Anyone still bf-ing 16 mo + through the night? Think I've had enough :(

[stottiecake]

Am shattered. He feeds a couple of times during the evening and then on and off from 3am and gets up for the day at 6am.

I night weaned ds1 at 16mo but he had all his teeth by then. Ds2 has 4 molars to go.

I'm just really fed up. If you still feed your toddler at night how are you coping?

DD is 18 months old and still bfs at night. On a 'good' night she bfs every 2-3 hours, on a bad night (e.g. teething) it can be as often as every hour. Nothing else seems to give her as much comfort and although like you I am desperate for a break I don't see it happening any time soon. They do say that bf drops at around 18 months so here's to hoping!

Sorry you're having a hard time too!

Hope you're right about it dropping off around 18mo. It just doesn't feel right to night wean yet altho' I think I'm so rubbish during the days that I wonder if it's worth carrying on.

And now I would really like to go to bed but he is feeding!

I went back to work when DS was 12mo so night weaned at 11mo. It took a week or so but I figured he didn't need middle of the night calories.

And besides I sat on a bean bag to feed him, and kept falling asleep so I was regularly spending less than 3hrs in bed a night. I managed to trash the tendons in my hip so badly I could barely walk. It took several sessions of sports massage to diagnose not a running injury but a bean bag slumping injury.

Me! Dd 19mths, best night is down at 8, feed at 12ish, feed at 5ish, up between 5-6. I feed lying down and just doze off but still totally knackered. The above is a good night and we have more bad than good! (She's been up twice since 8pm already). Dd1 started to reliably sleep through around 2.5yrs when she moved to a bed, thinking I might try moving this one sooner!

Only 11m here, but suspect it will continue as she has a health problem I want to keep on top of.

Sorry about your injury, golemmings

Yep. Normally at around 4am but can be at 1am too. DD 18mo and showing no signs of wanting to drop morning or night feeds.

15 month old here who bf to sleep (can take up to an hour) and 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 times through the night. I'm really starting to struggle with it now. Getting her off to sleep is so hard she just feeds and feeds and won't do anything else. And I want to get some sleep in my own bed! One or two wakings I could manage. But I just can't face the crying and trauma of trying to change things. A bit sad and worried about it all really. And VERY VERY tired!

Hello, me too, but 22 months old DD here. Up 3-7 times every night. Am on my knees with tiredness and have turned into shouty horrible mum with both DCs.
I've put on heaps of weight eating to give me some energy or as a reward for surviving another day.
Can't summon up enough energy to tackle it even if I knew what to do have tried refusing bf between midnight and 5am but DD just screams and screams and wakes her sister so we are all even more tired the next day.
Will be watching for inspiration!

Oh no Chickpeas, that sounds utterly exhausting. Lots of sympathy. You've described exactly what I fear happening if I were to try night weaning! Can't see it going any other way. Massive mugs of coffee all round, fingers crossed someone pops up with a magic solution considers booking into a spa hotel for the weekend and just leaving DH to enjoy the fallout

I night-weaned 14 month old DS two weeks ago. I followed advice I'd found on MN to whoever wrote it!

Specifically for the night-weaning I upped his milk intake during the day two weeks before weaning. I pushed his breakfast earlier, added a milk feed in the morning and upped his afternoon milk. He only BF evenings and in the night/morning as I work FT.

Then I prepared myself for a few awful nights and just stopped offering the breast when he woke in the night. I offered water, then carried him around in my arms (so he wasn't snuggled in a feeding position but was still getting the cuddles) and when he was sleepy put him back in his cot.

I was that this worked fine from night 1! He didn't root or pull my clothes (partly because he wasn't in the position to feed but also because he'd drunk water which he loves). And the amazing side-effect was that he sleeps so much longer! I really didn't think it was possible as a few weeks earlier I had been getting up every 1-2 hours to BF him back to sleep.

The real test was last week when he was ill so I was up a lot in the night with him. I really wanted to give him the comfort of a feed but didn't want to go back to night-feeding so just cuddled him.

Before the night weaning I'd started introducing a book between the last BF and going into his cot to sleep to stop DS feeding to sleep. So DS had already got into the habit of falling asleep in his cot (although I sit with him with my hand on him, singing until he falls asleep). This reduced the number of night wakings until I felt ready to tackle the night-weaning (basically once he was consistently waking only twice a night which took about 2 months).

Aged 11 months he was waking every 1-2 hours, was BF back to sleep and getting a maximum of 9 hours sleep a night. Aged 14 months he is waking once (unless ill), is (usually) very easy to get back to sleep and is sleeping 10.5-11 hours a night!

golemmings how did you wean them off during the night? My DS is 11 months and can be re-settled if wakes up only a couple of hours after bed by music on the monitor but from 10pm onwards, needs milk. He is really hard to re-settle without feeding and the amount he eats I am convinced he doesnt need to milk!! DS1 was sleeping through himself by 5 months so this is really killing me!!!!

Oh and I've also stopped BF in the morning.

At first we started offering DS a bottle as soon as he woke up (horrible faff) but we've discovered that it's best for him if he eats his breakfast (porrige/weetabix) one hour after waking and before that just drinks water.

No idea why, but that way he eats the most breakfast, before then was too early.

I'm thinking of totally stopping BF in January. It was easier to think this a couple of weeks ago because DS chipped his tooth and BF became very painful for me. Now though it seems his tooth has smoothed a bit because it doesn't hurt anymore...and DS does love his evening feed (which is his one and only BF now).

My DS had trouble with his tummy and that was one reason for wanting constant feeding.

I started giving him weak peppermint tea after his dinner (one teaspoon mixed in water) and it help settle his tummy. Same in the night if need be.

(He had silent reflux from a baby).

Oh yes, I forgot that! We think his sleep also improved once he was taking reflux medecine that worked and gaviscon last thing at night.

DD is 16 months and still feeding through the night. I had essentially night weaned her, but then she got ill... I am going to try again this week as I am so very tired! She also won't really drink during the day. The most we can manage is to get her to take a few sips from a straw cup. It would be a lot easier if she would drink something other than breastmilk - or maybe the partial weaning comes first?

Oh dear poor us. It's reassuring to read it's not just me but I'm sorry we are all struggling.

I know it gets better. Ds1 is 4yo today and he moved into his own bed last week. He was worse than ds2 as he would wake up when he lost his latch. At least ds2 unlatches and rolls away when he falls asleep. Ds1 is a brilliant sleeper now after needing so much input at night time - hours and hours of settling and resettling. I'm still amazed at how easily he goes to bed and stays there. Such a great little chap.

Now going to study Bartimaeus' post to figure out what I need to do!

So glad to find this thread. DD2 turned 2 on Friday...just can't crack this night-waking and resorting to bottle to settle. It breaks my heart yet I'm so tired and constantly battling myself over what is 'right' and what feels right. It affects marriage, mood, work-days. Dd2 is the poorest eater ever and still survives on follow on formula as refuses anything substantial and a lot of less substantial food options too...she has asthma and hayfever meds and we cycle constantly through infection after infection. Sigh! So glad to find this tho and will re-read advice. Xxx

I like the idea of breakfast before feed but I just can't see it happening...without some tough love approaches!

iggly, does it help with the tea at all? Do you mean obe teaspoon of tea mixed in a cup of water? My DD loves comfort feeding for exactly the same reason, silent reflux and suspected cmpi. She is almost 16 months and still feeds at night, twice on a good night. It's exhausting she gets so upset if I don't give it to her, it's not worth it.

Yes one spoon in water. Really helped DS when he was having a bad phase - especially when teething, his wind was appalling.

Both of mine had/have the reflux and CMPI (plus soya) and other sensitivities to foods. It makes a huge difference to sleep and it's hard as I don't always know what it is until a bit later.

Hope you all start getting some better nights soon.
We had a wonderful night Saturday : 7.45pm - 5.40am! With only one stir at the beginning because he needed to be winded.

Then last night was a disaster I had to get up at least 10 times and stayed up with DS for 2.5 hours at one point. Didn't BF though, and I think he had tummy ache, or was teething or something.

And of course, now I'm not BF him back to sleep I don't have those lovely hormones to help me get back to sleep!

Yes me! Ive had enough too, so busy with work though i cant handle night weaning yet. Im trying to build up enough courage to end it at Christmas. 17 months and he has never slept through. Still waking 1-2 times at the moment.

Im not sure why it is not simpler for us as he doesnt need bf to fall asleep and hasnt needed it for quite a few months now. Often he will feed and then push me away as he wants to go in his cot while still wide awake, but for some reason he still expects milk around bedtime and during the night.

And I feel cheated of those sleepy hormones Bartim as I have never experienced them. Motherhood blessed me with the gift of insomnia (and a poor sleeping baby/toddler to boot) :(

I night weaned at 13 months as the lack of sleep was killing me. DD took to it fine, much much easier than I was expecting, by the third night she was sleeping through.
She is 5 now and sleeps really well.

Hello!

Have been trying to get ds to feed more during the day - hoping this will mean less night feeds. We'll see!

Bartimaeus - hope you have a much better night tonight!!