nursing and night waking beyond 12 months - Page 3

[rsps]

ds nursed through the night till about 19 months old, then we night weaned, and a few months later he started sleeping through (most nights).

He gets rice and or soy milk and lots of cheese and yogurt for supp. "dairy"

[dukeswalker]

My dd is 21 months old and her nursing pattern varies...Most days she nurses at nap time, an evening cocktail and then to go down to bed. Up until about 2 weeks ago she was up anywhere from every hour to every 4 hours. Just recently I have begun telling her that "nu-nu's are sleeping" and that I'll hold her instead. I have tried this in the past and she NEVER bought it...so I would drop it, I figured she wasn't ready for that. Now she completely accepts it. If she wakes and is very persistent about nursing than I have no problem meeting her needs. yes, there are some days when I am exhausted and wish she wouldn't wake at night anymore but I wouldn't have it any other way. She is growing so fast and I am going to cherish every precious minute I have with her! (even the exhausted ones!)

[Embee]

This thread is such welcome support. DS is 26 months and still waking at night (2 to 3 times). He nursed about 4 times during the day (am, nap, after nap and bedtime). Just after his second birthday, I began a night routine of nursing, then rocking, then putting him down awake... he bought it on the first try... I was shocked. More shocked that after that day, he was only waking once per night and a few times slept through, then...

He caught the mother of all colds. We were still going down awake for the first few days but when the misery set in, all bets were off. He's feeling better now and I feel like we're back to square one. We're taking it on a night by night basis. As luck would have it though, during the last cold, he also got his very last tooth. I think there is hope... but since we've reverted to nursing to sleep, the nightwaking has resumed. And now I face that nightly dilemma "should I put him down or not?" Will he buy it or will he become very upset and then take even longer to fall asleep but which time I too will be exauhsted?" *sigh*

The first go around with this, I just sort of "knew" it was time and that it would be ok. I don't get that feeling now... perhaps it's just a matter of waiting until I can read those positive cues again?

Sheesh, can't tell if I really contributed anything to this thread or just gave you all my tale of sleep deprivation woe... after 26 months, my brain could use a rest, no??

[mamak]

Wow, nice to see so many others in the same boat. Our dd was soo easy to wean from night nursing, dh simply would get out of bed and rock her back to sleep, then bring her back to bed, this took about a week, then when she woke up I could just cuddle her and she would go back to sleep. she is now in her own bed, generally calls for dh or me between 4-5am and we bring her into bed w/ us and ds. Now this guy on the other hand...15 mo and all he wants to do is nurse, day, night, anytime, anywhere. We have tried a couple of times to wean from the night nursing and never have any success. I am crazy tired sometimes (I'm also a nursing student) and other times I feel ok, so I don't have any advise, nor do I know when this will end I just enjoy those days when I don't feel affected mentally or physically.
Angie

[TiredX2]

Right now I am really starting to feel like limited night weaning (4-5 hour stretch aof our 18 month old after he turns 2. Logically, I know this is our last child and that I only feel that way because we night-weaned DD that much right after two (I was pg), but it still rolls around in my head. I have a really hard time shaking the idea that it would be "okay" but then I am like "but *why* do it" since I get enough sleep, etc.. Oh well, six more months to decide.

kay

[momtoo]

am I evil? exhaustion made me hand dd a pacifier of all things -- she's 17 months and played with it for the first time. she settled down at bedtime with her giraffe while contentedly sucking on the thing after nursing. I've been calling myself her "giant pacifier"as a joke -- could this be a break? is a pacifier awful? if it could have been this easy a year ago....augh...

[JessicaS]

ugh...dd wakes often and HAS to nurse back to sleep or it is complete meltdown time. I guess she just need lots of comforting or something...We have tried the "nummies are sleeping" thing but it freaked her out.

I think we have awhile before we nightwean but we are ok with that.

[eclipse]

Originally posted by amy
It is reassuring to read about other people going through this
Another question: Has anyone out there had a child that was a super avid night nurser who did learn on their own to fall back asleep without night nursing? And if so, how old were they?

i have one here! he's 26 months now and between about 9 months and 18-20 months or so, he was up several tiimes a night to nurse. i WOTH full time, so when he hit about 9 motnhs he decided he didn't want bottles of EBM anymore, he prefered to just nurse all night. in the last few months, he has started sleeping 11 hour stretches almost every night (he occaisionally wakes once to nurse, but this is rarer and rarer). i should qualify that - he doesn't always sleep through the whole 11 hours, sometimes he will wake up and snuggle clese to dh and i and go back to sleep all on his own. the only thing i did to encourage this is get pregnant . i'm not actually sure if the two are related, but about two months ago, my supply dropped to nearly nothing, so i think he might just have decided it wasn't worth it to wake up to nurse - but who knows? he might have just been ready.

[Mizelenius]

DD is almost 14 months old. By the time she was 4 months, she was sleeping through the night, believe it or not. We'd tried co-sleeping, the crib, and finally settled on a hammock next to our bed. It worked . . .until 6 months of age. Then she started waking very frequently (every 20 minutes to every 3 hours on a good night). She now wakes about every 1-2 hours, I think.

In terms of nursing, she does this very frequently (at least 1X an hour) and can nurse for long periods of time throughout the day. She is so-so about solid foods. I offer her meals and snacks regularly, but the amount she east greatly varies on a daily basis.

I never thought about the possibility of a daytime nursing correlating to nighttime nursing. . . hmm. Definitely something to ponder!

[danieliausmama]

Teething!

Don't you think it is teething? Why do they sleep so good at 2 or 3 monhts and then go back to short streches. My 13 month old has 4 molars and they made our nights and days very unpleasant.

[Embee]

danieliausmama,

Wow, I remember this thread so well, having been in the longtime throws of sleep deprivation myself. Since my post well over a year ago however, I am inclined to agree with you. Our lives changed when DS had all his teeth. He went back to putting himself to sleep, and sleeps through most nights. The only regressing we've done is due to nighttime fears/nightmares. Tiring also but not near the frequency or the work to get him back down as the old days.

Finishing teething seemingly was the magic for us, yes.

Em

[NatureMama3]

Originally Posted by Last Minute

Okay, so how many folks actually sack out 6-8 hours a nite without waking for a drink, a pee, something to eat or just to look and see everything is alright. I seriously think we have way too many expectations of "a good night's sleep". Just my two cents. uh-huh.

Laila.

:LOL certainly not me!

I'm actually happy if my son's nursing doesn't fully wake me (it doesn't by now, hasn't since about 7 months). What I desire is basically uninterrupted sleep. He learned to latch on his own and that happened!

I get up 2-4 times a night for my own drink/potty/etc anyway. :LOL

There actually IS research showing why cosleeping babies wake more and sleep less "soundly" and why that's a GOOD thing. It's one of the things that is a prevention for SIDS (since that happens when the baby's brain forgets to breathe). Coslept babies mirror their parents sleep patterns (so if baby is waking, which parent is coming out of a sleep pattern? LOL).

Another aspect to babies waking at night is the need to eliminate when in a lighter sleep pattern. In a non-diapered baby that would be a cue to potty them and then sleep would return. We may not all choose EC, but it's good to know why the babies are all wired that way and the effect it has.

FWIW to the poll: he nurses every 1-3 hours day and night (closer to 1 than 3 too :LOL). He eats solids regularly, but not a lot at this point. They're more for fun than nutrition.

[Jenmama]

Giving Thanks, I knew I would find what I needed.

Greetings,
Italia is only a little over a year and I am exhausted. I am a full time student, finishing my teaching degree, and nightime is the only time for homework. So after she started rolling over, I had to resort to the crib. To get her to sleep, I nurse for about fifteen minutes or so, and then we have a wonderful toy in her crib with lights and music that fade in and out. (One of my homework saviours.) While the music plays, I lie next to her on the floor and pat her back. I feel silly at times, especially while crawling out of the room, so often to come right back after she wakes up fifteen minutes later. This has been going on for about a week. It seems to be getting easier. She sleeps until about 11-12 o'clock and then comes to be with me.
Now onto the issue of the nighttime feedings. I don't mind nursing her when she comes to bed, but the constant demand for nursing and lack of sleep is making me physically and emotionally exhausted. If I won't nurse her, she doesn't want to have anything to do with me. This makes me sad because Dad and Grandma can comfort her without a bottle, why does she always have to have my breast. She will throw such a tantrum, not much fun.
Now she seem to have a fit the first couple of times I try to cuddle and rub her back and then will just fall asleep. What a blessing.
So now we nurse before bed, @ 12, @ 5, @7 and are working through the tantrums during the in between demands for my breast to be her pacifier.
Patience. I know I can make it through this.
Give thanks for the common ground to stand on.
I can feel very alone in this, some days.
Blessed Love,
Jennifer