Just How Painful Is Night Weaning?

Wow that's a lot of feedings for a 13 month old! I would be concerned that not only you but also HE is not getting enough sleep. Unless he is just using you for a passie and the milk is just a bonus. My daughter nursed until 13 mos old and she did always enjoy a 2 am feeding if she could get one but it was mostly for comfort - she usually fell right back to sleep before eating anything at all. So I just switched to rocking her instead of feeding. That's about when I stopped breastfeeding and she was already getting a sippy cup during the day so if she wanted something at night she got a sippy cup of water. I'm all for feeding kids on demand and breastfeeding but that truly is an excessive number of times to feed during the night and I can't imagine he needs that much milk at night at his age. My guess is that it is very comforting for him so I would think to wean him off it you would have to find another way to comfort him. A passie, rocking, singing etc... Whatever you choose to do it will be exhausting at first until he gets used to the change. We did not co sleep but my first had a host of sleeping issues and I spent many a night in the rocking chair in her room rocking her instead of sleeping. By about 16 mos we put her on a strict bedtime schedule and started working really hard to get her sleeping through the night - mainly because at 18 mos she was going to be a big sister and I was desperate!! We tried every method known to man but in the end she just needed to be a bit older and WE needed to make the changes. She caught on once we did. I would think that as your little guy gets to be a few months older if you give him his own space - even if its a pack and play in your room it would help him and you sleep better.

It wasn't bad for my 13 month old when we night weaned because I picked a time when he was not sick and not actively teething. I did it very slowly...over a 2 or 3 week period of time. I nursed him to sleep at around 9 pm (his bedtime) and then didn't nurse until after 1 AM. Then I would nurse on demand. I offered a sippy cup if he protested. After 2 or 3 nights, he stopped protesting. He didn't sleep in my bed, but I often fell asleep with him next to me on the futon in his room. Then, when he stopped demanding the first nursing, I extended the "no nursing time" to 2 or 3 am and so on. Soon, he would just nurse when he got up at 5 am and then back to sleep till 7am. I highly recommend wearing a covering top so they aren't easily able to access your breasts. I also had to hold the kids upright over my shoulder during night weaning till they went to sleep instead of in cradle hold or lying next to them. You must be very patient, don't set high expectations for the first week, and consider offering a substitute cup or food during the night. I chose go-gurt yogurt tubes because he loved them and they were easy to feed in the dark. Night weaning does not have to be traumatic. One thing I learned though, is that babies/toddlers don't sleep better just because you night wean them. They still need comfort even when they don't need to nurse. My kids finally slept through the night just after 2 yrs old. Best wishes. Nurse Midwife Mom of 3

Well if it was super painful nobody would night wean I guess but it is not bad if you do a feeding at a time. I can't imagine breast feeding a 13 month old every 1.5-2.5 hours. It may take a little time doing that to cut out one feeding at a time. I did not co-sleep but did wean from night feeding and that was very early on when they started sleeping through the night at about 6 weeks old or so. Then I weaned my other breast fed children by 12 months by cutting out a feeding each day and that was it. Not bad at all really.

Well I don't cosleep but I have night weaned of sorts I guess. My baby sleeps right beside me in a little cosleep bassinette that is flush against the bed, just not in the bed. He is 10 weeks and he just started sleeping for like 11 hrs at night. All my kids have been this way. I do wake up engorged but he eats and I am good to go. It is painful when I wake, so I just wear a nursing bra to bed. After a time your body just adjusts to their schedule. It is a bit uncomfortable but bearable. My little guy is a little piggie and is gaining weight like crazy, so when he eats he eats! I just feed him on demand and I always have milk and I just let my body adjust. I think if you start with 7 hrs you will do great. When he was just starting to sleep 7-8hrs I wasn't even uncomfortable and I make lots of milk. I think you will do great, good luck!

My 8 month old was sleeping through the night until about 2 months ago. She seems to like 3 A.M. as that is her magic "number" to wake me up. She sleeps in her crib in my room but when she wakes up, I put her in my bed and continue co-sleeping the rest of the night. My baby nurses and suckles the rest of the night and although it's exhausting, for me because my baby had suck issues and weight issues from birth, I welcome the middle of the night nursing/suckling because I feel that she nurses best during the night. Of course, my baby is younger than yours so like I said, I welcome my baby's night nursing but your little one sounds to me like he is using you as a paci. Good for him, but not so good for your sleep. I have found with my own baby that as long as she is next to me, she will expect to suckle/nurse but in her own bed, she falls asleep. I like co-sleeping, and it sounds like you do too but you might consider moving your baby to his own bed, perhaps in your room just until he gets accustomed to sleeping on his own and perhaps will eliminate his need to nurse so much. Wish I could offer something more helpful. Also, when he does wake up during the night, I would offer water (not icy cold, not juice, just plain water) in a sippy cup. This is how I night weaned my other babies but I never co sleeped with the others, either.

Is it possible to have your husband help? We weren't cosleeping, but when I night weaned my son my husband just went into his room when he cried. He would comfort him and put him back to bed (which was often a lengthy process). After 2 nights he realized he wasn't going to get any milk and he stopped waking up. He also wasn't eating nearly as often as your son (just once per night) and I've never heard of the method you mentioned. Maybe start slow and just feed him every other time he wakes up?

I night weaned around 12 months but did not cosleep. Had husband walk or rock baby back to sleep and it went so much better than I hoped. 5 min of rocking and she would sleep a few more hours or even until morning. Would never have worked if I had been laying with her though, since they can smell you. Having her away from the object of her desire it what made night weaning possible. Then once we were days into her not eating at night, I'd rock her back to sleep as well with out any problems. Never was able to bring her back into the bed with us though, she just couldn't settle down to sleep.

I didn't co-sleep. I slowly worked DD down from regular nursings to shorter and shorter times and rocked her at night vs nursing her. I don't have the exact times or timeframes but I don't recall it being traumatic for us to nightwean. We also found out that my DD is like her father and if we gave her a light snack within an hour of bedtime, she slept better.

I was co-sleeping and nursing my 20 month old when I finally had enough. We were nursing every 1.5 to 2.5 hours like you are. After a year of that I just couldn't do it any more, I was too exhausted and couldn't function during the day.

For the first few days it was awful. I didn't nurse him to sleep, and besides being too big for a bottle we never used one anyway, so I rubbed his back until he cried himself to sleep. My husband tried to help, but our son was more comforted by me, so I did it myself with lots of moral support from my husband. After 3-4 days he started sleeping longer. He would only wake up once or twice and cry for a few minutes until falling back asleep. After 2 weeks he was completely cured. I think he feels a lot better now that he's getting a good night's sleep, he seems more alert and his vocabulary has taken off.

My advice is to be prepared for a few really rough nights. Feed your baby well, but not too close to bedtime. Give him/her lots of love and affection during the process.

Good luck,
R.

I night weaned a bit earlier and did not co-sleep but my baby was in a crib right next to my side of the bed-like she could reach through and touch me if she chose to. Anyway, my husband would get her when she woke up and rocked her and offered her a bottle with water in it. After the first night of doing this, she stopped getting up twice and only got up once. Then after a few more nights, she stopped getting up-why get up for water, right? Every now and again when she would wake up, my husband would go to her or we'd let her put herself back-but believe me, emotionally, it was hard to listen to and I wasn't prepared for that. BUT, she learned a new skill -putting herself back to sleep-and we all got more rest. Not sure if this will help but I thought I'd share :) Good luck!