Frequent night nursing

[mamatoemily]

My DD is 11.5 mths and is waking up about ever 1.5 hrs during the night to nurse...she nurses right back to sleep.  I have 2 questions...firstly, she doesn't eat much solid food during the day, and nurses at naps, so is she just making up for those calories during the night?  My second question is, I am returning to work next month and am a shiftworker and I am nervous about when I have to work nightshifts.  She will be sleeping with my mom (I am a single mother), and if she wakes up every 1.5 hours to nurse how is she going to react when I'm not there and it is her Nana instead?  We're all a little anxious about this....

[BabySmurf]

what's her daytime nursing like? is she taking a full feeding at night? my DS has reverse cycled a little bit because he is so busy during the day he "forgets" to eat enough, and then makes up for it at night.  if she has a dip in food intake during the day, you could try to feed her more at those times.  if she is just comfort nursing at night, she will probably be fine with your mom. how about doing a trial run?  this way if things are really tough you can be there to help if needed, and your DD can hopefully realize that she can get more calories during the day to make up for not nursing at night.  i hope that things work out!!!

[McGucks]

My 18 month old does the same thing.  If I am gone when he wakes in the early a.m. and he only finds daddy in bed, he goes back to sleep.  However, he still wakes every 2 or 3 (sometimes 1) hour at night to comfort nurse himself back to sleep.  It drives me nuts, but I am not willing to wean or give up on co-sleeping.

My guess is that your child will adjust.  Children are pretty darn great about that.

And, a MASSIVE thumbs-up to you for still nursing even though you are single and working outside of the home.  You are my hero, woman!

Also, our son still nurses more than he eats solids.  Don't worry about it...again, if you are not there to nurse, she will be hungry enough to eat.

[saralm]

My daughter stopped needing to nurse that many times a night just before she turned 2.  She still wakes up 1-2 times a night but not 4-6 any more.  Also if your child is verbal I would suggest talking about it a lot.  Explain what is going to happen when you are at work, who she is going to be with and when you will be home.  You may also have to accept a lot of nursing immediately when you get home.  That's how it was for me.