Night Weaning

[oomaumau04]

At what age did you night wean your baby and how did you do it? Do any of you co-sleep and have still successfully night weaned?

[Amy_G_]

My oldest stopped nursing at night mostly by the time he was a teen month old (like 14 or 16 months I forget). He nursed til 21 months.
My youngest I night weaned him as the last thing cause he wouldn't sleep without the boobie. He was 29 months.
I co-slept with both.

The first thing to do to night wean is to get the calories in them during the day. If they eat enough during the day, they won't wake to eat at night. If they are still waking to eat, they are probably hungry, and many many babies just can't go all night without food until they are in the teen months, like mine was. Many will assume that it's just a habit, but most will break that habit if they can go all night without food by getting in enough food during the day. 10 months is a little young for sleeping much longer than 6 hours without food in my opinion.

Oh and even when mine night weaned, they still wake in the night with a dirty diaper just to be sure I didn't get to sleep for longer than 6 hours. :)

[Jacksmommy]

Jack mostly stopped night nursing right around age 3 I think. I know he night nursed a lot from ages 1-2 and even after age 2 when he was cutting teeth. Right around his 3rd birthday he started sleeping all night or at least until the very early morning hours. We don't actually technically co-sleep anymore. I slept with him every night until he turned 2. After that I'd nurse him to sleep and then go sleep with dh and come back to Jack when he woke up and nurse him back to sleep. He just started sleeping longer and longer. Now when he wakes up, he just comes and gets in bed with me and dh.

[NazirsMom]

The first thing to do to night wean is to get the calories in them during the day. If they eat enough during the day, they won't wake to eat at night. If they are still waking to eat, they are probably hungry, and many many babies just can't go all night without food until they are in the teen months, like mine was.


so how do you know if they are getting enough calories?

DS doesn't drink as much at daycare but he eats like 4 jars of food. he nurses when we get home and throughout the night.
he's 1 today and he wakes up through the night still.

[Jacksmommy]

For some babies, night nursing is as much or more about comfort as it is about hunger. I agree you want to make sure they get enough to eat during the day before considering night weaning. I'm just adding that babies will nurse at night because they are teething and/or want to be close to mom even if they are well fed.

[NazirsMom]

yea but how do you know if they are getting enough?

[kohlby]

Do you really want to know when DS nightweaned??!
I started nightweaning him at 18 months and finished at 22 months. So, it took 4 months. He was bf 12 times in 24 hours, 5 of them at night, at 18 months. (Not counting nursing to sleep the first time and the right away in the morning ones, which he kept). For over a year, he woke up every single night asking to nurse. I told him no. And he still asked. I finally gave in when DS had just turned 3 since he was waking up newborn DD with his asking. He nightweaned again, with very gentle nudging, a few months after he turned 4.

We co-slept with him full-time until 22 months. After that, he started the night in his room but ended up in our bed half way through. This ended a few months after he turned 4 as well.

With DD, I haven't had to nightwean her since she's cut down on her own. I do now have the rule that she can only nurse once when she wakes to nurse. It's been pretty easy. She turned 2 in March. She slept through the night last night without nursing at all, but usually she does wake once. (Or twice, though I don't nurse her the second time).

My suggestion is to decide why you want to nightwean and if it's really worth it. With DS, I wanted my fertility back so it was worth the struggle. But I also really thought he would stop asking! Nightweaning does not mean the end of night waking! With DD, I limit her nursing at night since I am pregnant and have had several miscarriages and don't want to chance it. (Nursing normally does not cause miscarriages. But with my history it's a question mark if it could effect it).

[Stephanie]

We have had several unsuccessful attempts at night weaning. Dd turned 2 in April. I have absolutely no milk at this point, due to pg, so I know she is just nursing for comfort. I just can't handle the tears and the "Please, mama, please." It makes me so sad.

Ds stopped wanting to eat during the night around 8-9 months old, and it wasn't every night before that. He was not a comfort nursers, like dd, though.

[RedheadbyChoice]

My girls all stopped nursing at night quite young, bless their hearts. ;)

I tried night weaning Connor when he was 18 months, somewhere in there, and it didn't work, at all. It was much better for all of us to have him nurse at night. He ended up weaning completely at 27 months.

Personally, I wouldn't night wean a babe under a year or at least 9 months, depending on how much they eat during the day.

[kohlby]

Personally, I wouldn't night wean a babe under a year or at least 9 months, depending on how much they eat during the day.

Totally agree- though I'd say at least a year. My son was solid delayed, which is why I had to wait until he was capable of solids at 18 months.

[Jacksmommy]

yea but how do you know if they are getting enough?


You see how he's growing and meeting milestones, and beyond that you guess. You do what feels right for you - for you and for your baby.

[Amy_G_]

so how do you know if they are getting enough calories?

DS doesn't drink as much at daycare but he eats like 4 jars of food. he nurses when we get home and throughout the night.
he's 1 today and he wakes up through the night still.

breastmilk is more dense in calories than many solid foods. If he's waking in the night and latching on and sucking strongly, he's getting calories and drink/liquids at night. Try to get in one more breastmilk/nursing session during the day and see if it impacts his night nursing. there is no really easy way to tell except to just keep trying.

My first was not a comfort nurser, nursed fine and strong during the day and didn't need as much at night. My second was not content to sit still and nurse much during the day--he was trying to move and learn and catch up with his older brother too much to nurse. so nursing at night was very important to him. He was also a clingier personality, and even after weaning would need a lot of holding, hugging, and care in the middle of the night.

I'll tell you honestly that sometimes it's so much easier to roll over and give em a boob in the middle of hte night than it is to get up, and try to figure out what they want--whether it's a drink of water, a snack, or what have you.

[RedheadbyChoice]

I'll tell you honestly that sometimes it's so much easier to roll over and give em a boob in the middle of hte night than it is to get up, and try to figure out what they want--whether it's a drink of water, a snack, or what have you.

Amen, Amy, amen.

Like I said earlier, all three of my girls slept at night with no nursing (save for the occasional teething bout or illness) very early, 3 months at the latest. Not so with the boy.

First, our DS has special needs, so add those, to the middle of the night and trying to find out what he needs (he has a hearing loss, so communication wasn't great until this past year or two), and it was a damn sight easier just to nurse at night. He also didn't eat solids until over a year and was still depending on breastmilk for 95% of his calories at that time. We tired to night wean at 18 months and he just wasn't ready for it.

Fast forward to now, my 5.5 year old sleeps well at night, by himself (after sleeping with us for 2 years and then DH for 2 years) and is now potty training. :D

[ima062002]

I night weaned my son at 18 mo because I needed my cycles back in order to get pregnant. I was 41 at the time so I felt we couldn't wait much longer. We did it with Dr. Gordon's method. It took 2-3 weeks of heartbreaking, angry crying of ds' part and me patting his back, talking to him, until he finally stopped asking (read crying) for his nana, but would let me rub his back upon waking in the night. He continued to night wake at least once for a few more months but around 2 he was sleeping through the night.

He is 4 now and we still cosleep most nights (he will sleep in the playroom sometimes because I can nurse him there without anyone else around (big sis and he share a bed in our room).

Dd2 is 19 mo and still nursing once or twice at night. Since another baby is not in the cards for us, I will not night-wean this one. I sometimes resent being woken (I haven't slept more than 4 hours in one stretch for more than 6 years now) but I know that I will miss nursing once it's done... so I deal with it and many times I will fall asleep before she is done.

[oomaumau04]

Thanks. :) I am not concerned about the waking at night....I know it is MUCH easier to just roll over and let her bf than try not to let her. That's why I haven't even bothered trying. DD is very much a comfort nurser and very clingy. She loves to snuggle and during the day she hardly nurses longer than 5 minutes at a time because she is just too busy!! I think all of these are probably why she night nurses still. I am actually thinking about having another baby, which is why I ask....but I will wait until AT LEAST a year to even consider night weaning...and I probably won't even then, because sleep is just too valuable. ;) We will probably have to wait awhile for our next one, I think.

[ima062002]

You might just suddenly get your cycles back. Not all women need to night-wean to get them back. It might be a matter of time rather than how many times a day your baby nurses. Since 70 percent of pregnant mommas loose their supply significantly I think it's a very good idea to wait at least until your infant is a year old.

[tifttu]

I didn't have to wean to get my cycles back. They returned on their own at 17mos...DS was still nursnig all the time. I did end up weaning him when he was between 2 and 2.5 because I just couldn't handle nursing and pregnancy.