Night weaning a one year old - what strategies?

[EffinIneffable]

I've started trying to try and gently night wean my nearly one year old bf baby after he had a massive regression on holiday, but wondering if I'm just confusing him and what strategies you've used or might suggest?

I dream feed him about 10.30, then I don't feed until 4. If he wakes before then, I offer his dummy, cuddles, water (gets played with or rejected). Sometimes he sleeps through til 4 or even 5.30, sometimes he wakes at 2 or 3. Sometimes when he wakes before 4 he'll go back to sleep very quickly, or after half an hour or an hour of cuddles.

I'm wondering whether setting a time is confusing him though - i.e. if he wakes at 3, I'm then trying to get him back to sleep without feeding until 4, but if he's still awake at 4, I'll then feed him. My idea was he'd get out of the habit of feeding before then so wouldn't wake up and I'll slowly increase the time, but maybe he's just learning to wait it out long enough and he'll get a feed? Maybe I should just go cold turkey all night to get it over and done with and deal with fallout? But I don't think I have the stamina to deal with it all at once!

When I feed him he goes back to sleep very quickly, though I'm trying not to let him fall fully asleep while feeding. He falls asleep in his cot with his dummy for naps and at bedtime, so he can do it then, but not always during the night. He's also not a brilliant eater of solids, so may well be genuinely hungry at night too, but there's not a lot I can do about that except perhaps stop feeding at night so he's hungrier in the day.

[MammasBrandNewBag]

Bump bump bump!

I am night weaning my 8mo. He goes down at 7, I do a dream feed at 10 and then I do what I can to survive until 3am, apparently he will get used to feeding at 3 and not wake up until then. Apparently.

It's been a week and he wakes at midnight and sleeps on and off until 3, feeds and sleeps until 7. I am exhausted and over being screamed at but can't go back to the all night all you can eat buffet that he had before.

No advice, just solidarity, and

[Ksre]

I am also trying to night wean my 9 month old. I weaned my daughter at 5 months with very little difficulty, a couple of nights, but she settled quite easily with cuddles and then after maybe 3 nights she no longer looked for milk, just a cuddle. My son, however, is a different case! I've not really tried to wean him too much before now as he has never been one for taking a lot of milk through the day, so I've just stuck with it, but now he is eating 3 full meals a day and has actually upped his daytime milk I feel that he must be getting enough calories during the day. But he just won't settle at night without a feed. I just spent an hour cuddling and rocking and he kept nearly nodding off the waking up, eventually gave in and fed him, he's now snoring away!!

I also don't know what the best method is. I was also planning on trying to postpone each feed, eventually stringing out the time between them and pushing the 4am feed till 6/7. But if I can't even postpone the first feed when I was still up what hope have I got when I'm half asleep at 4am!! I just need a full nights sleep!!!

[Fairy45]

I was brutal at 9 no this and did controlled crying. Only took 3 nights and only the first was bad with 1 45 min session. By night 3 she woke once for 2 mins and it was like she just went "right yea its pointless fine I will sleep" of course I've had a few bad nights with illness and teething but best thing I did. They are definitely at an age where they understand things like that. Look at what they are learning to do. Mine started taking steps at 9 months and I thought if you can learn to walk you can learn that night time is for sleeping.