My plan to wean the night feeds

[maybe baby]

I can't really give advice as DD gave up night feedings by 10 weeks and DS by 6 months! But I think its fine to do if you are ready for it. Its not a food thing - its a comfort thing

[thepixie]

I'm a bit in the same boat with my DD who is 13 months.... unfortunately she just cries/ screams till she gets the boobie I have tried cuddling. but good luck, I completely understand and support you 100%. I know it has worked for others on here so hopefully they will drop in with some tips. GL

[MrsFabuloso]

I have found that if I feed DS more in the day time, he's less likely to wake much or at all in the night. Maybe introduce another day feed if you can?

[onthefly]

Finally biting the bullet, hey?
First up, I would say that you need to be really, really ready for this. The first few nights are going to rough.
Second, you might find it's easiest to stop the feeding by getting your DH to settle him in the night. or else finding some other way to settle him - ie, cuddles might seem too much like a prelude to bf to start with. Eg, I had to jump from bf-to-sleep to standing up & singing before returning to lying down together.

The advantage of doing it at this age is that he is old enough that you might be able to strike some sort of deal with him in regards to feeding - ie, extra during the day and none at night or something like that.

I've posted about this before, but we night-weaned DS at 14 months. He was so very angry and screamed his head off at first. DH went to him all night the first couple of nights, then needed a break, so I took over half way through the night for the next few nights and just held out as long as I could before feeding him, until eventually he was falling asleep from sheer exhaustion then having his feed at wakeup time. It took probably 2 weeks before he stopped asking for it altogether. He hasn't stopped waking up, btw

Good luck!

[~Kaz~]

Hey I am not up to this point yet so feel free to dismiss this as coming from someone without any IRL experience but could you try feeding him for less time to start with? So if his feeds normally go for 10mins, just keep your eye on the time and drop it down a minute or two every few days until he's only feeding for a minute or two. It might be easier to have him accept a cuddle in place of a very short feed.

Dunno, just an idea. Good luck whatever you decide to do.

[Snacks]

Maybe Jennifer13 might pop in here... When she night-weaned her DD she told her that the boobs were asleep I think its cute!

[Marlene]

subscribing to this thread as DS is 17 months and I want to night wean too

[~clover~]

Hi hun. Offering my full support.

I'm trying to con Jesse out of night feeds too. He has anywhere from one to two, but the first (middle of the night) is really hard. He's decided that after this one he doesn't want to let go & if I let him do it on his own he'll end up rolling over or something & it'll end up just being dragged out...teeth & all. Its getting painful & scary to do this one feed!

Once I managed to get him to roll around to sleep & I've tried rubbing his back, but after a while its pretty clear he doesn't want to settle, so I give in... Then spend 10 - 20 minutes trying to convince him to let go, tickling his chin, saying 'let go', 'off boo now'... Eventually it usually works.

Steer clear of bottles & pop tops. Try to keep the sippy thing on a cup as flat as possible & only ever water...go through my FB pics & look at Bri's teeth. Pop tops. I only finally got her completely off them about 6 months ago.

Its gonna be hard. Make sure you catch up on sleep through the days & you should be able to do it
GL hun xx

[kelebek]

Thanks everyone for your replies.

DP won't help which is why I was waiting for him to go away for 2 nights before starting, the theory being by the third night DS will not resist so much and dp might be able to help (dp doesn't handle DS crying very well )

I think he is getting a third molar so I don't think I can go threw with it... will wait until Friday to see how he is before I make a decision.

Thanks BJ, I think the midnight is going to be the hardest too as he really seems to wake up and feeds for the longest then. The others are more just a comfort thing I think. I have tried cuddling him and a few times it worked but he is really getting attached to his boo again which is cute but....

I am being really selfish wanting to night wean really like Marcellus said I don't think it is going to stop him from waking up. How do you resettle Marcellus??
I have my sisters hen's party coming up in Jan, her wedding in Feb, my 30th in March and would love to go away for the june long weekend. I would love to be away for the nights.... I am prayinng if he isn't night wean that he doesn't wake up like your DS Marlene for your night out (luv the photo's btw ) but there is no way dp will agree to let me go away in June if he isn't weaned

[~clover~]

Naaw! Don't tell me he calls it boo too! lol! These boys are so much alike!
June is a long way away hun. He might have self weaned by then. At least over night. Jesse was there...he started sleeping through & really only had boo 2, maybe 3 times in 24 hours. Then the teeth started...for the first time in 10 freakin months!!!
2 down the bottom, plus 2 molars. Skipped the eye teeth, so still have them & the other 2 molars to go. Trust them to rear their ugly heads just as we are settling down a bit & getting some sleep!!
I'm just going to try & stick these teeth out & see how things go then... Just hope they all happen quick now!

[Marlene]

I would love to be away for the nights.... I am prayinng if he isn't night wean that he doesn't wake up like your DS Marlene for your night out (luv the photo's btw

I just could not believe it that he slept through! Why would he sleep 12 hours straight (for the the first time ever!!) on the only night that I'm not here to enjoy the sleep?? LOL
He woke twice again last night...I just don't get it

Good luck hun, I feel your pain

[aussienic]

Night weaning for me wasn't to bad this time around. DD was 9 months old though and I was getting so tired as she just wouldn't sleep. So when she woke I started offering her water from a sippy cup.. At first she was not impressed at all. It probably took about a week but then when she woke it was just to cuddle rather then feed..

I used to tell her (as she got over 1) that Boo was all empty (we called it boo boo) and she would have to wait till the sun was up to have more

[Jennifer13]

Why didn't I see this before now??!!

Hun, it sounds like you have things well and truly under control. I too found I was happy to keep bfing as long as I wasn't being woken during the night (unless she was sick). It's amazing how much better you feel about self weaning when it suits your terms as well as your toddler's. They can be such determined little beings! GL and I hope your mutually-agreeable bfing relationship continues as long as you both want.

FWIW my DD still has her morning bf and I try to convince her that bbs are still asleep when it's dark, but once the light is peeping through (thank goodness for daylight saving) that one doesn't work. Most mornings it buys me at least an extra half hour in bed though. She generally comes in sometime after 5 am.