night weaning

[chirp]

im 8 weeks preggo and nursing a 15 m.o.

i do not want to stop nursing him...but nightweaning HAS to happen because i am not getting enough sleep.

unfortunately, b/c of teething he is actually wanting to nurse more and co sleeping on my side all night IS NOT WORKING for my hips right now.

i wake up with sore nipples, tired, hips hurting and CRANKY.

i need to learn how to nightwean gently. i know this might entail getting him his own bed near ours...and that is in the works...but can't happen until my husband goes back to work in september!

please help! this is really taking it's toll!

[jecombs]

I night-weaned my DD when she was about your son's age because she was wanting to nurse 3-5 times a night and I was totally exhausted. It was a difficult couple of nights, but it worked. I think the most important thing (at least for us) was getting my DH to help out. If you can get your DH to sleep in another room with your LO for a few nights, that will really help! I used Dr. Jay Gordon's method for co-sleeping families.

Here is Dr. Jay's method

[aylaanne]

I work nights, and found that DS slept much better with his daddy when I wasn't in the bed. DH got him nightweaned by 10mos, but if I came to bed, he would nurse ALL night, just because it was there. Now we're all back in the same bed and he'll only nurse once toward dawn and that's it, at 20mos.

If your hips are hurting, try getting a fluffy pillow (cheaper than another bed) and putting it between your knees. I found that getting a pillow between my legs really helped with the hip pain, which is a chronic symptom of pregnancy for me.

Otherwise, I'd get your husband involved in the action, by having your DS sleep on DH's side. If you have a guest room you might want to try sleeping separately for a few days to see if that helps.