Night weaning

[gingmg]

How old was your LO and how did you go about it? We co-sleep and breastfeed and I'm getting close to feeling that our all night milk bar needs to have more reasonable hours. But having said that, I want to be fair to him and I want to make sure it feels right, otherwise I won't be able to do it. Also, I still want to cosleep. Tips?

 

[sil]

I don't really have any tips - we naturally just let it happen. DS1 was 10 months when he stopped nursing at night. DS2 is 4 months and he still eats once per night. However, we don't cosleep so I am not sure how that would factor in. I imagine it's much more tempting/easier for baby when he is right next to you. So no good advice from me (sorry!) but figured I would still chime in and offer what I could Good luck!

 

[Literati_Love]

I tried this method (link at the bottom) and it was going pretty well, but my Dd got sick before it was fully finished, I gave in, and now we're back to square one. I do believe if she hadn't gotten sick right then/I had pushed through it would have worked. I plan on using it again when I am brave enough. I have a friend who did something similar and within two months her DS started going 10-11 hours without nursing at night and can get himself back to sleep on his own (and he started sleeping longer periods within a week). It is also co sleeping friendly.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

https://attachedtoparenting.com/2013/05/18/how-i-night-weaned-in-7-days/

 

[Marumi]

My son was 4 and in pregnancy night nursing was the last thing I wanted. I encouraged his weaning by telling him to wait until the morning or just to wait and he would doze off. Or I told him to turn around and cuddle (he loves to spoon).
It helped that my milk changed too.

 

[gingmg]

Thanks for your responses. Some nights I feel like I'm close to wanting to night wean, other times it feels very manageable and I'm not so sure I want to anymore.

 

[Literati_Love]

I am the exact same way! So back and forth constantly haha!!

 

[Shandelion]

I co sleep with my 19 month old and he drives me nuts night nursing. I think he'd sleep through if he didn't night nurse, but as it is he freaks if he can't find the boob within seconds of looking for it, all night long! I don't believe in crying it out. He gets utterly frantic if it's not there, too, crawls away in his sleep while wailing, shaking, sobbing...all within seconds if he can't find it. I love nursing, but can't WAIT until I night wean him!

 

[greekgirl]

i don't co-sleep with my 19 month old, he usually falls asleep nursing while laying down in our bed and then I carry him to his own bed. Most nights he sleeps for 5-6 hours straight and then wakes to nurse. Afterwards, it is difficult getting him to stay asleep in his bed. He wants to be next to me.. sometimes he wants to breastfeed during the day and distractions don't always work. We want to have a second child plus I would like to wean him off so that we could possibly start sleeping better but I am afraid that he will still wake up in the middle of the night.

 

[shinona]

So funny to find this topic as I came here for the exact same thing. My older two had fully weaned by this stage so I'm.in new territory here!

 

[babyvaughan]

I co sleep with my 4.5 mo old we was only waling to nurse 1 time around 3 am now he is trying to do it every hour or 2 for the last week. Im not sure what to do but im becoming exhausted like the newborn stagee. Lastnight I fed him oatmeal then nursed him to see if he stayed full enough to make it until 3 am like before but he nursed even more times. I think he may be using it for comfort now and before it was just hunger. Any advice for me? We have a crib by our bed which he has slept in 2 times but now with none stop bfing its to much work to keep getting up.

 

[gingmg]

Babyvaughan- no advice really. We also went through many patches like that. Its really hard, but we just rode it out and even though it has taken a long time, things are much better now. My son still doesn't sleep great, but its better the older he gets. It changes so much.

Speaking of changing- this past week my son has detached himself nursing (after nursing for what feels like a looonngggg time) and has finished falling asleep snuggling next to me with some bum pats or back rubbing. Sometimes, I can just tell him to put his head down and he will and will let me cuddle him back to sleep. Feels like maybe he is starting to move himself into a different pattern? Part of me is so relieved thinking maybe even better sleep is in the horizon, and part of me is sad that my little baby isn't such a little baby anymore.

 

[melfy77]

I co sleep with my 19 month old and he drives me nuts night nursing. I think he'd sleep through if he didn't night nurse, but as it is he freaks if he can't find the boob within seconds of looking for it, all night long! I don't believe in crying it out. He gets utterly frantic if it's not there, too, crawls away in his sleep while wailing, shaking, sobbing...all within seconds if he can't find it. I love nursing, but can't WAIT until I night wean him!

Same story here!!! DD2 almost 23 months and gets miserable when she can't find the boobs

 

[greekgirl]

its definitely a comfort thing. He just wants to be close to his mommy. You might notice he isn't really eating much, unless he is like my kid at that age, who just drank tons of milk. Since it's too much for you to keep getting up I guess your only choice is to Colleen. Have you tried eating and drinking things that increase your supply? Or rubbing his back or bum to get him back to sleep? Sometimes they don't want to feed they just want to know you are there. Also, knowing that this phase will be over by the time they are three (I know, that seems far away) helps me get through the nights. One day he will be all grown and you'll look back and miss theses days. I know I will. Enpven if it's tough now...

 

[noon_child]

I co sleep with my 4.5 mo old we was only waling to nurse 1 time around 3 am now he is trying to do it every hour or 2 for the last week. Im not sure what to do but im becoming exhausted like the newborn stagee. Lastnight I fed him oatmeal then nursed him to see if he stayed full enough to make it until 3 am like before but he nursed even more times. I think he may be using it for comfort now and before it was just hunger. Any advice for me? We have a crib by our bed which he has slept in 2 times but now with none stop bfing its to much work to keep getting up.

Sounds like this could be sleep regression, perhaps coupled with a growth spurt. Have a look on the baby club pages about sleep regression at 4months and you may find many having similar issues. It does pass but for a few weeks it seems like they'll never sleep without you being glued to them!

 

[babyvaughan]

Wow, I think my exhaustion showed in all my typo's! LOL. He continued to nurse more and more at night for a month. He wouldnt nap for long and would only nurse for 5 minutes at time during the day. We started him on baby food along with nursing now that he is 5 months and he is back sleeping a waking 1-2 times! I think it was a growth spurt and him not being satisfied by just my milk. He is very big for his age. Over 100 percentile I weight ans 97 percentile for height. I wanted to reach 6 months before starting him on baby food but he is very happy now, so I think I made the right choice!

 

[greekgirl]

Night weaning on hold for us... My baby somewhere, somehow contracted herpes inside his little mouth. All he wants to do is nurse. Poor thing.

 

[Shandelion]

Night weaning on hold for us... My baby somewhere, somehow contracted herpes inside his little mouth. All he wants to do is nurse. Poor thing.

Oh no! Poor babe How does it manifest? Just cold sores? What made you get it checked? Poor you guys!!!

 

[c1403]

My DD is 15 months and wakes me up several times a night to nurse (four times last night). To be honest I feel ready to stop as she is such a comfort nurser and I would love a decent nights sleep (she wakes up DD1 too so I have her to deal with too). Last night DH helped her back to sleep and she didn't nurse so we are going to try that as whenever she sees me she wants the boob lol.

 

[greekgirl]

Night weaning on hold for us... My baby somewhere, somehow contracted herpes inside his little mouth. All he wants to do is nurse. Poor thing.

Oh no! Poor babe How does it manifest? Just cold sores? What made you get it checked? Poor you guys!!!

We went to a party on the 12th and he picked up a strangers glass of beer, drank from it and then spit it out on the rug, ate potato chips, pretzels, (lots of first time things for him) plus there were lots of children there... We don't know how he got it. It started out as a fever, then his gums began to swell and then by day three his mouth was a mess of sores and swelling, he couldn't eat, he cried a lot, wanted only me, lots of carrying him around, breastfeeding all day long, no solids, then it moved to his throat. He is better now. It is day 11? We are back to night weening and since he has my nipples covered in sores that won't seem to go away I have him once a day on the one side only; the less pussy side still makes tons of milk. It hurts so I try telling him that and it seems to be working. Of course there is still a lot of crying but we are working through it. It just so happened that I actually am in pain and he he is almost old enough to understand that.

 

[Shandelion]

Night weaning on hold for us... My baby somewhere, somehow contracted herpes inside his little mouth. All he wants to do is nurse. Poor thing.

Oh no! Poor babe How does it manifest? Just cold sores? What made you get it checked? Poor you guys!!!

We went to a party on the 12th and he picked up a strangers glass of beer, drank from it and then spit it out on the rug, ate potato chips, pretzels, (lots of first time things for him) plus there were lots of children there... We don't know how he got it. It started out as a fever, then his gums began to swell and then by day three his mouth was a mess of sores and swelling, he couldn't eat, he cried a lot, wanted only me, lots of carrying him around, breastfeeding all day long, no solids, then it moved to his throat. He is better now. It is day 11? We are back to night weening and since he has my nipples covered in sores that won't seem to go away I have him once a day on the one side only; the less pussy side still makes tons of milk. It hurts so I try telling him that and it seems to be working. Of course there is still a lot of crying but we are working through it. It just so happened that I actually am in pain and he he is almost old enough to understand that.

You poor, poor people. That is the hardest thing I can imagine. I am so sorry.