2 year old, still nursing all night

[zelly4]

Hey Fine Mama's! Just wondering about breastfeeding all night. My youngest of 4 kids who will be 2 in August, still keeps me up at night Breastfeeding. I love her so much, I love co-sleeping, I love nursing. But I feel as though I havent slept for years, I'm tired! She eats regular meals and snacks, she is nice and chubby and healthy, so I know she's not starving. But several times during the course of the night she latches on. If I try to turn over while she's breastfeeding, she gets mad and starts crying, arrrggghhhhh! I know she won't do this forever and her little baby-ness is fleeting, just wondering if anyone else has older night nursers? Any tips, or just wait it out? Nothing is wrong with her...right? She's a happy baby all day, just a little annoying at night.......... Also, my non-breastfeeding sister in law sent me an article on how breastfeeding causes rickets? I was like; "No way! this is probably paid for by the formula companies!" Whats up with that? I've breastfed all 4 of my kids an average of 2 years each and never heard of such a thing. Ugghhh, I hate that stuff, any new mom who reads that article might actually believe it. Well, write to me if you have the time, I would def. be on this site more often, but between all the mountains of laundry and meal making, I'm pretty swamped..... for now. Mothering is my favorite job: and I'm so glad there is such a great magazine website blog for us, Yay! lot's of love! Zelda
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[Kristina77]

aaaaah, i am right there with you mama
do not worry a bit. i am sure that many more moms will tell you the same.
it is normal, i went through the same.
how could i forget, dd is 5 now, and she kept me up every 2!!! hrs during the night until age 3 and a half!!!!
there was NOT one night when i could sleep without being awaken
by her during those 3 and a half yrs.
she was a great eater as well, she was chubby (the signs of all that
nursing show on her cheeks up to this day....lol)
God forbid if i said no to her during the nights....she would scream and
cry until i sat up in the bed and nursed her on demand at that age.
i do not regret it one bit, but will never forget how much i used to wish
for a couple of hours of sleep during those yrs of nursing a "big" girl
on demand 24/7

i got a year and a half of rest for myself, now i'm doing the same with ds

good luck to you mama, just wanted to send you a
look at it this way...your little one will be so healthy, that is a guarantee!

[Mommal]

Originally Posted by zelly4

Nothing is wrong with her...right?

Right! What she's doing is quite normal, and it's only really a problem if you feel that it is. 2 years without enough sleep can be really tough on mom. You have two choices: wait it out (she'll stop eventually but when she'll stop is anyone's guess), or night-wean. Your baby is 2 years old, eating well during the day, and "healthy and chubby." To me that says that night-nursing for her is mostly about comfort and habit, and is not absolutely necessary for her nutrition. That's not to say there's no nutritional benefit- just that she will not starve if you decide to night-wean.

If you decide to night-wean, here's how I went about it when my DD turned 2:
- Talk to your child about the night. "Momma's going night-night. Baby's going night-night. Nursies (or whatever your nursing word is) is going night-night. We'll nurse again when the sun comes up." Reinforce the lesson in the morning. "Good job! Everyone slept all night long! The sun is up. Now let's nurse!"
- Keep a sippy cup of water available for night-wakings. Sometimes a night-waking toddler is genuinely thirsty.
- Ditch the easy-access nightwear for now. Wear a bra or a t-shirt to bed. If your child can't easily get her mouth on your goodies, she may give up and decide to go back to sleep.
- Accept that there will be some crying/tantrums. A determined night-nurser will not give in without a fight!
- Do not feel like you have to give in to your child just because she is crying. So long as you are comforting her- singing to her, talking to her, giving her a back-rub- you are being responsive to her needs. She may not be getting her favorite form of comfort, but she is still being mothered in a loving way.
- Accept that you may be getting even less sleep than you have been until your child accepts the new pattern.
- Be consistent. If you decide to night-wean, don't give in and nurse one night and stand firm the next. That only prolongs the process, and makes the child feel confused.

[attachedmomto3]

hi there. i just wanted to say my ds who will be two in august does the same thing. and it's OK and it's normal. he nurses good and eats good during the day and he still needs to nurse at night too. i'm guessing it's a lot for comfort. but i know he'll stop when he's ready. and yours will too.

[laohaire]

Mine will be 3 in August, and I cringe when I read some of the night parenting posts about their 15 month old who "still wakes twice a night." DD nurses every 1.5 hours, and only a handful of times has slept 3 hours at a time wthout nursing. She's fine. I'm not. I have not been able to make the sacrifice of additional sleep temporarily to night-wean her.

[zelly4]

You guys are aweome!

I just wanted to say thank you so much for responding. I have no nursing mom friends here, so was thinking I was all alone in this. Now i feel Much better. I was starting to think I was crazy (or she was, lol) most times I don't mind, but every now and then, when I'm really tired, it's hard. Thanks for the night weaning tips, I'll try some of those, I like the water one. We are going to try to move her to a shared room with her sister this fall, so those will come in handy then too...we'll see how that goes :~) Well, Thanks again, I love this site and all the great advice i get here, you gals rock! Love and aloha! Zel

[RootSnort]

And no, breastfeeding WILL NOT cause rickets!

[MaryJaneLouise]

Here's good info on Vitamin D & breastfeeding:

http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/vi...vitamin-d.html

Is your baby at risk for vitamin D deficiency?
First of all, babies rarely need vitamin D supplements. The babies who do need these supplements need them due to a lack of sufficient sunlight. Factors that put your breastfed baby at risk for vitamin D deficiency (rickets) are:

Baby has very little exposure to sunlight. For example: if you live in a far northern latitude, if you live in an urban area where tall buildings and pollution block sunlight, if baby is always completely covered and kept out of the sun, if baby is always inside during the day, or if you always apply high-SPF sunscreen.
Both mother and baby have darker skin and thus require more sun exposure to generate an adequate amount of vitamin D. Again, this is a "not enough sunlight" issue - the darker your skin pigmentation, the greater the amount of sun exposure needed. There is not much information available on how much more sunlight is needed if you have medium or darker toned skin. See the section below regarding amount of sunlight needed.
Mother is deficient in vitamin D - this is rare in western countries. The amount of vitamin D in breastmilk depends upon mom's vitamin D status. If baby gets enough sunlight, mom's deficiency is unlikely to be a problem for baby. However, if baby is not producing enough vitamin D from sunlight exposure, then breastmilk will need to meet a larger percentage of baby's vitamin D needs. If mom has minimal exposure to sunlight (see above examples) and is not consuming enough foods or supplements containing vitamin D, then she may be vitamin D deficient. More below on supplementing mom with vitamin D.

So, go out & get some healthy sunlight for both of you & you will be fine .