| Author |
 Topic Search  Topic Options
|
T_Rex 
Senior Member
Joined: 07 March 2007
Location: PN
Points: 2896
|
 Post Options
 Thanks(0)
 Quote  Reply
 Topic: Night weaning - helpful or not?
Posted: 31 December 2010 at 12:18pm |
|
What are your thoughts on night weaning?
On the one hand, a quick BF is such an easy way to deal with a night waking, but on the other hand, if she didn't think she'd get a feed out of it, would she bother crying for me at all?
If you night weaned, at what age, and did it reduce night wakings? Did it make the night wakings that you do get now longer and harder to deal with?
I'm toying with night weaning for a couple of weeks to see if it gets her sleeping through, and then returning to BF on the occassional nights that she wakes if she is generally sleeping through. Or is that just inviting her to resume night waking?
If you night weaned, did you resume night feeds if they were sick or teething?
How long did it take to achieve, and how much did they protest. I'm starting with a HUGE sleep debt, so I need to know what I'm likely to be in for before I decide if I can handle it just yet.
Thanks!
|
|
|
 |
|
Sponsored Links
|
|
|
LJsmum
Senior Member
Joined: 13 June 2007
Location: Auckland
Points: 845
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 31 December 2010 at 1:05pm |
Ds2 was waking 6 times a night at 9.5 months old i decided to night wean. It was hard and by no means easy. I did it by dropping one feed a night till we got down to 1. So for example he used to wake at 9pm, 11pm, 1am, 2am, 3am and 5 am then up at 6am for the day or not go back to sleep after 5am feed.
So roughly every 2 hours he would wake wanting a BF. We sent DS1 to his grandparents and DH took a few days off work and we got started.
I made sure he had lots to eat during the day and lots of BF's i was also topping up with one bottle of formula at last feed which was at 6.30pm.
Then at the 9pm wake up DH went in Shhh him, cuddled back to sleep and i did the 11pm feed and the rest. It was so HARD the first night as i was leaking and had so much milk had to wear a towel in my p.j's!! 
So each night we dropped a feed. It didn't work perfectly and Ds2 did cry but a few quick cuddles and rocking in the cot with my hands jiggling him he fell asleep.
It was tiring but the best thing we ever did!
After a week we were down to the 4.30 - 5 am feed and that's were we are at today.
Bottle fed now as he weaned him self totally during this process which was a HUGE shock to me
 and not something i wanted to happen.
We did the same thing with Ds1 at 10 months and he didn't self wean till 15.5 months. All babies are different.
I didn't offer BF if sick or teething because i didn't find that it helped only confused him. As he didn't know when or what night i would feed him.
Good luck if you do it get support and help to take baby so you can sleep in the day and get Dh on board too.
|
|
|
|
Kalimirella
Senior Member
Joined: 14 November 2009
Location: Waipukurau
Points: 1882
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 31 December 2010 at 1:16pm |
|
Hmm I nightweaned at 3.5mths, but in saying that she was ready to do it, she wasn't that hungry any more. Took about 4 rough nights of hell, with taking her off early, and earlier and earlier. And then she slept through :D, and continued sleeping through except for the odd sick, teething, or developmental get ups. When she is sick I feed her as well but she no longer expects it.
If she does wake up she goes to sleep easy with back patting, and telling her its still nigh nighs time.
But in saying that, she has always been a "good" sleeper and needed lots of sleep even during the day.
|
Kiara is 3 and Teagan is 2, now we're expecting our long awaited 3rd! 
|
|
whitewave
Senior Member
Joined: 04 July 2008
Location: Raetihi
Points: 2220
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 31 December 2010 at 2:13pm |
|
I've been thinking the very same questions!
My nearly 2 year old still wakes between 1-4 times a night, and usually goes back to sleep quickly after a BF. The only difference is that he co-sleeps with us, and I suspect if I actually move him into his own bed (which he naps in) at night, he probably wouldn't wake so much. But I'm scared he'll hate it, will still wake, and that it will make things 10 times worse!
Also, I'm tempted to wait until his last 2-year molars are through, in case teething makes things worse even more. And also thinking that if I wait til then, then I can tell him he's a big 2 year old boy who can now go to sleep by himself and doesn't need booby milk anymore!
He said "booby" for the first time this morning - somehow I don't think it'll help now that he can scream the word out whenever he wants! [:s]
|
|
rachelsea
Senior Member
Joined: 16 February 2008
Location: Lower Hutt
Points: 3797
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 31 December 2010 at 2:32pm |
Sorry to say my 22month old still wakes in the night and she weaned from BFing altogether at 13months! Not saying your bubba would be like that though  (I tried night weaning her once, but much prefered a quick 5min feed to hours of wakefulness lol)
|
DD 4yrs DS 2yrs 
|
|
mummyofprinces
Senior Member
Joined: 10 February 2008
Location: Hibiscus Coast
Points: 8627
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 31 December 2010 at 8:53pm |
|
Firstly T-Rex how do you have a 1 year old already?????
Secondly Rach... Japan? wow, how awesome!!!!
Thirdly - night weaning Ha! I have not weaned any feeds from Jake, he has done it himself and like rach he still wakes, though its rare these days.
I have no idea how to go about it, but personally if I had weaned then I dont think I would be offering it on the odd occassion, it would be confusing and starting the cycle again FOR MY CHILD, I dont know how your wee one would be though.
|
|
|
|
newme
Senior Member
Joined: 11 January 2009
Location: Christchurch
Points: 703
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 01 January 2011 at 12:20pm |
|
I night-weaned my son when he was 20 months old. He was waking 5 - 6 times at least per night, and I was breastfeeding to sleep every time.
It was really difficult for only 2 nights. I basically had to sit up with him in the lounge (in the dark) and put on his favourite DVD (the foo fighters!) and cuddle him while he screamed and screamed for a few hours. Was hideous. I did that for 2 nights and the 3rd night he slept through for the first time ever.
He still woke sometimes after that, but only once a night, and was really easy to settle.
I never resumed night feeding when he was sick.
I had tried night weaning a few times before, but always caved in. So what I did differently was that I wore a bra, then a tight singlet, then another top over that so that it was a physical barrier to remind me not to give in - it wasn't easy to just pull my boob out.
It was really really difficult to do, and I tried many times before I had the true conviction to do it. But, Honestly, it was FANTASTIC afterwards. We all get so much more sleep.
|
|
millymollymandy
Senior Member
Joined: 09 September 2009
Location: Taranaki
Points: 499
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 01 January 2011 at 5:37pm |
|
One of the easiest and best things I ever did. I just did dream feeds for two weeks, (so I know she was getting something) gradually reducing the time it took, She woke and put herself back to sleep in 1 min or so for 2 nights and that was it. About 10 Milllion tomes eaiser than I had thought.
N.B. though we did do it in tandem with sleeo training.
I haven't had a sick baby really, and teething's only effect is early waking, and feeding doesn't fix it so, no it hasn't affected it.
|
|
T_Rex
Senior Member
Joined: 07 March 2007
Location: PN
Points: 2896
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 01 January 2011 at 8:45pm |
|
Thanks for the feedback. At this stage I'm ok with feeding her at night until I get UTD with #2 although that might change if it takes ages! I think we'll work on DH settling her for naps for a bit, cos she doesn't BF before those anyway, and then once she's ok with that, he can do nights too.
|
|
|
|
SBM
Senior Member
Joined: 25 October 2008
Points: 867
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 01 January 2011 at 11:23pm |
|
|
|
Emmecat
Senior Member
Joined: 30 April 2007
Location: New Zealand
Points: 5068
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 03 January 2011 at 1:03pm |
We pretty much night weaned Clodagh at about 10 months old I think? But then I found out I was pregnant so it worked out well in the end. It wasn't hard and we did it only as she wasn't BF for hunger- it was for comfort and while that was fine in theory, my nipples were dying a long slow painful death . So we got Daddy to do all the night comforting...and he is still doing it nearly a year on hehe It didn't make her sleep better or more at night and she always wakes at least once if not 10 times during the night now  . but it's not for milk, it's for cuddles. We still BF during the day though and she continued to BF throughout my pg with Scarlett.
|
|
|
|
busymum
Senior Member
Joined: 01 January 1900
Location: New Zealand
Points: 12236
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 03 January 2011 at 8:51pm |
|
I wasn't strong enough to night wean my first two girls so I fed them once a night right up until the day they were fully weaned - which was 11mos for both of them. With baby #3 I decided that 6mos would be long enough so I gave her a brief, very brief, hug when she woke and put her straight back to bed. It was hard for me but it only took her a couple of nights to be okay with that. Can't remember now how it worked with #4 but I think it was similar to #3. IMO (now having had experience) by 6-9mos babies regularly waking in the night for feeding is generally a convenience issue not related to full-on hunger.
|
|
|
|
Night weaning - helpful or not?
rachelsea wrote:
