Has stopping feeding to sleep helped your toddlers to sleep through?

[Serp]

Just that really! I've finally made the decision to gradually wean my 17 month old from breastfeeding. We are down to a morning feed after her breakfast and a feed just before bed time. I've managed to stop feeding to sleep for all naps and bedtime, but when she wakes during the night (sometimes once more likely twice) I feed her back to sleep. Is it true what they say, if I stop feeding her through the night, and try to settle her another way, will she start sleeping through? Success stories please 😭🤞🏼

Yes worked for mine. He was a little younger though. Fully night weaned around 12 months and he started sleeping through for the first time ever soon after and this has continued.

Thanks, that gives me hope! Instead of feeding to sleep during the night, how did you get your little one to settle? X

Lol no

Yes although mine was a bit random in that at 18 months a few nights in a row she just stopped waking for a feed. Then I decided if she work after that I wouldn't feed her. When she did start waking again a few nights later I just cuddled and rocked her etc and said milk all gone. She wasn't happy at first but got used to it. (She refused my husband or else I'd have sent him in!)
After that she slept through the night for 6 blissful months most nights! Then age 2 she started waking in the night - not every night but I'd say 50% of them (and not for milk). It usually just takes a quick cuddle luckily and she goes back to sleep but I wouldn't pin all your hopes on it stopping the night wakings but it did help.

Thanks! I'll give it a go and hope for the best 🤞🏼

For us yes it did. DS was ff at 12mo and we reduced it down really gradually. He was only waking once per night but we just couldn’t get rid of the last little bit, he would have 30ml and then go back to sleep. We knew it wasn’t hunger as it was so little and it was just that he needed it to sleep. So we stopped feeding to sleep before naps and bedtime and then he stopped waking in the night. Took a few nights of going back in to resettle him but that is to be expected. We still have hard nights when he is unwell but generally he sleeps through for 11-12hrs.

Didn't with DS1. Sorry!

I'm same boat now with DS3 (almost 2)

Yes it did for us - night weaning and stopping breast feeding was swiftly followed by 12 hour sleeps.

Yes! My LO is 20 months. Since I weaned him a couple of weeks ago he’s slept through every night for twelve hours after being up three to four times a night. When he woke up for a feed I brought him into bed for a cuddle and just told him stories until he feel asleep and after a few nights he stripped waking up. Good luck!

I hope so! First night of nightweaning my 14 month old tonight… can’t take the sleep deprivation and wake ups lasting hours. Wishing us all luck!

Thanks for the positivity . Fingers crossed it work for us 🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼

Good luck. We did it gradually first did two feeds a night with three to four hours gaps so roughly 7/10/2/6 If woke between the gaps would use other ways to settle him. Some protest initially but got used to it and naturally dropped the 2/3am feed and then a few months later I stopped the remaining night one.

Hi, thanks for the positive stories - I'm keen to know how you stopped breastfeeding to sleep at the start of the night? My son is 15mths and I dropped the last day feed in December and haven't fed during night for a few months. He still wakes 3/4 times a night & we have to settle by rocking him we're looking at doing some kind of sleep training to help him self settle but I'm keen to know if I should just drop the bedtime feed completely now or is there a gradual method?
Thanks!!

It seemed to be the catalyst for improvement at 21 mo but it was very very gradual night weaning and I still bedshared if needed etc

Did help with one child sleeping better and didn't with the other. Which probably isn't what you wanted to hear! I was just done with the breastfeeding by then, so didn't wean specifically to try and get them sleeping better.

@spendingagain hi, I used a really gentle method to stop feeding to sleep at the start of the night. I switched our routine around so now it goes: bath, play downstairs, feed downstairs, then up to the bedroom to brush teeth and get dressed. I rocked to sleep for a few nights, then the following few nights I got her to sleep on a mattress next to her cot by patting and shushing, then when she was happily going to sleep on the mattress I settled her in the cot with shushing and patting, now after about 2 weeks I can put her in her cot awake and she goes straight asleep. Although it was the a gentle approach it was still quite tough and there was a lot of crying (from both of us!) but I preferred an approach where I was with her and thankfully it has worked. I'm still feeding once a night now, really hoping to drop this soon by using the same method as above xx

@Serp thank you! Really useful to know your method - I'm keen to go for a gentle approach but I know there'll be crying too from both of us. Great to know it worked for you and within a reasonable time period. Thanks so much for sharing. Once we're out of a current awful teething phase I hope to start. X

@spendingagain your welcome! It's so tough isn't it. I've tried two 'controlled crying' methods in the past and I just couldn't do it, I'm not very good with consistency 🙈 and I don't think my little girl was ready at the time. Good luck, it is hard but I think being close to them whilst they're upset and seeing the slight improvements every couple of nights keeps you going. Xx