep for a solid 5 hour stretch, which is unusual. I think he can STTN, with a little poking.

 

[Snow Owl]

Mine also went 7-1 1-7 at 5 weeks and dropped that feed at 10 weeks.

I wouldn't think at this age it was hunger?

 

[SarahBear]

I night weaned when I was half way through pregnancy and Violet was just short of 2. She had a lousy latch and my nipples were sensitive. I personally wouldn't night wean at a year, especially since he's away from you during the day and getting formula at daycare. However, you can night-wean without negatively impacting his physical health.

 

[Perplexed]

I never night weaned my dd, she night weaned herself. When she wakes up now she will only fall asleep with dh & I.

 

[MindUtopia]

My 2.5 year old doesn't STTN, but she hasn't had a night feed since she was 9 months. So cutting out the night feeds doesn't equal STTN in my experience (or the experience of anyone I know! none of their 2 year olds STTN). For us, she dropped the night feeds basically on her own when she started to eat a lot more solids during the day, which happened at 9 months. Basically, I'd offer her a feed when she woke as normal, but for a couple weeks she was just taking a very small amount (maybe 30 ml when before she would have maybe had 180 ml) and then pushing it away. So I decided to just see if I could soothe her back to sleep without a feed and she went back to sleep just fine. After that, I just tried to soothe her back to sleep first and she'd always just go right back to sleep. I think if you can do that or if your LO is taking very little milk during those wakings, he probably isn't really hungry, but does need the comfort. Waking for comfort is normal throughout toddlerhood really, so it may not stop anytime soon. But my daughter did occasionally STTN for a few months around 13/14 months. Then teething and illness and moving house and language explosions happened. She usually only wakes once or twice now and like I said hasn't needed a feed in 2 years, but she doesn't STTN.

 

[Zeri]

Thanks for sharing your experiences. Still thinking about it!

 

[babe2ooo]

My little one is 10 months and still wake twice in the night. Funny thing is at times she has slept all night and other times she doesn't. Tonight I've put her down fed and sleepy. I'm trying CIO 2night but only for 5 mins then I go back make sure she's ok then leave for 10 mins then go back then 15 and so on. I couldn't just leave her to cry until she fell asleep I like the going back in and making sure they r ok. But I've had enough I know she can sleep through the night and my HV said she shouldn't be hungry.

 

[ElmaWG]

At 12 months, DS was feeding once at night. Sometimes he might awake more than once, but I would generally only feed him once. I stopped feeding him at night a bit before 18 months, and he then started sleeping through the night shortly there after. I wish I'd just dropped the feeding sooner, but I was hoping for him to start sttn on his own. But he was really waking just for the milk.

 

[AnonymousCAT]

My DS is still bf and stopped feeding at night around 10 months. He goes to bed at 7-7:30 pm and feeds at 6-6:30 am. Usually he is up for the day after this, but the odd time he will go back to sleep if I put him down again, after about 15 minutes. Around 9 months he started sleeping 10 hrs straight, was up for a feed around 5:30 am, then up for the day around 6:30 am. He did this on his own. I'm sure you could night wean as long as they are getting lots of foods/milk/formula through the day. Likely it's an emotional comfort at this point. I have no idea how to do it though. Sorry!