To those of you who stopped night feeds by cold turkey method - what actually happened?

[tiredpooky]

so DD 14m is not getting anymore night feeds off me from friday
so when i stop her 3-8 night feeds will i get a sleeping angel after a few days? or weeks?
we wont leave her to cry, will try and comfort her so she falls asleep herself in cot or my bed
or will she just become some banshee that cant settle and i'll wish i kept on night feeding?

we did this with DS recently - first few nights he cried (was in our bed with us so i felt comfortable with it being angry crying rather than distressed...) but he soon got used to the idea and started sleeping loads better. Had a regression recently but back on track again now...

good luck - it worked for us! (we used the jay gordon method - i don't know if you've looked that up?)

We did this when DS was 9 months and well established on solids. He was down to 1 or 2 feeds at night by that point (plus 5 or 6 in the day) and we offered water instead of a feed.

I think the reason it worked for us was that DH went to him instead of me, as he would certainly have wanted a feed if he had seen Mummy.

Didn't stop DS waking up at night, sadly, once he had stopped expecting to feed at night - he would still wake up a few times (or once, or not at all), but was happy to be settled by a cuddle, a quick drink, or just seeing someone in the room.

He now (16m) does mostly sleep through though (barring teeth and illness) and will be settled by either one of us if he does wake.

Dropping night feeds was a godsend for me as it meant DH could do some nights and I could get a proper sleep.

Good luck

In the process of doing this right now with 16 month old. Have been feeding to sleep but letting DH deal with all wakings after that.

First two nights were horrendous. He was co sleeping with DH so getting lots of cuddles/offered a beaker of milk and even a dummy but no breastfeeding (obviously since it was DH)but the sobbing and saying 'Mummy please' at every wake was heartbreaking.

Third night slightly better then 4th night slept through for the first time EVER! Am desperately hoping that wasn't just a fluke so watch this space and Good Luck!

ATM I'm still feeding whenever he wants in the day but hoping to cut this soon too.

ta ladies, wedddingseason 4nights sounds good to me, have my fingers crossed

Last night was 8 til 3 in cot and 3 til 6 co sleeping with DH. Intrigued to see what tonight brings.

Am definitely taking the softly softly approach still feeding to sleep (but tonight he calmed down without the boobs and just needed feeding for that final settle) and co sleeping with DH when necessary so not being left to cry at all but at this stage I don't think any of us could cope with a tougher regime and we're definitely seeing results.

This time last week I was feeding every 2 hours for up to half an hour or more.

Good Luck and I'll keep an eye on this thread should you require any moral support!

thanks wedding, cant imagine not night feeding after all this time! will be amazing!

I think tonight is your night so good luck. We're making slow progress this end but god it's hard and the guilt when I hear 'Mummy Mummy please drink' in the night is enormous.

So worth it to know that I could now go away for a WHOLE night's sleep if I wanted to though.

Also be prepared for a grumpy tired husband this weekend. I'm having to try very hard to be sympathetic and not point out that I've had 16 months of this and he hasn't even made it to 16 days!

good luck! took us 3 days to stop night feeds, about a week till actually mostly sleeping through. dd was 19 months i think. we carried on co-sleeping and a feed at bedtime but no more in the night.

we have had a couple of regressions since, generally from being away or having visitors and not wanting to disturb them, but things are loads better than they were (previously dd woke every 1.5 hours or so all night long)

It worked for us, cold turkey, but only at 18 months, not 14 when we first tried. It took about a week and he was in our bed. You need to be really strong cos it's so easy at 3 am to give in! But ds sleeps so much better now. I always feed around 6 am though when he first wakes because there is no way I am getting up then. My rule of thumb is that if it's light, he can feed. Good luck.

This is so reassuring. DD is 12mo and wakes to BF twice a night. Leaving her crying isn't good as she gets so angry she doesn't settle. Just really pleased I'm not the only one.

We have just done night 3 of this.

When he wakes up I go straight to him and cuddle and reassure, but no milk. I coax him back into his bed, and if I manage to get him lying down with his eyes closed he drops off happily. It's persuading him to get into bed that takes time and diplomacy!

Night 1: Dreadful for the first half of the night when dh was going to him. Absolutely soul destroying. Better for the second half of the night when I went to him. Didn't get much sleep though. Woke up 7 times I think. It's a blur.

Night 2: Woke up 3 times. Took 10 mins, 7 mins and then 80 mins to get back to sleep.

Night 3: Woke twice. Took 20 mins and 45 mins to get back to sleep. Lots of crying last night. Also, he was a bit early in coming in for milk this morning but I was too tired to object so I pretended it was morning. I'm not giving us a gold star for last night.

I think we're doing the right thing. I feel as though everyone is getting more sleep, and better sleep.

Last time we tried to cut out night feeds, he was still waking and screaming for hours every night 6 weeks later.

Watching with interest.

Still feeding 21 month old dd2 several times a night. Cut out daytime feeds a few weeks ago and hoping to drop the nighttime ones soon.

Good to know that despite the initial upset it seems to go ok after a few days.

Well done everyone.

We did this at about 13 months just let DP deal with it, he offered lots of cuddles and a drink of water, took about three nights.I stayed well out of sight and earshot.