Nightweaning...when did it happen for you?

[mrs.t]

I'm just curious as to when your DC weaned himself from night time feedings, or when you successfully stopped nursing at night. My 6 mo DS has been all over the place with night feedings lately, and it's kind of driving me nuts. Lately he won't sleep unless he's in our bed, which seems to make him want to nurse even more. I don't mind 1 or 2 feedings during the night but I want some sleep! I don't want to refuse him if he needs the extra feedings, since he might be having a growth spurt, but he's still nursing every 2-3 hours during the day and at night. Is this typical for his age?

[tibeca]

My DD nursed every 2-3 hours, day and night through about 18 months. At that time she started sleeping longer stretches but didn't sleep through the night (7-8 hours) until well after her 2nd birthday.

All babies are different, and all babies have different needs. At 6 mos, your baby is starting to become mobile and able to separate themselves physically from you. This is an emotional process for them, and often leads to increased nursings as a means of reconnecting with you.

Also, it is biologically necessary for babies to continue night feeds through the 1st year, especially when breastfed. This page: http://www.kellymom.com/parenting/sl...epstudies.html has some great statistics on night wakings in babies.

Be patient. This too shall pass and soon be just a faint memory.

[Peony]

Originally Posted by tibeca

My DD nursed every 2-3 hours, day and night through about 18 months. At that time she started sleeping longer stretches but didn't sleep through the night (7-8 hours) until well after her 2nd birthday.

All babies are different, and all babies have different needs. At 6 mos, your baby is starting to become mobile and able to separate themselves physically from you. This is an emotional process for them, and often leads to increased nursings as a means of reconnecting with you.

Also, it is biologically necessary for babies to continue night feeds through the 1st year, especially when breastfed. This page: http://www.kellymom.com/parenting/sl...epstudies.html has some great statistics on night wakings in babies.

Be patient. This too shall pass and soon be just a faint memory.

Exactly would I would of said. The other thing I would add is not to underestimate just how much teething affects their sleeping even if you don't see any teeth. Mine sleep much better once all their teeth are in. Every 2-3 hours is so common at night that I see it as normal for nursing moms, and even more then that during developmental phases, teething, etc...

[mrs.t]

Thank you mamas! I don't know a lot of people I can ask IRL, most of my friends are CIO, formula feeding moms who look at me like I have 6 heads when I say DS is still waking up several times a night. I guess I had better get used to it! I don't really mind, he's good when he wakes up and goes back to sleep easily, as long as he's next to me. It makes sense that he would be reconnecting at night because during the day he does NOT want to be held now that he can crawl.

[haydn'smommy]

I think it all depends on the kid. My first slept 10-12hrs at night, on his own, at 10wks. My youngest is 13mos and still wakes at least twice, sometimes three times, at night to eat. I'm not stressing about it. In the great scheme of things this "needy" baby stage lasts such a short time. I figure when he's ready, he'll give it up.

[Summersquash]

I would say it has been only in the last couple of months that 22 month old DD has been able to go 5-6 hours at night without waking to nurse. She was waking every hour or two for most of her life before that. (zzzzzz....) Of course, we still have bad nights now and then, but I feel like we have really turned a corner the past few months.

DD was/is pretty high needs with reflux and dairy issues and kind of just doesn't really like to sleep that much, so she might be on the needier end of the night time waking spectrum too.

At 6 months though, wow, we were nursing probably every hour at night. There is so much going on at that time in their little brains, plus teething, figuring out how to sit and crawl and everything. It will pass.

[sunnygir1]

We night weaned around 17-18 months. I think I tried earlier, but dd clearly wasn't ready.

Ds is almost 13months, and I'm not really even considering trying yet. Actually, I did try, but I gave up right away.