Help Nightweaning a 10 Month Old

Hi C....I feel your pain. I had the same problem with my second son (now 3). I eventually let him cry it out because he was just waking so many times and I know that he didn't need that nutrition at night, it was merely a habit. It literally took 2-3 nights and that was it...12 hour sleeper after that, and so happy in the mornings...so was I. just like your other response I kept thinking...I can't believe i didn't do this sooner. :) It's hard hearing your little one cry, but ultimately, you are teaching them a skill that they absolutely need. Just keep that in mind and be strong. Hope it goes well!!

I was in the same situation as you with my first child. I exclusively breast fed AND nursed my kids to sleep (the big no no, but I just couldn't bring myself to wake a sleeping baby!). I know you don't want to let him cry it out - I didn't either - but that is exactly what worked for me. And it worked quickly! Within 3 days she was sleeping through the night, and I remember thinking "Why didn't I do this months ago???"

FYI, I also never had any problem with nursing my kids to sleep. Eventually they just grew out of it.

You can do it, but you REALLY need your husband's help. if you are the one who wakes up to sooth him at night, he will smell you and always want to nurse. He needs someone else to sooth him, so he learns that there is no milk there. We did this with my daughter recently (she is 12 months now), and it took a few weeks, but she now sleeps through the night with no problem. but during the transition period, it was my husband who got up for her. it was hard for me the first few days, and i had to put a pillow over my head not to hear her cry, but it worked and was well worth it. we all sleep better now.
good luck!

There are books you can try--one is called the "No Cry Sleep Solution." We had to night wean too--it was difficult, but not as hard as I had thought. It might be a little tricky to do on your own--my husband had to go into my son as a substitute a couple of times--since they associate mom with nursing. Good luck, you can do it.

Have you tried, for his last feeding of the evening, giving him some cereal? My two kids started to sleep through the night at 3 months. For the first 3 mos of life it was formula and whatever breast milk I could pump out. Then at three months I gave them cereal w/ a bottle of milk like at 10pm and they wouldn't wake up until 8 or 10AM the next morning.
As for weaning, I can only advise what I have advised my friends who are 1st time moms and successful breast feeders like yourself: Insist, insist, insist. Do not give him a choice, its either the bottle, or the bottle My one friend is trying a new bottle that just came out made out of recycled plastic I think its called the "Green Bottle" and her daughter likes the nipple. And you may want to change your smell. Babies are smart and if yours smells you, he knows the breast is close.

Hi C.,
At the advice of our ped, I nightweaned my son at 6 mos, cold turkey. Luckily my husband is home most nights and he helped a lot, because there wasn't much I could do to comfort my son. It was a rough week, but we got through it. You could try offering a bottle of water when he wakes in the middle of the night. Most likely he will refuse and after a few nights he will realize that it isn't worth it to wake up for a bottle of water. That didn't really work for my stubborn son, but I've heard it has worked for others. See if your library has the book "The No-Cry Sleep Solution" by Elizabeth Pantley. I think she has a whole chapter just on breastfeeding and weaning.
By the way, GREAT JOB on breastfeeding this long!!! And I like the term you used - "breastaurant" - very clever!
This will be tough, especially on your own. But stick it out because it will be worth it! You can do this!! Best of luck to you!

Hi I have 2 girls and I just stopped night feed a month ago for my younger one. My daughter goes to bed by 8.30 so she would wake up during the night hungry.I did breast feed,stopped gradually by cutting down as mentioned by other mom's . I got her used to the bottle during the day , then started with a big feed around 11pm. She'll be in her crib I gently hold her head up and feed her ,she finishes her drink and goes back to sleep. Now I am having a good night's sleep. One tip is mix little baby cereal, little formula ,with your breast milk and feed her this will keep her full.

I have two boys and the night weaning, night waking is so hard. Can you get your husband to help at all? So you get a break.
The soothing, loving parent holding a crying child I once read is the best we can do, it is letting the child know all is okay and you are there for him. It's not like you leave him alone to cry it out. I also compromised with my boys and let them "hold" the nurse, which really just meant putting their hand on my chest not actually on the breast. Also a transitional object for him? Do you co-sleep?
I do know that this will all change in to something else before you know it just as it always does.
Good luck!

Hi C.,
My 2nd baby was breastfed to 13 months, and still woke more than once during the night most of the time. To be honest, I found it easier to just nurse him. If you're getting up to soothe him, and need to rock, etc - wouldn't it just be easier to keep him in a cosleeper and nurse him when he gets up? No getting out of bed. That was really how I got the most rest - didn't want to have to get out of bed and fully alert, mentally counting down how many hours til it was time to get up, get ready for work and get the kids to daycare. When he was bigger - 13-14 months, I started leaving water in his crib for him to drink. This was around the time he started sleeping pretty reliably through the night.
Good luck.

I night weaned my son at 8 weeks and I didn't let him cry it out. He is now a happy, great sleeping 6 year old. I gradually cut back the number of minutes I nursed him each night. I started at 5 minutes per side and over the course of two weeks, cut it down to less than a minute per side. I moved him to his own crib (out of my bed) at 6 weeks and his night wakes went from two wake-ups to one within days. Your son is a lot older but cutting back gradually will help retrain his body. Then, after you have stopped nursing him, a few back rubs should get him back to sleep if he wakes up.

Gook luck. You'll get there. J.

Hi C.,
I am going through the same thing. My son is 11 months old. I'm having a really hard time. I just started trying to night wean and make sure I don't feed him to put him to sleep. Let me know if you have success.

With my daughter I decreased the amount she ate every night. Of course by this point she was bottle fed, but you could decrease the time by a minute or so every night. The first night you could do 10 mins. And then the next night only allow 8 mins. And decrease it every couple days. Another thing I always did with sleep training was using music. It' helps to set the mood and when they wake at night you can turn it back on to help them go back to sleep. Also, don't allow him to use you anymore to fall asleep. If he starts to fall asleep while nursing, stop and wake him. The bed time routines you create now are the ones he will need later. So slowly you need to set up the bedtime routine you can follow nightly.