Reducing breastfeeding to once per 24hrs

[Greengoblin2]

Does anyone have any experience reducing breastfeeds to just the pre bedtime feed?

DD is 15 months old, I have eliminated the morning and day feeds, now she just has milk before her bath and then dad puts her to sleep (whole separate issue but I have zero success putting her to sleep if she doesn't fall asleep on the boob). I then cosleep with her when I go to bed and she feeds 3-6 times a night. I really would like to keep one feed going for as long as she likes, but ready to drop the rest. I'd like to have to option if I went away for a night it wouldn't be too much for her to have cows milk for one night, then I could resume the pre bed feed on my return. Just worried about it being confusing for her doing it that way so hoping to hear some positive experiences and tips. Thanks!

Also we cosleep which I'd be keen to continue through this. DH is ready and willing to help and cosleep during the nights for this transition.

Can’t advise on co sleeping but my toddler had ‘mummy’s milk’ twice a day (morning and evening) from about 13 months and then once a day (morning) from about 21/22 months (he’s now just over 2 and we’ve stopped, sort of at my instigation, I did ‘don’t offer don’t refuse’ with some extra distraction and he’s now been a few days without feeding so I think it’s it). It was no problem at all carrying on feeding twice a day and even once a day, he never forgot what to do (but he did increase the length of his feeds a lot to about half an hour when we first went to once a day, and also stopped de latching himself, I had to do it basically every time, but I was less tolerant of length of feeds by this time as I was pregnant and feeding was painful). I also skipped feeds here and there without confusion or difficulty. If you are doing once a day though, if you skip one and then end up skipping a second one I’m not sure what that would do for your supply having effectively a 3 day gap between feeds. Once I chose to skip one feed (as he had been ill and had extra the day before and I was touched out) and then my toddler had a tantrum the next morning and refused milk and I was so stressed that would be it (but he calmed down and wanted it in the end). Good luck! X

My friend is a nurse, when she is home at bedtime, toddler feeds, when she is on nights, toddler gets whole milk. She is annoyed that her toddler will happily manage without BFing & sleeps through/wakes once when she's away but wakes multiple times per night for her.

My toddler had one feed a day (just mornings for us to separate the association with bedtime and gave us a cosy start to the day) from 15 months to about 21 months when I then decided it was time to stop.

Honestly we achieved this through my DH being the one to sleep with her. She woke a few times in the night and he gave her expressed breast milk, then regular when that ran out, but basically after I think night three it was clear it was just pissing her off being offered the bottle so from then on she’d wake a few times and he’d pat/stroke her and she’d just go back to sleep. Tbh I never risked being the one to sleep with her until she was fully weaned so her dad was on nighttime wake ups till she was two! But we would usually start the night with one of us staying with her till she went to sleep and then when she woke up one of us would go in and stay with her (she had a floor bed) so it was at that stage he swapped in

I’ve not night weaned whilst still co-sleeping. I imagine that would be the confusing part for them?

I agree, I night weaned mine by changing to cosleeping with Daddy (number 1) and cosleeping with the older child (number 2). Worked great for us both time.

I couldn’t night wean until we moved from cosleeping to get cot at around the year mark and she was sleeping longer stretches reliably. Wouldn’t have had a chance while still cosleeping. I still feed to sleep

Look at Emma picket instagram she is very pro continuing to cosleep whilst night weaning. I wouldn’t be offering other milk overnight at that age, dentally it’s bad. For us it only worked for my husband to settle toddler until a certain time, then I kept moving the time back.

Thanks everyone this is really helpful.

I would keep the morning feed as the only feed as I agree that would be less confusing, but I have to leave early to get to work so don't want to be delayed by or cut short a long feed!

I have managed to reduce bfs so she is just having some before bath time at night, then about 3 feeds overnight and none in the morning and for the whole day. I guess I will just try to drop the first middle of night feed in a week or so following the Emma Pickett/Jay Gordon methods and see how it goes, if too hard I will ask my husband to help.