Weaning a 7 Month Old

Try giving her a cup or a bottle with water in it instead or just go in and pat her to soothe her without taking her out of the bed. Once she realizes she isn't getting the milk, she will stop waking up for it. At 7 months, there is no reason she still needs to eat in the middle of the night. Babies that age are perfectly capable of sleeping through the night without food. Best of luck. You may have a couple of tough nights on your hands, but just be prepared for that and know that it should resolve itself in a few days.

At 7 months she is physically able to make it through the night without eating. The night time feeding has just become a routine you will have to break. I would go in make sure that she is okay, pat her bottom, and leave. I know that she will be crying and it will be hard for you but after about 3 nights of this she should begin to realize that there will no longer be any night time feedings and should start to put herself back to sleep.
Good Luck!!

I had given my oldest boy a sippy cup of water to have at night. of course he was well over a year old but that is what worked for me, He really did not bother to fuss to much either and he slept in the bed with us (in which case I expected it to be hard is all I am saying). I would just give him the cup instead of breast and he would drink and go back to sleep. Fortunately my 10 month old just recently started sleeping through the night and does not call for me till 7:30. Good Luck it may not turn out to be to bad what ever you choose. Also some people are just thirsty. I have water by my bed that I sip on and my 2 year old still has his sippy cup that he uses ocassionally. I have even considered giving my 10 month old a cup to maybe he will not be so hungry in the morning cause he nurses like an animal in the morning

Are you trying to transition to formula? Also your daughter may be waking out of habit, especially if it is at the same time every night. If your doctor says she should be sleeping all night the only suggestion I can think of (which we did) was just stop the nighttime feeding. Our children did cry a few nights but eventually stopped. We would go in reassure them and then leave. We would wait longer to come to pat them each time (5 min, 10 min, 15 min). However our kids are different in that one still had a pacifier which we would give to him and the other stopped at 5 months so we just patted her. Also one more thing - if they go through a growth spurt they may need more and may be waking because of that, but in your case it doesn't sound like that. Hope some of this helps.

the hardest thing to do is let her cry it out at night, but that's what will work. It worked for me with both of my kids...when I finally did it! I let then rule my nights for way too long! :) Once I let them cry, it only took about 2 nights and they didn't do it anymore. Wish I had done it sooner! My second child has been sleeping thru the night since he was a month old!

Hi C.-

I agree with Valerie about offering water instead of the breast, but if possible you should have your husband go in to soothe her instead of you. When we were getting my son to sleep through the night we did this and it worked. Your daughter associates you with nursing and will be frustrated having you so close to her but not getting what she wants.

Good Luck,
K.