I am on day two of no nursing with the exception that I still sleep with my 18 month old son and he nurses about 4-5 times a night. I have gone for almost 12 hours without nursing all day...I was thinking maybe about sleeping in the top bunk of my 8 year old tonight and not with dad and baby. This would be a first...do you think it's too much to leave him in the night so close to also giving up nursing for him? I am a little engorged but not too bad, I have felt my milk drop twice today and the second time actually hurt a little...would it be too painful for me to go this long at night???
The first couple nights I slept at the bottom of our bed, so I was'nt right next to him. When he would wake he would flop around a couple times then fall back asleep on his own. It was my choice to nurse him twice during a couple of the nights at the beggining of the "weaning" week. I was sooo engorged and this helped me get to sleep to nurse a little. Now he does'nt nurse at all during the night. When he's thirsty I keep a little glass of water by the bed so he can take a drink then he falls asleep much better. Thanks to all for their support!
I know this sounds a little silly and it not a peronal experience since my daughter and I never got breastfeeding to work for us, but several friends of mine put bandaids over their nipples and that worked.
He may not like you leaving him at night, but maybe that will help since he won't smell the milk. Here's what I did to cut out nighttime nursing: I just refused to give in to his demand to nurse. He cried and cried, but I stayed with him comforting him as best as I could. He would wear himself out, fall asleep for awhile and wake again wanting to nurse and of course cry when I wouldn't let him. It took about 3-4 nights of that (progressively less crying each night) before he got the message and stopped demanding to nurse.
You may have some discomfort at night if he's been nursing several times a night. Keep a small manual breast pump next to your bed and pump off just a little milk, enough to ease the fullness, if you find it hurts too much. That's what I did when I quit nursing during the day and night and it was so much nicer than having to deal with painful engorgement.
I have a 15 month old and we just recently cut out all daytime nursing. I'm slowing trying to ease him out of nighttime nursing now. We cosleep too, with both my 15 month old and my 2.5 year old. My husband and I decided that we are DONE with cosleeping. We have a new baby on the way, due in September, and its just time, you know?
I think it'll be easier to night-wean your son if you aren't sleeping with him. If you aren't there, you aren't easily accessible. It'll be hard for a few nights, but it will get easier.
We're thinking about kicking both kids out of bed and finishing up the whole weaning process in the next week here. Last night was my 2.5 year old's first night in his own bed. It was hard on him until he fell asleep, but this morning he was very excited about sleeping in his own bed.
Good luck!
It sounds like he's nursing for the comfort and habit of nursing. My oldest did that with her bottle when she was about a year old (I had to stop nursing early because of some medical complications), and we found that the type of bedtime snack she had really made a difference in how well she slept without wanting a bottle. The best snack to keep her down all night was some whole milk yogurt, a slice of cheese, and a glass of milk. Yes, it was a lot of dairy, but as long as we gave her the same thing every night, she'd sleep 8-9 hours and never want the bottle. Brown Cow and Mountain High are the two brands I'd reccomend the most, they have no extra fillers or junk, and you can get plain, and flavor it any way you want.
I would suggest getting the baby his own place to sleep. You can still put it in the room with you. My 8 month old sleeps in a playpen right next to my bed. When he is in bed with you he can smell you and its like smelling cookies baking or something, who wouldnt wake up for a snack? There is a good book called "The baby whisperer" that gives alternatives to the cry it out method for getting babies sleeping through the night. I cant remember the author though. I had the same problem with my son (whos now 2yrs!) I have to admit, that while my daugher refused to nurse despite a month of trying she still gets up 3x for bottles. Good Luck, Jen
C., sounds like you let your son nurse a little too long, and way to often at night however I would ley him sleep in another bed bad bad idea to let your children sleep with you many complications down the road he should be in his bed by now... and you should go to the doctor to get something to take to dry you up... Greetings,P
My son is 17 months, and while we're not completely weaning yet, I am starting to try to reduce the number of times he nurses to sleep at night. He has always woken at least 6 (and sometimes as many as 15!) times a night. As much as I've enjoyed cosleeping with him, it has become very obvious that that's our problem with the night waking. I'm also a big advocate of slowly transitioning.
First, I moved him to his own twin sized bed, right next to the bed my husband and I share. If this is an option for you (with a twin or toddler-sized bed), I highly recommend it. That way, he doesn't have the trauma of having being cut off from you completely, but it gives a little space. After a few weeks of this, move to a different room. During both of these transitions, I still woke to nurse him, I just then moved back to my own bed once he was asleep. It's usually only a few minutes and I have no problem going back to sleep once I'm in my bed. Last night, he only woke 3 times to nurse. It's just my 3rd night of sleeping in a different room. I hope that he'll continue to cut down on the number of times he nurses at night, but right now, I'm grateful that it's decreased as much as it has. Unless there's some serious reason for you to stop completely, it seems like it might be too difficult to wean a child under 2 that abruptly. Your son understands a lot at this age, but he may not be able to comprehend why his biggest source of comfort is suddenly gone. Good luck!
I am not weaning from breastfeeeding yet, but I am trying to cut out / down the night nursing. I have a few friends that were dealing with the same thing you are, and they both reported that gradually cutting down night time feedings worked for them. SO instead of cold turkey, and your son going from the comfort of being with you plus nursing all night, why not just try to nurse 2 or three times, and slowly cut back the feedings, giving him a bottle of warm water, or a binky the other times if you do either of those. anyohw... cutting back slowly has been working for me at night, but then agin my son is only 6 months. good luck!
M.
Hey, I nursed my 7 uear old until he was 2. At that point it was just nap times and bed time, maybe twice a night. To cut the trauma to him I would nurse him right before bed and then put bandaids over my nipples. I would let him see me do it and say "boobies are broken, they have an oowie". It took about 2 weeks to get him used to the idea, but he replaced night time nursing with one day time nursing. It worked for me! Now if I could just get my 8 month off me! She won't sleep unless my boob is planted solidly in her mouth!!!! YAY, fun for me!!!
