How do I go about night weaning a 1 yr old?

[lkmiscnet]

My LO still wakes about every 2.5 hours at night, and I nurse him about every 2.5-3 hours during the day. Sometimes he stretches it to 3 hours at night.

We co-sleep and since I'm practically asleep, I nurse him when he stirs or starts to cry. I suspect he's comfort nursing. Well, at least his ped said that he is metabolically able to sleep through the night without food.

He has been on solids for 4 months now, but is still on purees and does not eat much per day (about 1-1.5 oz total on average though sometimes up to 2 oz). It's been a slooow process...

I've read that BM is digested in about 2-2.5 hours. Could it be that he really is hungry during the night?

I need to try to at least night wean him and am wondering how I go about doing that.

Do I try to comfort him without nursing? How do I know if he isn't truly hungry?

Incidentally, he doesn't yet drink from a sippy cup (he chews on the spout), doesn't use a bottle, and I am just working with him on drinking from a cup.

[Bokonon]

It's possible, this I know.

It's not working in my house though.

DD will often go all night without feeding, when she is sleeping with DH and he comforts her back to sleep. But sometimes she wakes at 3am and wants to play, so he needs me to nurse her back down.

Lately I've just been sleeping with her (despite her having her own room and crib for 3 months) because she frequently starts crying 15 minutes after I've put her down. It's easier to just sleep with her than do the all-night hallway shuffle.

She doesn't eat solids either, more than a few bites of pancake or puffs or whatever. Pushes purees out of her mouth. Needless to say, she's a pretty high-maintenance baby.

The No-Cry Sleep Solution has some good tips, as does Dr. Jay Gordon. Good luck to you!

http://drjaygordon.com/attachment/sleeppattern.html

[TiredX2]

Originally Posted by lkmiscnet

Well, at least his ped said that he is metabolically able to sleep through the night without food.

I will agree that the vast majority of one year olds can go 5-6+ hours (sleeping through the night is defined as one 5 hour stretch) without eating. I don't think it is biologically *ideal* for them to do so for a number of reasons. If they have to, or if they naturally do, it can be healthy. But they don't *have* to. Do you see the difference?

He has been on solids for 4 months now, but is still on purees and does not eat much per day (about 1-1.5 oz total on average though sometimes up to 2 oz). It's been a slooow process...

Since solids are supposed to be about experementation, have you considered letting him try chunks and self-feeding?

I've read that BM is digested in about 2-2.5 hours. Could it be that he really is hungry during the night?

Yes, he could very well be hungry during the night. You can probably teach him to ignore that and not eat during that time.

I need to try to at least night wean him and am wondering how I go about doing that.

Can I ask for your reasong for this? It sounds like you are happy/comfortable with your current situation but then you say you *need* to try to night wean--- what is the motivation? If it is simply a random timeline, I can defintley guarantee you that he will eventually night wean on his own.

[alegna]

IME it's not really ideal or easy to nightwean 1 yr olds for a lot of reasons. At 12 months they are really still babies and need to nurse on demand night and day.

-Angela

[lkmiscnet]

The reason for weaning...I had baby #1 with IVF and want to give him a sibling with the embryos we have on ice. I am 45 though so time is running out, especially if the implantation doesn't work. I have to have two periods in a row before I can start treatment. So, I am feeling the time crunch every day. In fact, I just had a nightmare about it last night, it is weighing so heavily on my mind...

I had planned to wean at 6 months, but he was waking even more frequently at night and 6 turned into 7, which turned into 8, which turned into 9, etc. So, now we are at a year.

I drove myself crazy pumping every 2-3 hours for 8 months (it really adversely affected my mothering experience) and storing up a freezer stash, but have not been able to get him to take any thawed BM from a bottle or sippy cup, as he has not taken to using either. I don't even know if he will like the taste from the excess lipase I have. I had wanted to extend the time he was on BM. So, don't know if the stash is all wasted or not, since some is already 10 mo old.

In any event, I read that sometimes night weaning can induce AF, so I thought I would start with that. I think he may have had a 5 hour stretch last night, in fact, but I don't recall as I was sleepy myself.

How sad if I had to tell him when he's older that he doesn't have any siblings because I couldn't wean him in time...

[Katielady]

Ach, that's a tough situation. I had something similar- I weaned my first (complete weaning) at around 13 months because I wanted to start trying to conceive #2 and needed to take fertility drugs, and felt uncomfortable nursing while taking them.

For nightweaning, can your partner take over night duty for a while? Maybe cosleep with your baby in another room?

Definitely get "No Cry Sleep Solution" from the library. Great ideas in there.

Good luck!

[Heba]

You might find some of Dr Sears's suggestions helpful - Night weaning: 12 alternatives for the all-night nurser http://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/t070800.asp

The very best of luck!

[TiredX2]

Can you give us a run down of your nightly schedule?

Like, what you do before bed? What time DS falls asleep. What time you fall asleep. Where you all sleep (like in what order in the bed). If you have noticed anything that helps DS sleep longer. If he takes a pacifier or has other "self" soothing methods.

Generally, I think the easiest way to extend the night time sleep is to nurse baby to bed. Then, 2-3 hours later when you go to be REALLY wake him up. Like change his diaper, move him around, get him awake. Then nurse him to sleep again, making sure he really eats. Have it so you are not sleeping right next to him. Be sure DP responds immediately to him rustling around with pats, soothing words, etc... try to put of this next nursing as long as you can. If you're comfortable with it you might want to actually sleep in a different room for a bit. You should be able to gradually extend that time from 2.5-3 hours up to 4-5 hours. Make sure he is getting lots of access to the breast during the day.

About AF. Has AF returned post partum? If not, have you had any signs of returning fertility? How is your weight? How is your diet?

Good luck!

[Llyra]

I nightweaned my DS at that age. He was a frequent night nurser, and very dependent on the breast to fall asleep. I decided to night wean because I was very sick, with a chronic serious illness that meant I spent most of my nights in the bathroom, and it was pure hell trying to endure that while at the same time having to rush back to him every time he woke to nurse him. Nightweaning seemed like my only choice.

It was very hard, on me and on him. It's not something I would have done if I'd been able to see any other workable solution. My girls nightweaned easily, with only the gentlest help from me, but DS really needed me at night still. I struggled for a long time about whether I even could nightwean him, but in the end, I felt like the situation as it stood was one I couldn't live with any longer.

What we did was establish a period of time during the night when I would not nurse. We started with 11 am to 2 am. I slept in another room, and he slept with DH. Up until that window of time, if he woke, DH would bring him to me, and then I'd nurse him, and DH would take him back to bed. If he woke during that window of time, DH would not bring him to me, and DH would hold him, rock him, carry him, offer a bottle, or do anything else he could to comfort him. When the window of time was over, if he woke, DH brought him to me, and he spent the rest of the night with me.

Then we gradually widened the window of time. It was very difficult, and DS did an awful lot of crying. It was also extremely hard on DH, who slept hardly at all for almost ten days.

DS cried a lot, in the loving arms of his father, who did everything he possibly could to help him with the change.

By the tenth day, we were up to a ten hour window, and DS was waking only a handful of times during that time, and going back to sleep more easily for DH when he did wake.

I was never able to cosleep with DS again, though. He couldn't sleep next to me and not nurse-- it drove him crazy. If I was even in the room, he would not allow DH to help him sleep. Eventually we set DS up with a crib in his sisters' room, and he sleeps in there still.

I realize I'm making it sound pretty awful. That's because it was very hard to do. It's not something I would have done if I hadn't felt like I had to. It is possible, though, and it sounds like you have a very good reason to consider night weaning. I think the way we went about it was difficult, but it is one possible method to consider.

FWIW, though, my AF came back right after we nightweaned.

[alegna]

Okay- if you're trying to induce ovulation, I'd start by trying to create one long no-nursing period. Take a look at typical nursing patterns now and see where you come the closest- it might be in the middle of the day.

-Angela

[lkmiscnet]

Since he is still predominantly BF and not eating a whole lot of solids, I would be stressing wondering if he really is hungry in the middle of the night. I would feel horrible denying him food if his tummy feels empty.

I know I've woken in the middle of the night on occasion and been so hungry, I couldn't go back to sleep. I finally would have to get a snack.

Since he's been BF every 2-3 hours since birth, why would now be any different since he's only eating under 2 oz of food per day and basically on a quickly digested liquid diet of BM?