Night weaning impossible...help!

[Annie456]

Hi there,
My 8mo DS2 is still waking for feeds 4 times during the night and it's killing me!!! He has refused bottles and dummies since about 4 months so I'm exclusively Breastfeeding. I simply cannot function on this level of sleep deprivation and don't feel like it's fair on DS1 (2.10) who is home with me all the time.
I've tried soothing DS2 without feeding and I've tried only feeding for a very short time and he just goes nuts. He really seems to want those feeds.
Please give me your tried and tested night weaning tips as I just can't function like this
tIA

[justwondering72]

Are you co sleeping? That's the only way I survived the first year of night feeds, it wasn't ideal but better than getting up and down all the time.

With night weaning, at some point you have to see it through, and that means being prepared for crying. Some babies will accept nw easily, others not so much. For me, I would wait it out until baby was at least a year old, and even then I'd want to be sure he was eating well during the day.

What I did was choose a period during the night where I would not feed, but would do anything else to help my baby get back to sleep. I think we initially went for 11-5am. Any time he woke between those hours, I would not nurse. I cuddled, told stories, offered water. He howled! The first three nights were the hardest, it got progressively easier from then on in. We didn't leave him alone to cry.

Have a read of jay Gordon nw for older babies, it's reassuring if nothing else.