The Night Nurser

[StinkerTinker]

Let me start by saying that everything has been going perfect nursing my little girl who is almost 12 months old (9-11 baby) until recently. Here is some background; she has been bfing since day one, started solids between 8-9 months, still bfs every 3-4 hours, doesn't take a bottle at all, takes a paci sometimes, and will drink from a cup/sippy but not bm. We also co-sleep, she used to sleep 12 hours only eating once every 6 hours during the night.

Since about 10 months she has been up every hour to nurse at night, she is "the night nurser" ;) anytime I try to unlatch her she will fuss and try to latch back on. I thought it was just her teeth, two top teeth came through in the last month. I thought it was just a growth spurt, does it really go on for 2 months though? I just don't know what to do, she won't take a paci at night either. The last few nights she will try to stay latched on without sucking all night if I'd let her, but I can't mommy needs sleep too. Besides that is bad for her teeth!

Here is what I've tried do to this far; I'll sling her before bedtime so that she doesn't fall asleep nursing. That works pretty good until sometime during the night when she wants to nurse again. I've also put her favorite blanket (her lovey) between us in the night so she can cuddle that instead. Again that only works for a few hours. Any suggestions would be great.

I'm getting very engorged from all the night nursing and in need of some more coffee right now. TIA! :)

[shehaights]

I wish I could offer some advice, but I've been in the same boat off and on. First when my son was 7 mos, I could nurse him to sleep around 7ish and lay him down in his crib. He'd wake up around 1am, nurse and go back to sleep with us. I thought this was great! Last couple months, same thing he nurses to sleep around 8ish, sleeps until 12am and then as you mentioned wants to be latched on most of the night. I hold him close and can sometimes break the latch and rock him in my arms back to sleep, but often he has to nurse and stay latched. It's tiring and uncomfortable. Not sure if he just needs that extra closeness or what. Just wanted to let you know, you're not alone, and my son is 13mos!

[StinkerTinker]

Thanks for the support!!! :)

[Amy_G_]

put on a clean bra and nightgown before bed. after nursing, if she isn't sucking, remove the nipple and quickly push up on her jaw to close her mouth and hold it closed for a minute. otherwise she'll look for the nipple. it may take a dozen times to get it to stick. then if you get unlatched, turn your back on her so she can't smell the boobies. and know that this too shall pass, she will outgrow this eventually.

[StinkerTinker]

I tried that last night and it helped! Thank you. I'm gonna do the same thing tonight, it was still a tough night though. I couldn't get her to unlatch without waking her.

Anyone else have any other suggestions?

[ima062002]

Don't worry about the teeth. That is really not an issue at all. There is no link between tooth decay and night nursing; it's really very different from bottle feeding.

Teething is a lenghty process. My last one is hard hit (much more so than the other two) and I have the same issue. My back is killing me over this....

Here is what works for me sometimes (most of the time actually). After I let her nurse for a few minutes I gently pull back, not enough to disengage, but enough to create a steady pull. Dd will most often pull away. If I pull too much she'll scoot closer or grab me in her sleep, so I've been perfecting this move slowly but surely :).

Sometimes unlatching her swiftly works too.

I do give her Motrin every other night and it makes a huge difference. But she TELLS me by now (she's 21 mo) that her teeth are hurting; so I know that I am not just medicating her.

[oomaumau04]

DD (12 months) just got over doing this too.....I really didn't do anything to stop it. She just stopped doing it. She has started eating more solids during the day the past few days, but I don't know if that has anything to do with it. I think they just go through their phases, and sometimes you may never know why. Sorry I can't be more help than that. Hope you get some sleep soon.

[mommyof2sons]

My son is 13 1/2 months old. And he still gets me up a couple times a night too. It is tiring. There was one night that he only got me up once. I felt like I got SO much sleep. I am ready for him to sleep more!

[StinkerTinker]

Don't worry about the teeth. That is really not an issue at all. There is no link between tooth decay and night nursing; it's really very different from bottle feeding.

Teething is a lenghty process. My last one is hard hit (much more so than the other two) and I have the same issue. My back is killing me over this....

Here is what works for me sometimes (most of the time actually). After I let her nurse for a few minutes I gently pull back, not enough to disengage, but enough to create a steady pull. Dd will most often pull away. If I pull too much she'll scoot closer or grab me in her sleep, so I've been perfecting this move slowly but surely :). Sometimes unlatching her swiftly works too.

I do give her Motrin every other night and it makes a huge difference. But she TELLS me by now (she's 21 mo) that her teeth are hurting; so I know that I am not just medicating her.

Thanks! That helped!

Thanks to everyone else for the support!