Do you HAVE to nightwean? - Page 2

[sosurreal09]

I did not. My DD NW herself at about 18 m/o and we still have a couple days a month she needs to nurse anyway. (21 m/o now)

My niece is 25 m/o and was strictly FF and now on cows milk and hasn't had milk at night since 6 m/o and she still wakes 2-3 x a night!

To me night wakings are less about nursing and more about development. All babies/kids will STTN when ready unless of course you "train them" which I think most people on here are against (myself included, my DD is no dog!)

You may night wean and she will still be up and you just have to rock her to sleep or w/e instead of nursing...to me that is a lot harder. I like to think of my breasts as a tool to help night wakings diffuse faster

[KellyandBean]

Thanks for posting this- it was interesting to see the replies as i have wondered the same thing. My DD used to wake up every hour all night and i would nurse her back to sleep...after changing nothing on my part she is now only waking up 2ish times per night at 17 months so i am assuming that eventually she will drop those 2 wake ups and sleep through the night when she is ready. If she hasn't dropped them by shortly after her second birthday i may try night weaning and just see how it goes.

[newmamalizzy]

Funny, just this past week DD slept through the night (like, 11 hours!) twice in a row.  She's never slept more than 6 hours in a row before.  Of course, last night was dreadful, so it was probably just a fluke for now, but it was enough to convince me that she will probably drop those feedings before too long without me doing a single thing about it.  Thanks to all of you for your responses on this.  I don't have a lot of mom-friends or experience with children, so I'm often not sure what to expect from my little girl.  I'm grateful for the advice.

[zoesmom2009]

My DD is almost 2 and still nurses a couple times at night. I have no plans on nightweaning her. It doesn't bother me at all. I figure she'll wean herself when she's ready. I'm already noticing that she nurses for shorter lengths of time than previously.

[Angelette]

night weaning won't necessarily solve any problems...I had to night-wean my 12 mo. daughter b/c I was pregnant with #2 and couldn't handle much nursing at night. My daughter never did sleep through the night, and still wakes quite a bit (at 2 1/2) It was a tough decision, one I'm not sure was right for us...I'm definitely not going to purposefully night wean my now 12 mo. old son...it's just so much easier to get them back to sleep with nursing. 

[LadyCatherine185]

Originally Posted by sosurreal09 

I did not. My DD NW herself at about 18 m/o and we still have a couple days a month she needs to nurse anyway. (21 m/o now)

My niece is 25 m/o and was strictly FF and now on cows milk and hasn't had milk at night since 6 m/o and she still wakes 2-3 x a night!

To me night wakings are less about nursing and more about development. All babies/kids will STTN when ready unless of course you "train them" which I think most people on here are against (myself included, my DD is no dog!)

You may night wean and she will still be up and you just have to rock her to sleep or w/e instead of nursing...to me that is a lot harder. I like to think of my breasts as a tool to help night wakings diffuse faster

even with sleep "training" babies are not trained to sttn. they are just trained to know that in the even that they wake up, no one will come to them, so they better just go back to sleep. or lay quietly. :(

I was sleep trained somewhat as a baby, and i don't think I ever STTN. I remember as a child waking up in the middle of the night being scared of ghosts and monsters that were going to get me, but knowing I couldn't ask my parents for help. :( I still don't STTN as an adult either.

[sunnygir1]

When I moved dd to her own bed and night weaned her around 17-18 months, it made a HUGE difference in nighttime sleep for all of us, including her.

When I tried to night wean ds around the same time it resulted in me giving up after 3 months of no sleep for me and ds.  I think he has sleep apnea, so there is more to it than just trying to night wean a healthy baby.  Now he is finally sleeping better.  He goes to bed in a crib in our room and the first time he wakes I bring him to our bed and nurse him.  I will nurse him 1-3 times most nights, and we both get to go right back to sleep.  I don't think I'll try night weaning with him again at least until we've had his sleep/breathing issues investigated and addressed.

So, I guess I've had one of both.  If you want to try it, I think you should.  It was really good for me and dd, and it took less than a week for us to get adjusted to it (she was really mad the first night or two).  With ds, despite the fact that I was totally sleep deprived and felt like I needed it to work, it became obvious that it wasn't going to help either of us.  You can always change your mind if it doesn't work for you.

[JudiAU]

No. Eventually, they'll figure it out on their own. Personally, I think a nursing 15m is a good thing. Both my kids dropped nursing sessions on their own, with one there was a little encouragement at the end with some DH handholding.