One-year old ands night time feeds

[oremstango]

I am so done with night time bf! We've done sleep training once before and it was painful but worked (for a bit). My ds is now back to waking 1-2 times a night like clockwork and without a bf will cry for over 90 minutes. Tonight we are stopping all bf no matter what so any tips greatly appreciated- we all need our sleep!- I don't think crying it out works for him so thinking of controlled crying. Any thoughts? Am I alone on having ds waking at this age?

My ds2 is 11 months and still feeds 4-5 times a night, sometimes more. He's never slept through and I have got used to the lack of sleep in a way, I couldn't do cc though as I feel he does need the milk still. I know what you mean about being tired though, I also have a 4 year old ds1 and 5 year old dd.

I stopped bfing my 1 yo at night last month when he was 11 months. He just wasn't hungry come breakfast time / lunch time / etc. because he'd spent so much of the night guzzling. Just remember no pain no gain. It actually only took a couple of nights to sort out and a little persistence for a couple of weeks. My ds2 does have cuddlies in with him which he appears to really like. I also find he sleeps better if he's wrapped up warm and tucked in tight.

just remember that it'll be a big shock for him to not get BF, you don't have to leave him to cry as well. CUDDLE him. A baby being held and cuddled while he's crying is completely different to CIO or CC.

Have you got a willing Dh / DP who could help? Sometimes when a bf isn't an option, they'll settle back to sleep more easily than if it was you trying.

Thanks all- I'm afraid on the cuddling to calm side that he'll just get in the habit for waking for that instead, basically just replacing one habit with another. He definitely doesn't need the milk then, just for comfort so know it's the right thing for us right now. Also know cc not right for us now so a bit torn on what will work...especially as we have a limited time with dh off work!

I helped a nine month old(and her parents) begin to sleep through the night. She was cuddled a lot before she went to bed but always was awake when put to bed. She was waking two hourly throughout the night for BFing. So I had her at nights for a 10 days, when she woke up I would pat her and shush her back to sleep the first time, but if she woke again I would offer water and snuggle her in my bed. Gradually the wakings got further and further apart until she was sleeping until nearly 7am. She never cried, although she did mumble a lot the first two nights(parents were across the hall and they never heard her).

So I don't think cuddling/soothing the baby will lead to bad habits, and first baby has to get used to not getting BM and then if he was still waking you could do think of something else.

Have you looked at the Baby Whisperer techniques on settling babies back to sleep - the shush pat, or pick up put down?

They are pretty effective IME, nad not as tough on either of you as CC

Have a look at the Baby Whisperer website.

I did pick up put down technique absolutely fab. quick question do you bf your baby to sleep in the evenings/nap time because if you do you would need to change that habit first so they can actually get themselves to sleep again pick up out down is good for this.

I did PU/PD (or in the case of toddlers-lay down)

It is really good. They cry, but you never leave them. Fanatstic method

I think that a one year old baby does not 'physically' need feeds at night. Actually, it's probably from earlier then that.

I stopped BF my DD during the night at about 9 months.
When she woke up I changed her nappy, gave her a cuddle and put her back down.
If she made it through to about 4:00am I'd give her a feed as I thought she must be hungry, but any time before then I'd give her water or nothing at all.
She cried hard for a few nights, but soon stopped expecting to feed at night.

It did help her to wake up less, but I'm sorry to say that it didn't stop it completely. She still wakes once most nights.

Stopping BF during the night did make a big difference for me though and it was the first step I took towards weaning her completely. She stopped BF last month aged 1 year and a few weeks.

Thanks for the tips- will check out the site as I hadn't heard that method. Tried cc last night, what a nightmare! He cried on and off for almost 2 hours when I said screw it, and he went back down after nursing for 3 minutes. Generally only up once a night and can pop off after only a few minutes and will go back down so maybe not even worth the battle now.