When is night-nursing....

453 Views 7 Replies 7 Participants Last post by 3girlsmommy, Jun 10, 2005

JoyofBirth

Discussion Starter · Jun 10, 2005

not an actual need? When is it more for comfort or a habit and not nutritional need? Is it realistic to think a 1-year-old could sleep all night without nursing?

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I understand what you're asking, but personally I feel that comfort and closeness make night nursing a NEED for many babies at least well into the second year. Just because they don't "need" food, doesn't mean they don't need mamma. (and don't you ever get a drink in the middle of the night?)

-Angela

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mamasgirls

· #3 · Jun 10, 2005

My daughter just turned one and still nurses 2-4 times a night. Most nights it is just twice, but sometimes she needs to more than that. I think a lot of it is for comfort- she still has a strong desire to suck, and a lot of times it just helps her get back to sleep when she wakes

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Plummeting

· #4 · Jun 10, 2005

My 13-mo-old DD has only slept through without nursing all night one time - about a week ago. Normally, she nurses about 2 or 3 times, but occasionally up to 5 or 6 if she's having a rough night. The thing is, peds will tell you they can sleep 6 or 8 hours without nursing by the time they're 4 months, but how do they know that anyway? They decided that based on FF babies, for one thing, so it doesn't relate to BF. Furthermore, like the PP said, maybe they aren't hungry, but what if they're thirsty. I keep a bottle of water next to my bed and take a drink a few times a night and I'm 26, so I wouldn't expect any less of a baby. I read that you're getting pressured by your husband in the nighttime thread. He's just wrong about this, if it's his idea that your baby doesn't need to night nurse.

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Raynbow

· #5 · Jun 10, 2005

Well, I let T decide when he is going to nurse and he rarely nurses at night anymore - he nurses to sleep, then again when he wakes up for the morning, but almost never wakes me in the middle of the night to nurse - but I let that be *his* decision and let him do it when he was ready to sleep through the night and not nurse. He's 28 months and I guess he's been sleeping through for about 5-6 months now...

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VikingKvinna

· #6 · Jun 10, 2005

Can only offer my experience, which is that DS night-weaned at 18 months, and then only bc I was hospitalized overnight, and we decided that we'd stick with the no-milk-at-night policy when I came back. "At night" for us means between 11-5 or thereabouts. It wasn't bad, at all, which says to me that DS was just fine going for that length of time w/o nursing. But your mileage may vary! All kids are different. If you're OK with night-nursing, and you think the babe still needs it (whether for nutrition, thirst, or comfort), then why not continue? Dr. Gordon's night-nursing plan, IIRC, is not recommended for kids under 1 year, and only for 1-yr-olds if you're at the absolute end of your rope. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that's his "cutoff")

HTH! Hang in there, hon!
~Nick

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JoyofBirth

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jun 10, 2005

I don't mind it so much as Emma pretty much does it herself and I don't really know how often she does it. All our nieces and nephews were ffed, so we have no idea how long a bfed baby can go. I always gave my nieces a sippy cup of water at naps and night because I drink at least 16 ounces at night, so it makes sense that she is nursing from thirst. I would kinda like to go back to sleeping on my tummy (which makes Emma mad because she doesn't open her eyes and is searching around my arm or my side or my back for nursies and can't find them.)But really it isn't a problem. I may feel differently if we move her to her own bed, though. But I wouldn't deprive her because nursing is still a need for me too. Those are some of my favorite moments and my baby's getting too big too fast. Dh doesn't really think that she needs to quit night-nursing, he just asked me the other day if she should be able to sleep through the night when she's 1, because the others have and he thought her tummy would be big enough to hold enough food to tide her over till morning. He just forgot that breastmilk isn't as heavy as formula. My dh is great. We're just both new to a natural parenting lifestyle.

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3girlsmommy

· #8 · Jun 10, 2005

My oldest still needed food in the middle of the night when she was 2 1/2. She would wake up and scream for yogurt. She would eat it and go back to sleep. We have since learned to "fill" her up w/ yogurt, pbj, cheese etc before bed so that sh gets decent nigths sleep. She has a SUPER high matabolism and still has moments when she could eat 24 hours a day. Some days I think she has a hallow leg! :LOL

So I guess what I'm getting at is it really depends on the child if they are able to sleep through w/out eating.

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When is night-nursing....

JoyofBirth

alegna

mamasgirls

Plummeting

Raynbow

VikingKvinna

JoyofBirth

3girlsmommy

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