# Does anyone just *not* nightwean?



## BeeandOwlsMum (Jul 11, 2002)

I see a lot of posts about nightweaning, and how to do it and what works and what doesn't....

Do you have to? What happens if you don't?

My dd is only 8 months old - so we are a ways from even thinking about it in passing.









But it always seems like a question that goes around in AP circles...instead of "Is she sleeping through the night?" It is, "She still nursing at night?"


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## bunnybartlett (Aug 27, 2002)

and we never nightweaned.I feel it is not necessary,just up tp your individual needs!!'
I did try once or twice for a couple nights and found it was more trouble than it was worth!
I got more sleep just letting her nurse happily and go back to sleep.we cosleep btw.Why lose one of the tools in your toolbelt?Especially when teething and/or sick it is one of the only things that comforts...


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## ani'smommy (Nov 29, 2005)

We probably won't nightwean Ani. It's just easier to nurse her at night than to nightwean. She only wakes up once or twice to nurse and I always fall right back to sleep -- no big deal. I'm a little nervous about having two nursing at night, but I think it will work out without actively nightweaning.


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## Wolfcat (Jan 10, 2006)

I'm not planning on nightweaning, unless DS does it himself, kwim?


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## BeeandOwlsMum (Jul 11, 2002)

This is good to hear - keep 'em coming!









DD barely wakes now to nurse, and is back asleep as soon as she latches on. I figure with as much as this girl like sleep she will decide at some point she would rather sleep than nurse.









But I like hearing about people who didn't nightwean!!! SO keep telling me about it.


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## ~member~ (May 23, 2002)

No night weaning here. No plans to night wean, neither.


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## alegna (Jan 14, 2003)

No nightweaning and no plans to.

-Angela


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## Benji'sMom (Sep 14, 2004)

No plans to. DS will be 1 this month. *sniff*


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## Drummer's Wife (Jun 5, 2005)

I don't think I'd ever night wean. I am a little nervous about having a newborn as well though but DS is 22 months and some nights he sleeps the whole time while other's he's up nursing once or twice. It's never been a big deal and I fall back asleep easily once he's latched on. I wouldn't mind if he completely gave it up when #4 arrives but it's not something I would push on him.


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## DigitalSuze (Dec 20, 2005)

nak

DS2 is only 5 months, and he's rather high needs -- but getting better! I attribute his blossoming personality to co-sleeping and nursing-on-demand. And he's so appreciative of being nursed, kwim? I'm lucky that I can sleep pretty well with him, so I definitely have no long-term nightweaning goal.


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## JessicaS (Nov 18, 2001)

We never really night weaned though we made an attempt.









Towards the end of dd nursing she only nursed at night, (no I did not try to "daywean" her







) she just liked having her comfort at night, which makes a lot of sense to me.


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## ledzepplon (Jun 28, 2004)

My dd nightweaned herself when I was preggo with ds. Milk supply was so diminished that she figured it wasn't worth waking up for! She's very oral, so I'm pretty sure it was the lack of milk, not her age, that led to the nightweaning. (She was about 18 months old.)

I have no plans to nightwean ds. He's way less of a booby-maniac than dd was, so it really doesn't bother me to nurse him a couple times a night. Sadly, though, I've never been one of those mamas who could nurse while sleeping. I've got a smallish cup size, so I have to kind of "position" myself for ds.

I guess if I ever want to nightwean, I'll get pregnant again!


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## Progressive_Mom (Sep 2, 2006)

No plans to night wean here! It keeps up my milk supply and extends my infertility!


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## BeeandOwlsMum (Jul 11, 2002)

Extending my infertility isn't something that is terribly positive for me.









But I get what you are saying.


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## PatchyMama (Dec 6, 2002)

no night weaning or plans to here either







I figure when she is ready to be done, she will be done. She is 2 and still wakes up a couple of times a night... but I am pretty good at dozing through them


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## blsilva (Jul 31, 2006)

We never actively nightweaned. In fact, I pretty much nursed my oldest every time he made a peep at night until he was 2.5, and, since I was pregnant, my milk dried up, and he stopped waking me up. After ds2 was born, ds1 started nursing at night again for a few months, but just stopped again when he is ready. He is 5 now, and, most nights, sleeps peacefully all night. When he wakes up and needs soothing, a cuddle is all it takes.








Ds2 is 2, and still nurses whenever he wakes at night. I have noticed a few times in the last month that he will roll over and fall asleep before he latches on, but he still nurses the majority of the time. I figure when he's ready, he'll stop.


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## paint-the-moon (Jul 22, 2006)

We also never plan to nightwean, even when the second comes along. She can always nurse whenever and for however long she wants!







We BOTH love our night nursing and I wouldn't change it for the world. Neither of us gets any less sleep ... in fact, it HELPS both of us sleep better!!


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## robinkate (May 5, 2005)

Dd is 3.5 and I haven't nightweaned her yet! Nursing her at night is much easier than trying to wean for me.


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## lactivist (Jun 14, 2005)

I nursed my Zaid until he was six and never nightweaned. He slept through the night pretty early on so it just wasn't an issue. If he woke up in the night it was because something was wrong and there was no way I would deny him nursing if he wanted it. Eavan is 22 months, has been extremely high needs and up until about 6 weeks ago was waking almost every hour through the night. He was prescribed melatonin by my Naturopath and that changed everything. He is now sleeping in 3-4 hour chunks and all my fantasies of night weaning went away. I have thought about it now that I am pregnant again but I just don't think I can do some sort of prescribed night weaning routine. I do try to pat him back to sleep when it seems possible and other times I just nurse him right away. It may be rough with him night nursing and a newborn and I may rethink the whole thing but for now I just plan to let him nurse when he wants/needs it and let everything else fall into place.
Wendi


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## thismama (Mar 3, 2004)

Mine is 3 and not nightweaned. She mostly sleeps thru the night, but sometimes she will nurse when I come to bed or if she wakes in the night. Usually she starts nursing somewhere between 5 and 7am.


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## sunnysideup (Jan 9, 2005)

Every child nightweans eventually.







It's not at all uncommon for mothers to let the nursing baby or toddler decide for him/herself when to night wean. I have four children, and my baby is 2. She still nurses at night...I think once or maybe twice







I am so used ot it, I don't even wake up. And, I honestly can't remember when my older kids nightweaned.


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## BeeandOwlsMum (Jul 11, 2002)

Yes, I kind of figured I wouldn't be going off to college with her still nursing at night.


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## maxwill129 (May 12, 2005)

We didn't night wean DD- she did that on her own at 13 months. DS#2 is 5 months, and obviously we're still nursing, with no plans to night wean (parent-led, that is).


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## Autumn Breeze (Nov 13, 2003)

I considered it for about a day.

K nurses only to go to sleep now, and that's with out any pressure from me. If I ask her any time of day if she wants milk (and I ask her by saying "do you want mama milk and signing milk at the same time) she shakes her head no and goes for her cup. Fine.

At night. nothing but mama will do. So she nursed down for a nap, and nurses down to bed, and if she wakes up, she nurses then. It can be as few as 4 times in 24 hours or still 10 times in 24 hours, it just depends on if she's having trouble sleeping or not.

So, I don't think I'll be following through with my night weaning plans, she's not ready, and it's the only time she's getting the milk she needs.


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## forestrymom (Jul 13, 2006)

My dd is 13 months and we haven't even really considered night-weaning as anything more than a fleating yeah right. She is very high needs and has been somewhat of a reverse cycler. I consider 3 hours sleeping through the night in my house







because that is literally a long time for her to go without. We do not cosleep either...so my body has had a big adjustment. I have no idea what we will do when the next one comes. Hopefully the next one will want to sleep with mama and it will be a bit easier. Maybe I will nightwean then. Maybe she will wean before the next one gets here. Maybe there won't be a next one, if she never night weans on her own. Who knows?


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## LeAnnie (Mar 3, 2004)

Wow- I had no idea there were so many who don't night wean.

I did night wean my dd when she was about 2 because I was pregnant and very nauseated/tired. I just couldn't handle the night feedings at that point.

I don't plan to night wean ds (he's 13 months). I might (just a might) consider it if it became a barrier to fertility at some point. Right now he nurses 1-3 times at night while cosleeping.

I do fantasize about it though, thinking it might give me some energy.


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## North_Of_60 (May 30, 2006)

DD is almost 10 months, and no night weaning here. I have never even thought of it, and to be honest, it doesn't jive well with *my* ideas on CLW.

I have, however, been trying to sooth her in other ways. DD is a boob-in-the-mouth-all-night-long kinda kid, and it's really painful to lay in one position all night long. I HAD to do something.

She is by no means night weaned. Not even close. But, she has been sleeping "on her own" (side carred crib







) for 2-3 hour stretches if I'm lucky. This works great and I have no plans to change it.


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## UUMom (Nov 14, 2002)

I never night weaned. I nursed 4 . Not that I didn't occassionaly try "Oh, the nursies are sleeping" of course.







Depending on the child, that worked from one night to none. My kids weaned at 3.7 yrs , 15 mos (crazy and there is a story behind that!) 3.6 yrs, and 6.7 yrs.


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## Sijae (May 5, 2006)

I never specifically night-weaned my kids. They nursed whenever they needed to until we stopped nursing completely.

Laura


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## sadean (Nov 20, 2001)

No, I did not night wean my dc#2 or dc#3. I work full time and night time is the only time they nurse (essentially reverse cycle). So, night waening would have meant weaning. DC#2 fully weaned at 2.5 yo. DC#3 is still nursing.


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## Peony (Nov 27, 2003)

I personally don't believe in night weaning, it is meeting a need my child has, and I can meet that need, I'm not interested in taking it away, DD1 was a very heavy night nurser, it impaired my fertility greatly, she was 2.5 years and no AF still, but I was not going to shortchange my first child for a child that I did not have yet. Just my point of view. DD1 stopped waking up to nurse right after she turned 3, and I got pg very shortly after that.


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## jazzharmony (Nov 10, 2006)

I never night weaned my son and my daughter is 2.5 and is still nursing a lot at night. For a time I was night nursing two and that was a bit of a strain but I have become used to night waking by now after sleeping in blocks for 6yrs straight. I will admit to being very tired though.


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## dachshundqueen (Dec 17, 2004)

18mos and haven't nightweaned. Hasn't been a problem except when I'm ovulating and it's really sensitive.

Liz


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## flitters (Sep 18, 2003)

no nightweaning here. not in the plans. ds is 26 months now, sometimes nurses 15 minutes of the night, sometimes nurses for all but 15 minutes of the night.


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## Patchfire (Dec 11, 2001)

I have no idea really when dd stopped nursing at night. I never made a specific effort for her to stop and of course there was the rare occasion even after she had nightweaned herself when she would want to nurse, but I would say somewhere between 2 and 3 1/2. We got really good at hooking up in the middle of the night without either of us fully waking. She actually 'dayweaned' before she 'nightweaned' - it was before bed, during the night, and just after waking for a while.

Ds isn't so good about the not fully waking thing, but I still don't plan to try to nightwean him.


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## ColoradoMama (Nov 22, 2001)

I didn't night wean dd2 (I did night wean the first two because I was pg - another story for another thread!). She nursed at night until she was around two, then she just phased that nursing out. There were a few times that I gently encouraged her, but she pretty much did it on her own. I plan on letting this one night wean on his own, too. No more kiddos for me.


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## josh&davesmomme (Feb 24, 2006)

No night weaning here...I did start "limiting" night nursing with older ds when his baby brother was born ...nursing 2 through the night was a little rough but ds was 3 1/2 yrs old and understood that I'd nurse if he needed but he'd have to sometimes wait for me to finish with the baby- he usually didn't want to wait and would just cuddle up against my back ( as I would be facing the other way nursing baby) and he'd go back to sleep. I don't plan on night weaning younger ds either-


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## mamaverdi (Apr 5, 2005)

My oldest nursed all.the.time. until the day he weaned himself just after his 3rd birthday. He's almost 7 now.

My younger son nurses whenever he feels like it. And still at night. He's 2 1/2 yrs old. And I'll keep nursing him whenever until he doesn't feel like it anymore.


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## guest9921 (Nov 3, 2005)

Currently still night nursing - no plan to nightwean.
We cosleep, so why?

I hardly wake, he latches on, I go back to sleep - the end. Everyones happy.


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## formerluddite (Nov 16, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Progressive_Mom* 
No plans to night wean here! It keeps up my milk supply and extends my infertility!

this is me in a nutshell. it's why i did nightwean dd1 and why i don't nightwean dd2. no plans for more kids; feeling too old and decrepit at 42!

i was pushing 40 and wanted to ttc#2, worried about that "big drop off" in fertility one hears of. plus she was an all.night.long nurser. we went from 10-20nursings/day to 2-3 gradually over 8 mos, starting with nightweaning, both to get some sleep and since that would cut 5-10 out. when i got down to 2-3/day my cycles lengthened and i conceived. i had been ovulating, but had too short a luteal phase, usually<10 days.

dd2 is mellower, and i can occasionally pat her back down, but no specific nightweaning plans. she often gives me 6 hour stretches of sleep (if i go to sleep with the kids at 8pm







).


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## ledzepplon (Jun 28, 2004)

Kind of off topic, but so jealous of you mamas who got the temporary "infertility" benefit of breastfeeding. Even when tandeming after ds was born, I got AF back after 3 mos!


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## sunnysideup (Jan 9, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ledzepplon* 
Kind of off topic, but so jealous of you mamas who got the temporary "infertility" benefit of breastfeeding.

Me too! I always get my period before 2 months pp, even with nursing constantly. Bummer!


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## momuveight2B (Mar 17, 2006)

I've never nightweaned. I'm just too tired and the last thing I want to deal with is a child crying in the night. Eventually they just sleep through the night anyways at about age four-five. Other than times of illness and teething night nursing does not disrupt my sleep. Even when they are sick or teething it is still easier to nurse than to deal with crying and trying to figure out another way to soothe them.

Just an FYI: We never had problems with teeth, I know some say you have to nightwean to prevent bottle rot but breasts are not bottles! I just mention this because often this is the reasoning you will hear to nightwean at an early age. We always brush our children's teeth for them morning and night when we do our own.


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## Momtwice (Nov 21, 2001)

Did not nightwean. Like the poster above me I know I got MORE sleep this way. Nursed at night for years. I would sometimes say no when dd was able to handle that but that didn't mean I had to say no the next night.


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## sparklefairy (May 21, 2005)

Kind of.

My first I did because I was pregnant and exhausted. She was about 1.5.

My second, it was part of a gradual weaning that began when he was about 2.5 and we nursed the last time when he was around 3.

I mostly dealt with frequent wakings before that by trying to sleep when he slept (not staying up way past when he went to bed and then wondering why he woke up right after I got to sleep) and remembering that they were keeping my fertility at bay. When it got to the point that the sensation of nursing at night had me wide awake and I had a long time getting back to sleep and I was tired and resentful the next day, I made changes.

I try not to feel one-size-fits-all about it, but I'm not fond of nightweaning infants and young toddler, especially not "just because" or from the notion that it's developmentally inappropriate for them to be waking.


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## aylasmama (Nov 16, 2006)

My Ayla is 15 months old and still nursings at will during the night. I couldn't imagine weaning her...it's sad for both of us. I do want another (soon) and hope to have her continue to nurse. Here's another question...if you've nursed a baby/toddler through a pregnancy, is it really hard in the beginning when your breasts are so sore??? This is really giving me anxiety, and I really don't want anything to get in the way of my nursing relationship with my daughter! But time is not on my side...








married to







:'98 mama to 15 month old







:







:







:







includes 3







:'s!







:


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## kaspirant (Apr 28, 2006)

Didn't even *won't even" think twice about it. DS will decide when he wants to wean...I am not a mama by convenience...I'm all in







I'd rather a little inconvenience *per se* in my life now...to reap the benefits~


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## burm_keep (Oct 31, 2005)

Jumping in here - boy am I glad to see this topic brought up, as I was wondering the same thing. I have no plans to night wean. When night nursing does ramp up, it seems there is always a reason - usually teething. DS is almost 15 months old. The normal nights (anywhere from 2 - 4 wakings), doesn't bother me - as many have said, I get more sleep by co-sleeping & nursing than if I did not.


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## Delma (Jan 11, 2007)

I have a 32 month old, who feeds at least four times a night. I was thinking of trying to wean him because I am trying to conceive. I get the impression from reading this thread that it is not necessary to give up breastfeeding just to get pregnant. Is that true or does it depend on how often feeding occurs?


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## funkygranolamama (Aug 10, 2005)

I also have not intentions of weaning night or day. He'll be done when he's done!


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## BeeandOwlsMum (Jul 11, 2002)

Delma - Whether you get pregnant while BF depends entiirely on the woman, and her body. Some women can get pregnant with little to no problem while nursing, some cannot. Some women get their cycles back relatively quickly, some not until they stop nursing completely. So, no, you don't have to give up nursing to try and get pregnant again.







If you have started cycling again, then ttc! And even if you have to cut back to get your cycle back, you probablywon't have to wean completely.


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## bri276 (Mar 24, 2005)

I'm in a bit of a different situation because I have to get up to make bottles of ebm- but it never occurred to me to nightwean so to speak. She's hungry, so I feed her. doesn't matter if it's 3 am or 3 pm. I know that's not necessarily what a lot of other kids do, with the boob in the mouth all night (though I think if she could have her bottle all night, she would!) but she is still very much needs the milk to fall asleep with, and it's the ONLY thing that will make her stop crying when she wakes up in the middle of the night.

however, I have noticed if I load her up with food at night, we have a better chance of sleeping thru (now at 18 months, she wakes up once a night maybe 50% of the time- a few months ago though, she was up 2-4 times every night- weird for a kid who started life out sleeping thru the night until 8 months!!)

like a pp said I consider this to be part of the deal of parenthood. Now- if I had to work at 6 am, or had 3 other kids being woken up by her cries, I might need some GD approach to helping her stay asleep, but in our situation waking up to feed has been difficult but not horrible (ok- it was horrible for a while there- but I made it-







)


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## sunnysideup (Jan 9, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Delma* 
I have a 32 month old, who feeds at least four times a night. I was thinking of trying to wean him because I am trying to conceive. I get the impression from reading this thread that it is not necessary to give up breastfeeding just to get pregnant. Is that true or does it depend on how often feeding occurs?

I got pregnant *4 times* while breastfeeding. And I was nursing frequently. It can be an individual thing though.


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## Swandira (Jun 26, 2005)

My son nightweaned himself (and pretty much weaned himself entirely) when I was pregnant with his little sister. He continued to sleep with us, but slept all night without waking and without nursing to sleep. He started nursing (occasionally) again when the baby was born, but I think he's almost done.

Nealy
Mama to Thales, 12/9/02, and Lydia, 2/26/06


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## georgia (Jan 12, 2003)

I've never nightweaned any of my children. I got pregnant and breastfed through two subsequent pregnancies---honestly, I could never do anything other than child-led weaning. I fought way too hard with my first to establish breastfeeding....it's not something I could ever take away...of course, I'm at that scentimental juncture where my youngest nursling is two...and I know I won't ever have this precious time at any other point in our lives. I'm nursing two right now--and there are many nights when I wish they'd decide they didn't need to nurse at night! But, I know they will--and I can promise you it will be very bittersweet.

Delma, hey! Welcome to MDC







Somebody once advised me to think first of the child who is *here* and who you have a nursing relationship with before making any decisions that affect him/her with regard to future, yet-to-be-conceived children. That's always stuck with me. I had major issues getting pg w/my first, so I can understand wanting to take measures to increase chances, but I'd recommend doing some research around here and getting opinions---maybe in breastfeeding?


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## UrbanPlanter (Nov 14, 2003)

we did not nightwean.
he nightweaned himself by the time he was four years old.
I think he just totally weaned himself as he is about to turn five years old.

PSA: I can't believe it is over and I will never nurse again. It went by SO FAST and I miss it already!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## hammas (Oct 19, 2006)

No plans to nightwean here either.

Ds nightweaned himself when he was 22 months old. Then when he was 31 months old, dd was born and he started to wake up again and nurse 2-3 times during the night.

Now he is 39 months and nurses almost every night once. No nursing or nursing two or more times happens rarely.


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## Mama Poot (Jun 12, 2006)

Well Henri is only 5 months old so no way are we near close to nightweaning, but I might work evenings once he gets to be a year old or so, so it might be something to consider. I don't think its necessary like some people will have you believe. I got one of those emails from you know where the other day and it said "You need to start making your baby sleep through the night without food." And how babies don't need to eat at night blah blah blah....Heck I still get up for a snack or a glass of water.


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## pixilixi (Jun 20, 2006)

Great thread, so interesting, thanks everyone for sharing. DS is only 9 months old, and I can't ever foresee nightweaning... ds wakes up 4 - 5 times on an average night, and *has* to nurse, or he will just ramp up his crying very quickly.

Luckily now, he will mostly feed for a few minutes, then detach and roll over. I thought he would stay latched on all night forever unless I "broke his bad habit"









When he's on *all night* is when I start thinking there's teeth coming or something is going on in that little body and brain of his!

And I am super pleased to read momuveight2B's post about no problems with teeth rotting. I have a few friends who stopped nursing to sleep and during the night because of teeth.

And also friends who say their 7 month old should have enough in his tummy to last the (12 hour) night, and hence nightweaned. How can you REALLY know that?

Keep up the good work everyone. I hope I can continue to be as patient and responsive.

Brooke


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## monkey's mom (Jul 25, 2003)

No nightweaning here.

My older stopped nursing at night right around, or before, his 3rd bday.

Now the 18 mo. old nurses several times at night--it's all a blur though. And taking the clock out of the room has been TERRIFIC for my attitude about the whole thing!


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## formerluddite (Nov 16, 2006)

wanted to chime in on the topic of fertility being very individual person to person. for me, i didn't get my cycle back until dd1 was 21 mos old (nursing 10-20x/24hrs), and didn't get fertile mucus (ovulating) until she was 26mos (nursing 10-20x/24hrs). even then my cycles were very short (21-25 days), and the short part was the luteal phase (between ovulation and AF) of <10 days. as soon as i got to the point where dd1 was nursing just 2-3x/24hrs i got a 28 day cycle (and got very excited, thinking i was pregnant, by day 27...), and the next month i did get pregnant. but then there's all the folks i know who get one cycle around 18mos and then are pregnant again. oh, and dd1 went on to nurse through my pregnancy and until i weaned her at 4 3/4 when her sister was 15mos.

i'm passing on this info, because at the time i couldn't find anything (in several fertility books) about breastfeeding and fertility that covered still not conceiving when you're cycling and ovulating. i started to get anxious about my age (39 then), would i conceive at all (it was very quick with dd1, on our second try). recently new beginnings (LLL) magazine had an article about the stages of fertility return, and that the last phase is lengthening of the luteal phase. when it's too short, a fertilized egg (zygote) doesn't have time to get properly implanted before being sloughed off by AF. a few months ago that gave me the "aha!" moment, because i could recall that i had usually ovulated around day 14.

also, re: teeth, studies show no increase in decay from nightnursing as long as teeth are brushed before bed, but if they're not, or kiddo has some juice/snack after brushing, then there is more risk of cavities by nightnursing. and a great little factoid: one study showed if you soak a tooth in breastmilk overnight it will actually pick up calcium from it, remineralize!

another fact i learned recently is that the probiotic bacteria Lactobaccilus Reuteri can actually inhibit the growth of the cavity causing bacteria Streptococcus Mutans.


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## clavicula (Apr 10, 2005)

i am not planning on w/ my second.


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## LeAnnie (Mar 3, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *formerluddite* 
wanted to chime in on the topic of fertility being very individual person to person.
.

Thanks for posting, that, Formerluddite. Can you say the title/issue of the New Beginnings article or link it online? I would like to read that.


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## JamesMama (Jun 1, 2005)

James will be 2years old this month. I keep thinking about it, even tried doing the "Nope, boobies are nightnight" thing once or twice. He did fall asleep, but only after quite a while of screaming (in arms) and begging for boobie. At the end I was so strung out that I couldn't get back to sleep. DH was fussing at me because he has to get up early for work and I was worried about our neighbor since I'm pretty sure his bedroom is on the other side of my door-less closet.

As it sits right now we'r enot planning on forcing nightweaning anytime in the future. I like being able to get him to sleep fairly quickly, I like being able to soothe through teethings and nightmares and when we stay the night somewhere else...

But ask me in 5 months when he goes through his "I am NOT going to sleep" phase like he usually does and maybe I'll have a different story. LOL


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## moondiapers (Apr 14, 2002)

I saved nightweaning for last. I started weaning gently when ds turned 3 years old....it took about 6 months. I started out with rules about nursing...then slowly started trying to distract him at least twice a day, then added distractions etc. When he was no longer nursing during the day I started trying alternative methods of soothing at night. If he insisted I still nursed him. By 3 1/2 he was done. I always wonder at people weaning at night because night nursing made my life so easy at night that it was the last thing I wanted to give up, lol. Even though the nursing relationship was no longer comfortable for me.


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## Calidris (Apr 17, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *thismama* 
Mine is 3 and not nightweaned. She mostly sleeps thru the night, but sometimes she will nurse when I come to bed or if she wakes in the night. Usually she starts nursing somewhere between 5 and 7am.

Sounds exactly like my DD most of the time (except she is not quite 3 yet).

She often nurses briefly in the night to fall back to sleep, but not a lot, then every now and then there will be a night where she just won't stop and it drives me crazy, but I really have not considered nightweaning (well, OK considered it, but only in those vague, wouldn't it be nice sorta fantasies). I can't nightwean anymore than I could day wean.
The long session in the morning before waking is sometimes annoying, but it usually means she wakes in a good mood.


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## Brenda2005 (Mar 10, 2005)

My ds is 14 mos old, sleeps with us and I won't nightwean. My reason being that I work outside the home and he is not nursed during the day. So as soon as I get home, he is nursing, all through the night and in the morning. I'm exhausted, but I would never think about taking away that time we have together







. I wouldn't nightwean even if I were home with him full time


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## DreamsInDigital (Sep 18, 2003)

Baby Winter initiated his own night time feeding schedule. He used to wake to eat 3-4 times a night, sometimes more. He hasn't woken in the middle of the night for about 3 months now but it was not at our prompting and I was more than happy to tend to his needs at night as well as day. Some kids just decide to sleep.


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## Ruthla (Jun 2, 2004)

I never intentionally nightweaned any of my kids. In fact, with DS, the bedtime and early-morning nursings were the last he gave up. He naturally gave up middle-of the night nursings all on his own at some point. All I had to ''do" was recognize that many times he'd prefer a backrub to a nursing in the middle of the night and stop the automatic half-asleep bra fumbling.

I think you see a lot of nightweaning posts because it can be very hard to do, so moms need help accomplishing night-weaning before their children are 100% ready. Moms who just let their babies set the pace with nursing all times of day have no need to post asking for help.


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## georgia (Jan 12, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Ruthla* 
I think you see a lot of nightweaning posts because it can be very hard to do, so moms need help accomplishing night-weaning before their children are 100% ready. Moms who just let their babies set the pace with nursing all times of day have no need to post asking for help.

This is an excellent point









Very, very true about fertility being variable from woman to woman---it also varies for a woman from child to child, too. About fertility and breastfeeding---a book I found very interesting and helpful was Breastfeeding: Biocultural Perspectives w/K. Dettwyler. Very interesting studies about ovulation and lactation







Here is Dr. Dettwyler's website.


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## AllyRae (Dec 10, 2003)

LOL...my kid's 3 and he still nurses at night. For a while I thought he was nightweaned, but to this day, he sometimes wants to nurse at night so he does...


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## MomToKandE (Mar 11, 2006)

Ds will be 3 in a few weeks and still nurses during the night. Because we're cosleeping it doesn't really disturb either of our sleep.


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## Past_VNE (Dec 13, 2003)

25 months here and no night-weaning in sight. He has been a good sleeper, between bouts of teething. When he's teething though, all hell breaks lose and he's a night nurser extraordinaire. Like, he's been working on his 2 yr molars for three weeks now.

So, in our case, it's been good, bad, fun and sucky.














That's me right now. Call me a CLNWer.


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## Anglyn (Oct 25, 2004)

I never understood night weaning myself. With my kids, that was the LAST thing to go. They may go all day without it, playing and eating and being busy etc, but at bedtime and then throughout the night, thats when they want it!

I agree with pp's who said its more trouble than its worth to nightwean (for me) because I can fall right back to sleep. There were nights when dh would say, "the baby nurse much last night?" and Id say "I cant even remember" but yet there was a boob hanging out, so yeah.


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## NaturalMamma (Nov 22, 2001)

Our DD self-weaned right before her 4th bday. We never night-weaned. The night nursings just gradually decreased little by little over time--like the daytime nursings--until she decided she was done. That's how I imagined it would be and that's how it ended up being for us.

In retrospect, the time went by like a blink of an eye.


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## formerluddite (Nov 16, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *LeAnnie* 
Thanks for posting, that, Formerluddite. Can you say the title/issue of the New Beginnings article or link it online? I would like to read that.

still too much of a luddite to know how to link. it showed up in the house in the last 6-8 mos, might be in a pile around here somewhere... NB is the bimonthly LLL mag, maybe they have it online?

ok, google "la leche league new beginnings magazine" and click the top link "breastfeeding resources," then scroll down until you see fertility under maternal breastfeeding issues. then you can get articles from NBmag, and the top one is from the sep-oct 06 issue, that's probably the one i read.

i think i need to stop reading and posting, and start learning a bit more about how to use this computer...


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## Mama Dragon (Dec 5, 2005)

We never mightweaned, unless the baby/toddler wanted to (never happened - I was still nursing 2-10 times a night with #3 before he completely weaned cause I was pg and he didn't like the new taste).


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## paint-the-moon (Jul 22, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *formerluddite* 
still too much of a luddite to know how to link. it showed up in the house in the last 6-8 mos, might be in a pile around here somewhere... NB is the bimonthly LLL mag, maybe they have it online?

ok, google "la leche league new beginnings magazine" and click the top link "breastfeeding resources," then scroll down until you see fertility under maternal breastfeeding issues. then you can get articles from NBmag, and the top one is from the sep-oct 06 issue, that's probably the one i read.

Here it is:

Breastfeeding and Fertility

Also another interesting one:

Fertility and Night Nursing

And the whole shebang on Breastfeeding and Fertility on LLL:

Breastfeeding and Fertility on LLL

Hope this helps!


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## kochanyk (Jun 30, 2005)

We never did... DS's last bout of nursing was nights- he self-weaned at 18 mos when I was starting to get collostrum


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