She is turning 2 this dec, and I am having the hardest time weaning her nightime, each time she wakes in the night she will cry buckets its really loud ear piercing. She has a strong personality. She is so addicted to it at night. When she wakes up in the night she will cry really loudly and its hard to ignore, eventhough I put her in a separate room she cries really loud and wakes up everyone else.
PLease help thank you.
Hi ladies thank you so much for all the input, so these 2 days though she wakes up 5 times in the night which she has been doing since she was little anyways, I did not nurse this 2 days already, yesterday I drew on my boobs with red lipstick telling her its owie that I am hurt she can't drink, she believed me so did not drink, in the early morning when she woke up several times I carried her and told her no you cant drink no more, you will have to be in our own room and door close if you want it, so she hates sleeping on her own so she stop didn't nurse. Thus to Mrslavallie, you need to be hard no choice, I was getting so fedup of her disturbing my sleep for the past 2 years now, especially now she is 2 she understands a lot of things. Its just a comfort bad habit of waking and refusing to sooth her ownself to sleep. Once she stoo her nursing for sure I believe by the end of the week she may be wean off or longest 2 weeks, I will make her sleep in her own room, I did not do this sooner as I did not have another room upstairs the other is occupied by her sister.
Its difficult for me to ask my hubby as he is a super grumpy person without sleep and being a concept designer for a big game he needs his sleep, I know its hard I have to do lots of things all on my own running the house and the kids, cooking cleaning and you name it I do it without help.
Thanks for posting. I am trying to wean my strong-willed 2 1/2 year old and I am such a mess over it!!! I want my boobs and my sleep (and don't want to lose my baby) so I know how you feel!!
Have no advice, sorry, because I've been unsuccessful, but I'm with you!
She's no longer nursing for nutrition. She's nursing entirely for comfort. Finding something to hold or hug when she wants to nurse will help (for my daughter, it was a tshirt that smelled like me), and then letting her figure out how to fall back asleep without it is important. It will be tough for a few nights, but it's important to let her figure it out. If you can use a noise machine or fan in other kids' rooms to block out the sound, that would help.
I was having a hard time weaning my son at that age as well. I loved breastfeeding, and am proud to have done it for so long, but I was done and I wanted my boobs back! Anyhow, I happened to get sick with an ear and sinus infection right before his 2nd birthday. I'm allergic to several antibiotics, and the one I needed wasn't truly compatible with breastfeeding. So, when he tried to nurse I told him mommy was sick and had to take a medicine that made it taste yucky. He only asked twice and then never again! At that age, they are old enough to understand language and I could give him a simple explanation and he got it. Maybe you could try something similar with your daughter? I know some people don't like fibbing to their kids, but if it takes some of the trauma out of giving up something so beloved, I really don't see the harm in it. Good luck :)
L., good for you for breastfeeding til almost two! If you really want to wean, my suggestion is for you to go away for a long weekend. Let her figure out nighttimes without you there. It may be a lot for your hubby to do, but if you really want her to do this, that may be the way to go. Good luck
I would have dad go to her with a sippy cup of water when she wakes up a night.
Dr. Sears is an expert in this area and he has some excellent advice on night weaning:
http://www.askdrsears.com/?q=topics/sleep-problems/night-...
http://www.askdrsears.com/?q=topics/feeding-infants-toddl...
Have you offered water? My kids night weaned around their 1st bdays, so I didn't have to deal with a near two year old exerting independence, but all I did was tell them they were a big girl or boy, that they drink out of a cup, and then I offered water. I did it once with my son, and he stopped nursing all together! I was horrified. My daughter still nursed for a few more months, but she stopped waking at night when she quickly figured out she would only be offered water. I think it took two nights.
Gotta be strong in this Mama. The crying is the hardest part, you have to get the whole family in on it because if they moan and groan at you, you'll revert. I did until I got my family on the same page. Also, I found that a bit or rice cereal before bed filled my son's tummy up so he wasn't trying the whole hungry bit. When I discovered it was more or less a habit, I let him cry it out(that was the hardest part). Most importantly, do NOT let her have a bottle of any sort for bed, nor a sipper. Those are even harder to wean a kid off of.
I swear, there ought to be an Oscar for the most dramatic baby cry to pull our heartstrings! Kids these days have it down to a science.
Steady on Mama!
Send dad in. She'll figure out quick that if she cries in the night, she'll only get dad and not you. We've done this with all three of my kids; dad's on night duty with them. Even when I was nursing, after they had their nursing and cried before the next feeding, dad would go in and rock them or rebundle them.
So, with ALL 4 of my kids, the night weaning was the worst. They had self-weaned to 1-2 nursings/day and it was usually at night and then first thing in the morning. The ONLY thing that worked was cutting them off abruptly. I left for 2-3 nights without the baby and came back to a happy baby that never even asked for milk. Well, one did, but we just sat and cried together. The next day, no mention of it.
My DD was 100% BF until 18 months when she continued to refuse ANY solid food. She would go 8 hours without food, waiting for me. I finally cut her off and she slept through the night and started eating solid food.
My husband said that NONE of them screamed. Once they realized I wasn't there, they went back to sleep. My last one weaned whined for about 3 minutes and that was it.
