When did your lo stop nursing at night?

[La Sombra]

I'm cross-posting this in Nighttime Parenting, too 'cause I wasn't exactly sure where this would belong:

I feel like this question has been asked a million times on here but maybe I never really paid attention 'cause I didn't feel like it applied to me at the time. Now I'm the mamma to a nearly 20-month old baby girl who is a major night nurser. In fact, except for a few short phases, my dd has been nursing less and less in the day--maybe two or three times. But nighttime? Look out! We're at the all-night buffet!

She goes to bed in her crib at like 7:30 (later over the holidays; we've been so busy), wakes anywhere from 11:30 to 2a.m. to nurse again. At this point, dh brings her into our bed and I will nurse her back to sleep with us, where she will typically remain for the rest of the night. She generally wakes up anywhere from one to three more times during the night before we're up in the morning (which is like 6 a.m. when I'm in school).

Now, my question: for those of you who did NOT actively night-wean, when did your lo.s stop nursing at night? I keep thinking that I want to night-wean her because her nursing is getting to be quite disruptive and because she is a really light sleeper, so if she's in the bed with us and we roll over or anything, she wakes up again and wants to nurse again. But the couple small attempts we've made have been difficult and I don't know if I want to deal with it, or if she's even ready (although I certainly know she'd survive without it at night, at this age).

So, to recap: When did your lo stop nursing at night? Did they then sleep through the night? Any tips for night weaning?

Thank you!

[Lovenest]

My son is 6 years 4 months and still nurses sometimes at night.
I would say it started to slow down when he was around 4.5.
We co-sleep so that does make it easier if he wants to.

Each child is very different and has different needs, just follow your child's lead.

[williamsmommy2002]

My 6 year old hasn't woken up to nurse in a long time. My 4 year 5 month old still does a couple of times a week. I think it depends on the kid. I tried to night wean my oldest at about 3 and it was a horrible very short lived experience.

[greeba]

My 23 month old mostly wakes up once a night but he surprises me every so often and sleeps through the night!

[contactmaya]

ds1 was mostly nursing first at about 4 or 5 am, when he was 7/8 months ( i cant remember exactly) Sometimes he nursed more often. He averaged 1-3 times a night, but from this age, it was more and more only once, and not before 4/5 am.

Ds2, is now 9months, and is following this pattern, but not exactly. He has been nursing only once, more and more often, but around 3h30/4 am. However, like his brother, he averages, 1-3 times.

[mamabohl]

My still nursing 4yo stopped nursing at night around 3 years old, and about 6 months before that he slowed down to only once a night, and not every night. Now he only wakes up every once in a while, and he doesn't always want to nurse when he wakes up. He was still waking pretty frequently at 2 though.

[SereneBabe]

My daughter stopped nursing at night about 5 or 6 months ago. She still nursed to sleep and on waking until last week. She's almost 5.5.

[contactmaya]

I should add this- i made a concerted effort to nurse more during the day with ds1.
I didnt really have to do anything, because he usually wanted to nurse every 2-3 hours, i just made sure not to let the time pass (which can sometimes happen on a busy day). Also he was not big on solids, which meant that he was nursing alot.
You say in your post that lo is nursing less during the day. Youre studying, so that might make it hard to nurse more during the day, but it might lessen night nursings.
Secondly, i always made sure to nurse ds1 in his sleep, when i went to bed (usually around 10/11pm) He didnt have to wake up, but he seemed to appreciate it, and it kept him going longer during the night.
I continued this pattern till he was past 24months-by which time i was pregnant, so daytime nursing decreased by itself (with decreasing milk supply) We continued however, and now at 3 he's still nursing a couple of times a day, usually at bedtime, and morning.

[gagin37]

ds started sttn at 8weeks old completely of his own volition. he's just over 4 months now and will wake up around 5am for some early morning nursing and snuggle time in mommy and daddy's bed. I have left our nursing/sleeping schedule entirely up to him and I was amazed he gave up his night time nursing so soon.

[boatbaby]

DS is 4.5 and still nurses at night. Not all the time, and usually only for a minute or two. Since we co-sleep I don't even really notice most of the time or I fall instantly back asleep. 99% of the time I am the one who stirs (to drink water, to pee, to kick around blankets) and then I wake HIM and then he wants to nurse. He started "sleeping through the night" (which for us meant not nursing every 2 hours, just once or twice) at about 3 years old (when he gave up napping!)

But he gave up day nursing first (doesn't ask for unless he's hurt or something). He seems to really need it early morning as part of his waking up rhythm.

[Peony]

DD1 stopped waking up to nurse right after she turned 3, and she did start STTN at the same time. She had been a VERY heavy night nurser until then. DD2 stopped nursing at night right after she turned 2, but she still wakes up at night. She replaced night nursing with a lovey (her doing) and now she wakes up looking for it in the middle of the night or needing a pat on the back to get back to sleep.

[~PurityLake~]

My oldest daughter (she's now 3 years 7 months old) hasn't nursed at night in a long time. But our nursing relationship has been on and off (I became pregnant with Sophia when Abigail was only 5 months old... I no longer produced milk when Abigail was 7 months and ran out of stored breast milk when she was 8 months old, then she resumed nursing when Sophia was 8 months old...)

Sophia is now 2 years 4.5 months old and she still nurses anywhere from 2-6 times throughout the night.

[buggasmom]

same boat as you

my daughter is 2 yrs 3 mos and still nursing a lot at nite.she can't sleep w/o nursing and is a light sleeper, too. it is disruptive and tiring, to say the least! so i don't have any tips about not nursing at night, but was comforted that i'm not the only one having this experience! it seems to have a lot to do with temperament.

[snowgirl]

about 4yo when i was 5months pregnant. I ended up sleeping in the guest room for the remainder of my pg b/c I needed more space and i was contracting and cramping a lot when she would nurse.

[riverscout]

My daughter stopped waking to nurse at about 18 months. She was never a big night nurser anyway though.

[Love_My_Bubba]

He nightweaned himself at 1.5 yo

[kaireece]

My first DS night weaned at age two (because I needed him to). My second DS doesn't really wake at night *knocks wood* to feed. My first DS co-sleeps and my second DS doesn't.

[Mandala126]

DD1 stopped nursing at night at about 18mo and STTN but started again right before DD2 was born. Now she wakes up to nurse 2 or even 3 times at night (maybe because DD2 wakes her when she's up, we all sleep together).

[mamadukes]

My 20 onth old wakes up 1-3 times/night to nurse. It has recently become really disruptive and I am a wreck in the mornings...thinking about night-weaning, but on the rare occasion that I try to avoid giving him the nipple, he FREAKS OUT (and then I feel horrible and let him nurse). I feel a change coming...hopefully.

[pixilixi]

Ds is 2 year 9 months, and he has sttn without nursing maybe 5 times - all fairly recently. It has only happened when he has had a daytime nap - therefore, he only sleeps perhaps 9 hours at night.

On most nights, he wakes once or twice and nurses briefly, rolls over and goes back to sleep. When he doesn't nap, he is often restless in the evening stretch, and will nurse maybe 4 times over 11 hours.

I must say, it was at about 20 months that he went from nursing 5 or 6 times a night to only around 3 times. And it has gradually reduced since then - both the frequency and the duration of the night "feeds". I don't really care if he continues night nursing if it is only once or twice a night. It is a pain though if I want to go out (like I did last night), and dh rings me to say that ds is crying for milkie, and he has been unable to settle him down. I'm hoping he becomes more accepting of daddy for those odd times.