[beautifulboy]

I have a 6.5 mo old and we co-sleep. He wakes up and nurses every two hours or so (unless it's a night when he wakes every 45min). I'm pretty much okay with the situation now, he's still so young, and I'm happy to be giving him what he needs during the night.

My concern has come lately when I've been doing my baby sleep research, reading all of these MDC posts and others (Dr. Gordon, etc.). I keep reading about children who are still waking to nurse a lot at 2/3/4 years of age. I hadn't really imagined we'd doing this with my baby as he grows, I thought it was a present phase, but from what I'm reading it looks like we're on that track.

Are there any babies out there who decided to STTN themselves, or just wake+nurse one time or so? If so, I would love to hear from you.

 

[SundayCrepes]

I'm actually here to post a similar question about my 3.3 year old. A year ago he was nursing twice a night.Then he cut back to once a night. A week later his (adopted) sister was born and since then he ranges from sleeping through the night to getting up 4 times a night. I don't know if this is in response to the baby or if it's a phase he's going through. Until she was born, I could set a clock by what time he woke up during the night, and now I can't.

 

[PassionateWriter]

my 3d son wakes at least once a night still...

my 6 month old STTN...

it all depends on the kid.

i think you hear more about the kids who wake..b/c moms of babies who dont wake arent posting to brag about it..and most dont have problems w/ babies who sleep all night.

at least that is my experience.

 

[LilMomma83]

My son was like that, but, around 17mos (when I got pregnant) I started refusing to nurse him as much as possible (I would tell him, "no leches until the sun comes up") and eventually he started waking less...I guess with nothing to wake up for it is not worth it lol. He now goes down around 7:30 and wakes at about 12-1, again around 3-5 and then wakes between 6:30-8 for the day. sometimes he only wakes once (usually if he goes to bed late).

 

[alegna]

Both of mine have been "sleepers" Both have often STTN (5+ hours) from day 1. As a rule, neither woke more than once or twice a night. Dd did occasionally still wake once at night (and usually nursed back down) until around 2.5yrs- after the 2yr molars were in.

-Angela

 

[ollineeba]

I think it varies from child to child.
Right now my 14 month old is waking to nurse every 1.5-2 hours or so, so it's been a bit rough. I wish that I could sleep through her nursing, but I can't. I'm hoping that it will improve soon, though, because this lack of sleep is getting to me.

 

[prothyraia]

My two and a half year old doesn't nurse at night at all, and he was definitely an all-night feeder when he was little. He sleeps through the night without waking if we go to the bed at the same time; if I'm not there he'll wake up and come looking for me.

My 8 month old nurses at night, maybe once or twice? I'm not sure. He just nurses and goes right back to sleep without either of us waking all the way up, since birth.

 

[flowers]

In my experience it changes. At one point my ds1 was waking only once to nurse in infancy then more needy at another point in toddler hood and so on. I think it really defends on other factors like teething and other milestones.

 

[Apple Girl]

i vote that it depends on the kid. DS1, now 2.5, will occasionally still wake for some momma milk in the middle of the night. Usually when he's not feeling well. Until just a month or two ago, he was probably up 2-3 times a night to nurse still.

DS2, now 10 months, only wakes up once, power feeds (GULPS for like 20 minutes), and then is back to sleep until morning. He's been like this since he was younger (2/3 months or so? I don't remember when, it was awhile ago though).

 

[momofPL]

Yes, I think it depends on the child and what is happening in their lives at the time. My DS nursed every 2-3 hours until he was a year old, but DD has been sleeping all night since 3 months. I do think that things change depending on what is happening with DD. She had a cold and wanted to nurse all night. I also notice her waking to nurse when she is going through a growth spurt.

 

[guestmama9915]

All 3 of my kids have been good sleepers. I did stop nursing them all between 16-20 months (pregnancy/milk drying up/etc), but even with them nursing, the wakings never seemed frequent.. once or twice a night? I guess I'm pretty lucky, we all still end up in the same bed and they all sleep like rocks.

 

[momasana]

The past few weeks DS (20 mo) has started sleeping through the night. This change came on its own, we didn't actively night wean him or anything. Up until recently he would wake to nurse twice at night, usually two hours after he fell asleep and then an hour or two before we officially woke up for the day.

 

[rzberrymom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by beautifulboy I keep reading about children who are still waking to nurse a lot at 2/3/4 years of age. I hadn't really imagined we'd doing this with my baby as he grows, I thought it was a present phase, but from what I'm reading it looks like we're on that track.

Don't panic

--I always tried to keep in mind that folks generally come here looking for help with sleep "problems", so you don't always hear stories along the lines of "hey, my kiddo sleeps really well."

My DD started STTN once her molars came in--I didn't realize how much pain those teeth were causing her until she suddenly started sleeping so much better once they were all in. We did have a period of increased waking around 2 1/2 when she started using the potty in the night, but that phase passed too.