Night Weaning in 6 weeks - HELP!

[nikki1978]

Hi,

My son is 13 and a half months old and I have been thinking about night weaning him for a while. We are going to Amsterdam for a weekend in 6 and a half weeks and my mum has offered to have them so we can have a break. Since we have not had a child free night since my daughter was born in Sept 2004 we have jumped at the chance! But this means I really need to night wean him for all our sakes.

Can I do this in 6 weeks? The past 2 weeks I have tried the softly, softly approach and although he does not go to sleep breastfeeding anymore (he has a bottle instead to fill him up a bit) he is not making huge progress at night. A few times I have been able to cuddle him back to sleep with only a bit of a whimper from him and I am trying to pull off before he is fully asleep which is working ok except at 3 in the morning as I end up falling asleep while he is feeding! He used to co-sleep but I have put him on his own mattress on the floor so he can't smell me. He has gone from waking up 10 times a night to about 5 but I am not sure what my next step is.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Nikki

[Holymoly321]

Coo! Amsterdam! Dead jealous! Anyway, have you tried putting him in his own room? Is this a possibility? Prob wouldn't take as long as you think for him to get used to it - poss a few nights, esp if you go into him for the first few nights when he wakes to reassure him that you're still around... I would do whatever it took for that weekend away! You DEF deserve it!!!

[terramum]

Would he accept a bottle at night as well? Is your mum is expecting him to be sleeping through or would she be happy to feed him expressed bm or cows milk if he wakes?

[nikki1978]

Thanks. I decided to not feed him at all between 8 and 8 but let him have a bottle at 12 and 4 if needed. He woke 5 times all in all and twice he cried for 15 mins before dropping back off then he woke at 1am and I gave him a bottle and again at 5am I let him have a bottle. He woke once more after that but settled in 3 mins.

All in all a pretty successful night. Just wondering if he will stop waking at night completely in the next few weeks or not?....

Nikki

[Holymoly321]

Well done you for giving it a bash. I can't guarantee that he'll go thru the night in a few weeks but it's a good bet I reckon. End even if he doesn't, by then he'll be used to just getting a bottle which your mum could give? Good luck with it all and enjoy the Dam