Night Weaning, Anyone?

[dramaphile]

I think it's time to night wean.  I need more sleep, and Nugget is almost 17 months and still waking 1-2 (or more) times per night.  She sleeps in her crib, and MOTN when she wakes, I usually go in, nurse her in the rocking chair and when she is done, she says "no, no" and I put her back in her crib and she goes right back to sleep.  I've tried just not going in when she wakes and occasionally she goes back to sleep after a few minutes and other times she will lay in her bed and yell for what seems like forever until I finally go in and nurse her back down.  

I'd like to keep nursing her at bedtime, I just want to cut out the MOTN nursing and be able to send J in instead (we haven't tried that in a while, but it always ended with her screaming at him for 15 minutes until I finally came in because I was awake anyways).  I'm so hesitant to give it up because it's so easy to go in and nurse her back down instead of fighting with her, but I know it'll be better in the long run, right?

How did you do it?  Are you also thinking of/trying to night wean?  Any resources?  Most of the toddler night weaning stuff I've seen is for bedsharing, which we don't do.  

[brandiewine11]

We were in a really similar situation around 15-16 months.

The first thing that we did was move nursing back in the bedtime routine - no nursing to sleep. So instead of nursing right before going to bed, we did it before reading a book, etc. It was still part of the routine but a few steps back.

Then my MIL came to visit and she took all night wake-ups for a week. We'd give him a few minutes to settle himself, but if he started really crying, she would go in, offer cuddles, a cup of water, etc. He was pissed for a few nights but it wasn't that bad overall. After 2-3 nights, he was only waking up 1-2 times and would settle himself within a couple of minutes with no intervention. He fussed a bit, but didn't really cry.

We also got him a crib aquarium that he could turn on when he woke up if he wanted to. He loved that thing.

That's really it. After a couple of weeks he was STTN. Do it. You won't regret it.

[Stringy]

I think about it every night. I'm waiting until she turns 1 and can have cows milk during the day because she doesn't have any milk during the day when I'm at work now- so that feels kind of mean (maybe she'd start taking it again daytime, but I can tough out another month or two).

My plan will probably be to send BM in and let her deal. And likely lots of crying after going in, laying her down and saying its time to rest and leaving. Blech.

Unfortunately she's started saying no and shaking her head when she doesn't want something so that'll be interesting.

She goes to sleep without nursing so that hasn't helped.

[meesh]

I remember with M I had nursing aversion SO BAD at night. I cried a lot and could not handle life

I eventually just occupied myself on my phone to push through the aversion and he self weaned at almost exactly 2 years.

My husband going in was never an option. So I just stuck it out.

[meesh]

That ^ was not helpful at all. Sorry. Lol

[ovenrack]

I just night weaned M (she's almost 16m). Maybe a month ago? I don't nurse her to sleep anyway, but avoiding that can help. I sent in A. She was down to one wakeup and eating/drinking lots during the day. It was unpleasant for them both the first few nights, but she got over it and I'm not afraid of crying. Lol.


When I night weaned H, I did dream feeds. I tracked his normal wakeup times and number of minutes nursing, and then would set an alarm and go in a half hour before his normal wakeup and feed him for that number of minutes. Repeat every night decreasing the number of minutes each night.

Everyone was like, "an alarm MOTN? That sounds so complicated and precise," but honestly it was a great technique for us. I like plans, I like schedules. When I wake up tired and cranky MOTN, winging it is generally a terrible idea for me. I don't make good choices in the middle of the night. So.

[DGM]

What helped us to finally night wean at 2 years old was after telling her for a few days that no more nursing until sunrise was to have a straw cup with water available for MOTN. I'd cuddle with her and let her drink water to go back to sleep. Eventually she stopped asking to nurse MOTN but grain of salt because she still does wake up to ask to come to our bed or me to go to hers :/

[dramaphile]

So I attempted not nursing to sleep last night at bedtime and it went decently well. I nursed her and then we read some books and cuddled and I tried to sing but she shut me down. She was confused why we weren't nursing more and cried when I put her in her crib, but settled and fell asleep after about ten minutes. She woke up once MOTN and I nursed her down. We start trying to eliminate that Friday night.

Although I discovered I need to buy a lamp/nightlight because I'm used to nursing her in the dark and you can't read books in the dark, and she only has an overhead light in her room. Bright light is not as conducive to feeling like bedtime... Heading to Ikea today to get a soft lamp for bedtime books and snuggles.

[linewifekat]

My husband helped with night weaning. We had to night wean at 15 months because I started assisting at births overnight. Many hugs to you. It's not easy.

[critter015]

We did the sleep lady's thing where you can talk to them, pat them, etc but not pick them up with E. (She was in a crib in our room so it was impossible to ignore her) DH was way more successful at getting her back to sleep than I was, so he did a most of the work while I hid under the covers so she couldn't see me.

[dramaphile]

Night two of new bedtime routine, so far successful! I got an ikea cloud wall lamp, which is pretty dim, and we nursed, and then read some books, and then turned off the lamp and snuggled in the dark for a few minutes and then put her in her crib. She cried less than the night before and stopped after about 5 minutes. She has a babysitter tonight, going to have her keep with the bedtime routine, and then Friday night is no MOTN boobs night!

[dramaphile]

I'm cautiously optimistic that this night weaning thing is going well. For two nights, she woke up once and J went in and she was piiiiissed off, but went back to sleep after only a few minutes of crying. Last night, she didn't wake up at all! Hoping this is the start of a trend, I could get used to 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep.