How old was your dc when they stopped nursing to sleep...

[BetsyPage]

How old was your dc when they stopped nursing to sleep or nursing at night, on their own? How much longer did they nurse past that?

(hoping to hear from some who really followed their child's lead... need to know/hear there is a light at the end of the tunnel, lol...)

[poiyt]

We never did sleep training with dd - we always followed her lead when it came to sleep - means she sets her own bedtime as well (we do read for tired cues). I have always nursed on demand. She was the baby who would nurse every 30-45 minutes for 5 minutes. I always let her nurse to sleep, I always nursed her when she would wake up through the night. I tell you this so you can compare similarities...

She stopped nursing *to sleep* when she was 13months old. She would still nurse, then she would pull off, roll over, and we would cuddle to sleep. She did this all on her own one day - out of the blue. There were still occasional nights where she would nurse to sleep but they were few and far between. She still woke up every hour to 1.5hours to nurse. When she was about 16months she just started - again out of the blue and completely on her own - sleeping through the night. So we went from having what many parents would call the *worst sleeper* (waking frequently) to having the *best sleeper*.

She did this all on her own - it was never forced, and if she wants to nurse she is still able - just most nights she doesnt.

I do believe that this kind of scenario would/will happen with *most* kids if given the chance to set their own boundaries...JMO

[BetsyPage]

Well... considering she's 3 yo now, that ship has sailed. lol Maybe there's a window when they are younger, and I missed it... with both my girls...

[readytobedone]

she did it around 18 months. occasionally she will still nurse to sleep, but only when very tired, or sick.

she's still nursing a lot, though--not even close to weaning.

[ChinaDoll]

DD was 15 months old, but I was pregnant

DS stopped on a consistent basis at 3.5 years or so, but has been known to nurse to sleep on occasion even now (at almost 5)

[BetsyPage]

All of the sudden I feel like I'm the only one with a 2-3 yo who still nurses to sleep... goodness, this is MDC, please tell me that's not true! lol

[ramama]

Originally Posted by BetsyPage

All of the sudden I feel like I'm the only one with a 2-3 yo who still nurses to sleep... goodness, this is MDC, please tell me that's not true! lol

DD1 nursed to sleep until she self-weaned at 3 1/4 years. DD2 just turned 3 in December and is starting to taper off on the night nursings, without me having anything to do with it. Now she nurses a bit during bedtime stories, but normally falls asleep on her own. Just last night she woke in the night and cuddled back to sleep rather than nurse, for the first time. So, you're not alone!

[meemee]

: my dd is 6 1/2 and the only time she nurses is to sleep. sometimes when she wakes up. but mostly only at nighttime.

[alegna]

Dd nursed to sleep until around 2.5. She's still nursing now at 4.5+

-Angela

[TiredX2]

Originally Posted by poiyt

I do believe that this kind of scenario would/will happen with *most* kids if given the chance to set their own boundaries...JMO

While I think that more people would be willing to nurse to sleep if that was average

Originally Posted by BetsyPage

All of the sudden I feel like I'm the only one with a 2-3 yo who still nurses to sleep... goodness, this is MDC, please tell me that's not true! lol

I don't have nurslings, but both of mine were nursing to sleep at that point. They *could* get to sleep without nursing (if they were not with me, generally, or were in their car seats, sometimes) but generally nursed to sleep. DD consistently nursed to sleep until 3.5-4 and DS later than that.

[poiyt]

Originally Posted by TiredX2

While I think that more people would be willing to nurse to sleep if that was average

totally agree! I guess I didnt make it clear that i thought the age in which my dd stopped on her own was MUCH younger than I ever thought she would. I still think, that children will stop on their own eventually (some at 3, some at 4..) not saying encourage it if the mama is tired or is becoming resentful or anything...jmo is all

[MamaJenese]

DS stopped nursing in the middle of the night at 14 months. Stopped nursing to sleep at 3 years, still nurses here and there for comfort at 3.5. DD still nurses to sleep and gets up to nurse she is 20 months. No sleep training, no Parent led weaning here.

[greenmamapagan]

DD gradually stopped nursing during the night starting sometime after 2 years. Actually I suppose it was earlier than that but she would routinely wake up just before dawn then feed back to sleep for another couple of hours (I always thought if she were bottle-fed or we didn't co-sleep that she would actually get up then but instead we both got to sleep in :: then she fell asleep without any milk at all for the first time at almost 2.5. Shortly after that I got pregnant so I'm not sure if that influenced her giving up feeding to sleep but these days (she'll be three in a few weeks) she only feeds to sleep if she's really upset about something (and it just happens to be bedtime) or incredibly over-tired. So maybe, once or twice a fortnight.

[greenmamapagan]

Oh & I just wanted to say that the first time she fell asleep without milk felt like some kind of amazing philosophical victory & I wanted to shout it from the rooftops because we never did any kind of sleep training/bedtime routine thing and yet, lo and behold it did happen naturally in it's own time

[Huckablogger]

I am right there with ya. DS will be 3 8/31 and nurses to sleep and to nap and if he wakes in the middle of night (which he ALWAYS does) plus here and there throughout the day. I am tired to and am looking for the light at the end of the tunnel too.

[ChampagneBlossom]

I have to admit that we moved DD to her own room about a month ago. She was around 13 months. She was nursing EVERY 30-45 mins at night. When we moved her I didn't purposely TRY to nightwean her but she was waking up less often without our stimulation (she's a light sleeper) and I'm assuming smelling my milk. She is now sleeping through the night, sometimes with one waking, but it only takes about 30 seconds of nursing now to soothe her during that one waking. And sometimes I will pick her up and rock her without offering the boob - and she's fine with it! This is the little miss who would go into hysterics if the nipple popped out of her mouth in her deepest sleep. Drastic difference.

I do still nurse her to sleep, though, because she's losing interest in nursing during the days (she's too busy) and I don't want her to wean prematurely. So we have nice long nursing sessions at night. She loves it and it's our special snuggle time. But if for some reason I have to put her down awake (like her big bro wakes up crying for example) I can put her in her crib and she will fall asleep without booby.

[tine1973]

DS is 2.5, still nurses to sleep for naps and nightime, and has a very hard time being put down by anyone else (except at daycare - interesting.) He usually wake us to nurse at about 4am and sometimes before midnight as well. We are a LONG way from not nursing to sleep, but he very rarely nurses at any other time (by his chosing.)

[veganmama719]

About 4 years and 8 months. He is still nursing at bed time (just turned 5) but now comes off (he only nurses for about a minute once a day now) before he falls asleep.

He has been able to be put to sleep at night by someone other than me since he was about 2.5 though. And by our caregiver with a bottle at naptime since he was 1.

[being]

dd-now 4 -stopped nursing to sleep at night @ 2.5 yo.However nursing during bedtime routine is still important to her and she nurses to sleep at naptime .

[BetsyPage]

Oh good, I feel better now! For a bit I was like oh goodness if there are no 3 yo's falling asleep nursing at MDC then I guess I'm really extreme lol.

My oldest just weaned... her nighttime nursing was last to go, but she stopped nursing *to* sleep at 2.5 yo out of necessity... a new baby came along. That baby doesn't have any competition, though, and she is hard hard hard to get to sleep without nursing. My dh was able to take over bedtime with my oldest, but that hasn't worked the second time around, different personalities I guess!