How did you night wean your bf toddler?

[emvy]

I’d just like to know how you all went about it and what it was like during the process!

DS turns 2 on Friday. He hasn’t been breastfed in the day since 12 months, which he stopped himself gradually after I returned to work.

We have recently cracked getting him to bed at the start of the night without feeding to sleep and he’ll go off with a cuddle from dad now but for the rest of the night he is breastfed back to sleep and he wakes up a lot. 4-5 wake ups is a good night.

I need to stop now. I’m ready. But he is so resistant. Help!

[SomeoneElseEntirelyNow]

Get your DP to do the night wake ups, with a sippy cup of water?

[Gibbonsgibbonsgibbons]

Jay Gordon’s night weaning
Didn’t work first couple of times so child needs to be ready I suppose (also you need the energy to make it work - it was far easier just to point a boob at child than cuddle/rock/whatever back to sleep, also if it’s any time after 4am mine would get up for the day if not BF so that was a deal breaker too!!)

We bedshare & turning my back/swapping so DH was next to them helped a bit.


Oh I’ve just reread - your DS has switched night with day as you’re unavailable during the day. Does that mean you want to fully stop? If not I would try to get him feeding in evening & before bed to make it easier to dropthe night feeds.

[emvy]

Thanks for your replies.

@Gibbonsgibbonsgibbons yeah this will be stopping fully. He naturally stopped day feeds around 12 months but I kept feeding at night because like you say, it’s much quicker and easier to get them back to sleep like that! We stopped bed sharing about a couple of months ago. I’ve had a look at the Jay Gordon Method in the past, i’ll have another look, thanks. I guess I just wanted some success stories to give me the confidence to do this!

[Gibbonsgibbonsgibbons]

Oh good luck! You do need to be well rested & determined I think (whilst also accepting that if he gets a cold/big upset etc then it may not be the best time).

[Lazydaisydaydream]

We did a mix of my husband going in and getting him back to sleep (we set a time, eg before 12 he doesn't get fed, then gradually moved it later). And then the times that I did feed him I shortened the feeds and took him off earlier and earlier. It took quite a while but I wanted to do it gradually and gently. It didn't make any difference to night wakings to be honest, he carried on waking the same amount for about five months afterwards. I can only presume because that wasn't the reason he was waking up, it was just that feeding him was the fastest way to get him back to sleep.

[emvy]

Thank you @Gibbonsgibbonsgibbons.

@Lazydaisydaydream that’s what our plan currently is. It’s really reassuring to hear that pushing the feed back gradually worked for you. Did DH go in for every wake up that you didn’t feed on until the time you’d set for feeding?
Yeah, I’m expecting him to keep waking frequently to be honest! I’m just ready to stop breastfeeding now and this is the first time it’s felt like DS is at a point where we could do it gradually and gently and he’d respond ok to it. There’s no rush to get the process done but I’m definitely ready to start it. Thank you!

[BlackInk]

I reached the end of my night feeding tether when DD was just under two - she was still feeding first thing in the morning and before bed, but I was fine with that. I didn't plan to stop but she was a nightmare to get back to sleep (waking every time I put her back down) and DP found me sobbing in the bathroom one night.

From there he took over on night wakings for a while. He just cuddled her until calm/sleepy/sleeping then popped her back to bed. It didn't take her long to stop expecting a feed, but she didn't start to sleep better until she moved into a bed in the same room as her brother.

Good luck. It's tough but doesn't take too long if you stick to your guns!

[emvy]

Thank you @BlackInk. Again it’s nice to hear a success story (even if night wakings didn’t improve!). You’re right, consistency is key! Did your DD ever get really upset and hysterical with dad trying to resettle? If so, what did you do to calm her?

[jellybellydancer]

We gave our DS porridge just before bed with formula milk. He will have some breast milk before sleep but generally he now sleeps from 8-8.

He’s 15 months

[HettySunshine]

I help rich people but big houses.

[HettySunshine]

So sorry, wrong thread!

[MichelleOR84]

My little one use to wake up once a night until about 9 months old . I night nursed him because it was easy . He would fall asleep on the boob and I would transfer him to his crib .

After a weigh in with the health visitor , I was told he didn’t actually need to nurse at night anymore . She suggest offering water at in the night instead but that felt so unnatural to me. Plus we were giving him water in an open cup so it was messy .

I decided to just give up the night nursing to see what would happen .
I still nursed him before bed though . My husband suggested he get up in the night to settle him instead ( since my son doesn’t associate him with nursing ) and for the first time that year I got to sleep the whole night 😝!

Anyway my son didn’t seem bothered by this. My husband would rock him back to sleep with no issues . After about two weeks of this he stopped waking at all and now he’s nearly 14 months old and sleeps through the night every night .

I still nurse him before bed but usually he doesn’t fall asleep on the boob . He’s pretty good at self settling himself but sometimes I need to rock him .

[BlackInk]

She was fine @emvy as long as she didn't see me!