when did your child stop breastfeeding at night?

[NYMOM07]

my son REFUSES to night wean! he is almost 16 months... did your kids do it on their own or what can I do?

I dont get any sleep, he wakes up at least 4 times a night.. and i am worried about him getting cavities with constant milk on his teeth...

please help!

[mimim]

My kids were all about 18 months. My oldest stopped on his own, but I nightweaned the two younger ones when I couldn't take it anymore.

[SparklingGemini]

I don't know when the best time is, per se. But I know it's not 16 months!

My DD is 16 months and I cannot even imagine attempting to nightwean her. She would be cranky and miserable and sad and upset.

Good luck to you!

[Starflower]

My DD nursed non-stop at night until just before her 2nd birthday, when she finally got in the last of her molars.

[NYMOM07]

Originally Posted by Starflower

My DD nursed non-stop at night until just before her 2nd birthday, when she finally got in the last of her molars.

Uhhhh! how did you night wean?

and did/do any of you worry about cavities? i have read articles that this isnt a concern- that it would be the bm causing cavities, but i still worry because it is food on their teeth/in their mouth all night......

i have heard this is the worst time to wean, but i thought i would give it a shot- do you all cosleep too? i think that is making it harder as well.

thanks again!

[BnInTheOvn]

Originally Posted by NYMOM07

Uhhhh! how did you night wean?

and did/do any of you worry about cavities? i have read articles that this isnt a concern- that it would be the bm causing cavities, but i still worry because it is food on their teeth/in their mouth all night......

i have heard this is the worst time to wean, but i thought i would give it a shot- do you all cosleep too? i think that is making it harder as well.

thanks again!

First off, I never "night weaned" Annalise - she just finally started sleeping through the night and we didnt have to do it anymore... lol (And that ahppened at around 19 months or so, before it was consistent.. right after all 4 molars and the canines were in... hm...)

But as far as cavities -- you will hear different opinions, from those educated and non educated on BFing. Breastmilk is 80% water, and everything else in it is nutrients and antibodies, etc. It is all natural (obviously) and does not contain anything that causes decay of teeth.
Also, when nursing, the nipple is pulled to the back of the mouth, so that it bypasses the teeth. Unlike a bottle (which is more shallow in the mouth so that with each suck the formula passes over the teeth), the breast also does not "drip" out milk once the child has fallen asleep and stops sucking. Especially at 16 months, as you are probably never engorged at this point and milk doesn't "leak" out like in the first months.

So don't worry about it

I did not cosleep, and honestly, my daughter still woke up at night. But Ive heard that with cosleeping, if you turn over so your back is to the child, sometimes that helps... if it's not RIGHT there, then they dont have the urge to latch on when theyre in a light sleep... or maybe baby will just wake all the way up and scream til you roll over. lol... but worth a shot.

But you are right, either way, that between 9 and 18 months is the hardest time to wean/make a change/get child to sleep on their own.
In that time is when I baby becomes aware of seperation and can start to have anxiety when you make changes that "seperate" them from mommy.

My daughter is VERY attached to me (Im a SAHM and I do EVERYTHING regarding her from diapers to baths to bedtime to reading books.... Daddy JUST took over bedtime recently) so it was a very bad time for us to try to make changes. But once she got past that stage it was a HUGE difference.

good luck

[Jazmommie]

all 3 of mine nightweaned (slept through the night )at 2 3/4 -3 years of age

sorry -I made sure they drank water or brushed teeth before bed --it is the food on teeth and then the breastmilk sugar combo that can cause cavities i heard-made sense to me .

I co slept also--
my 2 year old still awakens about 2-3 times on a bad night and 1 on a good night --never slept through the night yet

[Ruthla]

I never "night weaned" anybody- although I did start offering water to DD1 when I was pg with DD2- and that cut night nursing in half.

DD1 stopped night nursing around the time she weaned (2.5yo) although she did nurse less at night as she got older and woke less at night. DD2 stopped night nursing at 14mo when she completely weaned (but didn't stop her nighttime bottle of pasturized cow's milk until age 2- and THAT damaged her teeth! DS gradually slept longer and longer stretches as he got bigger, but still nursed occasionally in the middle of the night at age 4 (he weaned at 4.25, and the last few months he only nursed about once a day, usually before bed or right when he woke up in the morning, but more often when he didn't feel well.)

16mo babies are hard. They're intense, they're working on molars and lots of new developmental milestones, and you feel wiped out because you think they should be "big" by now. Be patient. Your little guy is doing a whole lot of growing right now, and it's likely his sleep will settle down in the next few months.

[NYMOM07]

thanks so much everyone.. i think i got what i need to continue bfing until my little man can sleep through the night... at least a little better than now..

I guess i know in my heart the weaning is premature, but i am SO tired. that is really where all this is coming from. I work, and getting 7 hours of sleep with 5 interruptions is insane. i will try though..

thanks again!

[milkmamamerina]

not till #2 was on the way

I'm not sure when in my pregnancy with baby #2 my firstborn nightweaned, but it was due to the milk change that he finally stopped night nursing. He was a little past 2 years old.

[alegna]

We did not nightwean. Dd mostly stopped nursing at night between 2 and 2.5 after all the 2yr molars were in. She'd still nurse in the middle of the night now and then though (once every 2 weeks or so?)

-Angela

[Sheryl1678]

We finished nursing at night when I became pregnant. I think the milk was still fine for DD but the sensation changed for me and I couldn't take it at all. DD was a little past 3 and I am hoping we start up again after the birth.

[Happiestever]

My son did right around 12 months all on his own. And it was weird cause I thought it would never happen, hearing horrow stories and all. I would wake up the next couple nights at the usual nursing times, and wonder what the heck was going on.

[lexmas]

DS isn't nightweaned, but he's going that route. He's just 2 now. And he's nursing less in general because I'm pregnant, so I'm not sure that would have happened if I wasn't. But there is no way he would have nightweaned before now, he's always woken LOTS at night. Just something I got used to, I suppose.

[Beansmom]

My dd is 29 months and still nursing through the night. I am trying to figure out what I can do to get her night weaned. I can't take it anymore. She will sleep fine overnight at her grandparents, but if she is home and knows I am home, forget it. My older dd stopped nursing at night about 18 months.

[kel32brown]

I chose to nightwean Emma at 12 months. I was exhausted, getting migraines 2x a week and unable to parent the rest of my family due to being sick so much. My husband helped console and transition Emma, and we read some suggestions about night weaning on drjaygordon.com. I also read Gentle No Cry Sleep solution, which helped us transition, and I'm pleased to say that at 30 months old she's still nursing as much as she wants during the day.

And my migraines haven't returned since that 12 month mark. YAY for all of us!! A lot of migraine prevention meds are contraindicated in breastfeeding. But night weaning worked well for us.

[MisaGoat]

My son didn't stop nursing at night until he moved to a toddler bed in his own room at 21 months. My husband started putting him to bed, I would nurse him on the couch before bed and then he would go read a story and go to bed.

Now when he wakes up at night (a couple times a week) I go into his room, lay him back down and tuck his blanket around him and leave. He goes right back to sleep.

I have no idea how to night wean a toddler if you are cosleeping.

[Mrsboyko]

DD started STTN around 18-19 months old (just after the canine teeth came in), so that is when I say she night weaned. The STTN lasted a whole 2 months and then when she woke she wouldn't nurse at night, but was still up pretty often. It was rough because I didn't have any "tools" to get her back to sleep any more. She has just turned 2 and still wakes 1-2 times, though she takes a sippy of water or rice milk and goes back to sleep pretty fast.

[clicksab]

If there is such a thing as easy nightweaning, I'd love to hear about it!
My DD is 22 mo and we are actively trying to nightwean due to me being pg. It is not easy by any means, but it is necessary for us to continue nursing at all...nursing at night has been horrible for me for a few weeks. So I'm doing unlimited access during the days as sort of a consolation prize! She's still asking at night, but can manage to get back to sleep without it.

[Llyra]

DD2 nightweaned fairly easily. But she was only 8 1/2 months, and was never a big night nurser. I nightweaned DS at 12 months, but it was not easy at all. We wound up having me sleep separately and turning nighttime parenting over to DH for awhile. It was very hard-- DS cried a lot, and poor DH was worn out before it was done. I only did it because I was really sick with a chronic illness and physically couldn't be there to nurse him every time he woke. We moved to separate beds at the same time, in both cases. I can't imagine weaning a cosleeping child. DD1 coslept and slept through, but she was bottlefed.

I wish I could help you. I don't think there IS an age when it would be easy to wean a toddler that wasn't ready all on his own.