[chrysgee]

I need to night wean. I am exhausted and nursing my 17 month dd every 2-3 hours all day. I'm underweight, having hot flashes, not getting enough sleep, and have been sick with a cold or stomach flu for the past 3 weeks. If I am going to continue nursing at all, I need a break at night to sleep....

We did actually start trying to night wean gradualy 2 weeks ago, but dd balked and now seems to be getting my cold so we have eased up. I just don't know how I am going to get better until I am nursing less. And it never seems like the right time to try to partially wean. We are always teething, or have a runny nose.

I worry that it will just get harder as she gets older. In the past after a few weeks of teething she has gone back to 1 longer sleep cycle a night - 5 hours max. This time I think she's "done" but no teeth have cut thru. We are working on eye teeth, and already have a set of 4 molars. She hasn't gone back to her "good" sleeping ways.

I have read that night weaning gets easier at 18 months. We are a couple weeks away and I have tried talking to her about it, but maybe she's not there developmentally yet. Is there something magical that happens at 18 months? (She understands going nite nite.)

Do I keep trying now, or wait? Will there ever be a "good" time to do this?

 

[DaryLLL]

Sure, more sleep would help you feel better! But, if you were not sick, maybe night nursing wouldn't seem so bad.

Do you do anything to boost your immune system(s)? Take vitamins/minerals? Echinacea? Probiotics?

Are you eating enough? Probably not, if you are losing too much weight. Are you anemic? Get checked.

Hot flashes doesn't sound normal. Have you had a med checkup lately? How about a naturopath for a new diet/vitamin regimen?

 

[jazminflower]

i could have written this exact post!!!

to you...

i have been lax on my prenatals, but am now diligently trying to take them every day. also--we are trying to make sure dd has 3 good meals and healthful snacks every day with water when we can. this has gotten her to nursing every 3-4 hours...her eye teeth are almost completey in (it's taken about a month for this last one)

i keep going back and forth on the nightweaning also. whenever i verbalize it, she sleeps through

best of luck to you... i'm going to try daryLLL's tips

 

[chrysgee]

I have lapsed on my prenatal vitamins. So I am going to get back on those and maybe echinacea and vit c too. Maybe that's all i need.

Other than that I've decided to postpone neight weaning until the eyeteeth cut in and then maybe after cold season is over. Next spring I guess... Damn that seems like a long time from now.

Maybe just start working on setting limits with nursing during the day. Practicing delayed gratification and waiting to nurse until nap or bed time... Unless of course dd has a meltdown or hurts herself.

I think I was pushing too hard. It always seems like my supply gets really low right before my period. So all we end up doing is nursing - day and night. I never used to have problems with my period before, but now it makes me so tired. Maybe I should take some milk boosting herbs at that time of the month too.

 

[Doodlebugsmom]

Chrysgee,
You sound alot like me! My dd is 20 months old and for a few months, I've been talking about night-weaning. Every time I've decided to go for it, dd somehow manages to nurse just one time at night or not nurse at all. Then she'll go back to nursing all night. Some nights I feel like I'm going crazy from lack of sleep. I just can't stand to hear her crying and pulling at me to nurse. It breaks my heart, so of course I nurse her. I've decided that I'm not even going to try to nightwean her for a while. One thing I do, is always take a nap with her during the day. This helps me make up a little sleep that I miss at night. I think you should do whatever you need to do to keep your sanity though. Some nights I was going so crazy that I thought it would be great to admit myself to a psych hospital just to get some sleep!