night weaning a 10 month old?

[TnMsMama]

Is it even possible? She's waking up 4-6 times a night to nurse. She eats 3-4 meals a day, and during the day, really only nurses at nap time and if she falls down (she's learning to walk... lots of tumbles).

I'm 6wks-ish pregnant and I know my supply is dropping, when she nurses at night she wrassles around and, while latched, does all kinds of gymnastics.

I've added brewer's yeast and red raspberry leaf to my diet, and it's not helping as much as I'd like.

On top of everything else, she's up ALL NIGHT. I can't sleep while she's doing her acrobatics, so I'm up too. Sometimes it's so bad that I have to get up and take her into another room so she doesn't keep DBF awake.

I'm TIRED. Really. Effin. Tired.

Is it possible to get her to sleep through the night? I will NOT let her CIO, like my mother and MIL and EVERYONE is suggesting - she doesn't even have a crib for me to trap her in, so they can stuff it.

Is there a gentle, loving way to get her to sleep at night and STAY asleep? I don't mind the last thing at night nurse and the first thing in the morning nurse... it's the 15 in between those two that are driving me nuts.

[LadyCatherine185]

my DS woke every hour or more the first year of his life, I know how rough sleep deprivation can be! That said, I would absolutely not nightwean at 10 months. That is too young. Some things you CAN do for the time being--

*white noise, blackout curtains
*have her sleep on a mattress on the floor next to you, or in a separate room
*have your DP take over part of the night, or take her in the morning when she waks up so you can get an extra hour or so of sleep
*have DP take her out on the weekend mornings so you can sleep in

Have you read The No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley? That has some great tips, as does Sleepless in America.

Is she taking any formula during the day? The amount she is nursing does not sound like enough to me, IMO. It sounds like she is making up for lost calories during the day by nursing at night.. Can you try getting more calories into her during the day so that she isn't as hungry at night? I would definitely offer nursing more during the day, and if she won't take it, formula.

Finally, we did nightwean my DS around 18 months using the Dr. Jay Gordon method (you can google). It went really well for us, we took it slower (a month verses 10 days) and he didn't cry at all. He was ready though, and much older than your DD. I'd say wait it out a bit longer and see what happens, and if things don't improve you could try nightweaning.

[TnMsMama]

I would absolutely not want to wean her of any sort if I wasn't preggo. She nurses a lot during the day, too - she naps about 3 times, plus every bump, stumble, tumble, etc.... She's nursing right now actually LOL.

I just worry that she's not getting ENOUGH from the boob - nutrition wise - cuz of me being pregnant. Several times she's been inconsolable at night until I get up and fix her a bowl of oatmeal.

My DP works from 6 am to 7 pm most nights, and I stay home so there's no way he can help at night - he really needs his sleep - he spends most of his day on a 20 foot ladder - i need him alert.

Miss priss absolutely will NOT take formula or any type of bottle. I can "spoon" water into her mouth with a straw but if I do the same trick with formula she spits it out and gets REALLY mad.

I just don't know what to do.

[LadyCatherine185]

I'm sorry I didn't realize she is napping 3 times a day.. at that age my DS was napping once a day. Sounds like she is probably getting plenty of milk.

One thing I would def do is transition her to two or one nap a day.. That helped with nighttime sleep for us.

[CassnBeth]

Oh man. I have nothing useful for you but I wanted to chime in with sympathy. My DD was doing that all night nursing thing too and we successfully pushed her nursings apart so she went a stretch from 11 to 5 but my little girl wasn't really eating at any other times. Just a few sips to put her back to sleep. It sounds like your daughter is genuinely hungry and the drop in supply isn't quite slow enough to let her appetite get used it. I'm sorry -- you must be so tired.

[TnMsMama]

I'm feeding her "people food" 3-4 times a day, but I'm wondering if I add a before-bed snack? She munches cheerios and loves oatmeal, hummus, mac and cheese (homemade, whole grain, not that orange crap), and waffles. She's very much a carb baby... I wonder if I add protein she might feel fuller?

[Nicole730]

(Hugs)

I pretty much lost my whole supply at 10 weeks pregnant...so you might *need* to figure out a way to get formula into her, if you don't want to do cow's milk right at one year. I guess it would depend how well she eats health, nutrient-rich solids.

I got fed up with the all night long nursing sessions with my son while pregnant, which is why I night weaned, but he was 14 months old, so I wasn't too concerned (still sad though when weaning happened sooner than I wanted because of pregnancy).

[TnMsMama]

Been reading good things about goat's milk over cow milk. My midwife adopted newborn twins and did goats milk instead of formula for them, with good results. I'll try that with her.

[LadyCatherine185]

I would definitely add more fats/protiens to her diet. A pre-bed snack would be great for sure. Try avocado!

[Alisse]

Goat's milk is not a sufficient substitute for formula. But if your baby is eating a wide variety of food, goat's milk can be used as a part of her diet.

My son has protein/fat in his lunch and dinner everyday and his frequency of nightwakings for nursing has never decreased . I hope it's different for you.

[AirMiami]

In your case, it does seem like your daughter is actually very hungry in the middle of the night. We did end up night weaning at 10 months, but my daughter was not eating. She wanted my nipple in her mouth all night long and woke up screaming every single time it slipped out. I was not getting any sleep at all and I was slipping into a very bad depression from sleep deprivation. She had never been a very good sleeper to begin with, with very frequent wakings from the beginning, but at 8 months the constant need for a nipple in her mouth started and it tipped me over the edge. If she had been truly eating at night, I would have never ever night weaned, and I still feel guilt about it today, but she wasn't eating at all, just holding it in her mouth. Sometimes, there are instances where it is ok to night wean early. Moms need to be healthy mentally and physically in order to care for their children.

[poppan]

The whole first year is a complete blur so I don't know exactly when I did this, but I do recall that one or two times I had to reset their clock and do some minor "sleep training" so that they wouldn't nurse all night. I was OK waking up every 3-4 hours but I could not hack every hour or two.

First I made sure it wasn't just a growth spurt -- i.e. I let it go on for a week or two. When I decided it was just a bad groove their stomachs got into, that *I* badly wanted out of, I did something about it. I basically watched the clock and they had to wait at least 3 hours before I would feed them again. I rocked and shushed and patted and tried other methods of getting them back to sleep. Yes of course they cried because I didn't just whip out my boob and give them what they wanted. And for a few nights it was even less sleep for me because I had to be up rocking and patting and shushing. But I got what I wanted--I retrained their little stomachs to eat on a 3-4 hour interval instead of 1-2 hours. And after a few nights we all honestly slept better.

I don't know if just stretching to a longer interval will work for you, but for me, waking up 2-3x a night instead of 4-6x did wonders. I think when you can't even get a 3-4 hour stretch your body never gets the deep sleep it needs and that can really mess with you during the day.