1 year old wanting to breastfeed overnight.

[MaximumVolume]

Hello there, I'm hoping to see how others solved this! DS2 is 1 this week. I am already working and DS2 eats well and has milk from a cup during the day.

He actually moved onto cow milk a couple of weeks ago (slightly early I know), we discovered that he much prefers the taste so drinks a lot more of it than follow-on milk.

He was a good sleeper, but now his once-per-night waking for a feed seems unnecessary & is incredibly tiring. He used to do the odd night (once per week) all the way through, but now wakes at least once (every night this year so far).

Last night he woke three times! Breastfed him first 2 times: back to sleep pretty quickly. 3rd time changed nappy then tried to settle him without a feed. He was awake but not upset unless I moved away from his cot. He kept smacking his lips so I fetched a cup of milk, but he kept pushing it away.

Then we went into an hour-long battle of wills. DH tried to settle him, I cuddled him, he got more and more upset so I breastfed him & he was asleep in 10 minutes!

Has anyone solved this and would like to share?

Do I need to stop breastfeeding entirely? DS1 carried onto 18mo (sleeping through), then self-weaned so I am inexperienced!

[Mrscog]

I don't know but bumping and place marking as I have a 10mo who seems to be heading in this direction!

[MaximumVolume]

Hopefully someone will come along & give us some tips Mrscog!

[MaximumVolume]

I forgot to say in my OP that his last & first feeds of the day are breastfeeds , which I'm happy with if he'll just sleep overnight!

[mugginsalert]

No solution I'm afraid but much sympathy as I'm in the same boat.

My 17 month old sleeps about 7.30-6am but won't go all the way through without a feed. The most helpful thing I found was that I don't need to wait for her to wake up to feed in the night. I usually pick her up and latch her on about 10.30pm and she feeds mostly asleep and goes right back down. Then she stays down until morning. If I miss this out she goes nuts about 2am.

Having said that there are suddenly times when she gets clingy and wants to feed all night. These last for a few days, and with hindsight they are usually related to teething or a developmental change (e.g. like in Wonder Weeks). I have a firm, clear policy of always giving in immediately in these cases because I'm soft and would rather feed her whilst lying down then pace the floor.

I've occasionally offered water in the night when she just seems very thirsty/sucky. She won't consider a cup but will take a bottle sometimes - more comforting perhaps.

Also hoping someone comes long with the answer as I'm thinking of weaning soon but can't face the hassle quite yet...

Good luck

[MaximumVolume]

Right, I shall stay up until 11 ish and feed him then tonight. Fingers crossed! Thanks for the tip muggins. I'll report back tomorrow.

[Topsy34]

Sounds really normal to me, the breast feeding offers a lot of comfort to the baby as well as nourishment, so it could be that he is experiencing a big development leap and needs the reassurance