# Nursing/Sleep Issues with my 15 month old!



## yemango (Jan 27, 2007)

so, i need some advice!

I have been nursing/cosleeping with my 15 month old son since he was born! i plan to continue and let him decide when to discontinue both.

My problem is this: he usually nurses to sleep at a great time (8pm) and sleeps solidly until about 3am. then, he wants to nurse until we wake up, and even more after we've woken up. there's no way around this.

nursing in the middle of the night has given me sore nipples - not only poor positioning in bed, new teeth (not biting but just the way he suctions when he sleeps), and he tweaks the other nipple. all of which i dont mind during the day.

i cannot physically continue to do this! my body is constantly in pain (and i am a massage therapist so i need to take extra care of my body)...i keep getting massage and chiropractic and its just barely keeping me ok. not to mention that i havent had a solid night of sleep since he was born. i dont remember when he nurses most of the time, but im pretty sure im not getting REM sleep and i barely have enough energy to make it through the day.

anyway, any suggestions would be helpful!! some friends have suggested certain literature on the subject, but from what i hear, you let the child cry it out (in your arms) for a week and then they get used to it. we tried that last night in a fir of desperation and i felt like the most evil mommy. finally i recited "goodnight moon" to him in the crook of my arm and he fell asleep for another hour. i dont think i can do this. but what else to do?

what suggestions do other AP'ers have? i want to approach this as lovingly and gently as possible.

thanks!


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## JessBB (Apr 10, 2007)

I night weaned at 15 months. I decided I was not nursing from 10:00 until 5:00 (some people start w/ a shorter period of time). DS would nurse to sleep at 8:00 - 8:30 (still does) and sleep on the couch, then we all go to bed @ 10. At first I'd nurse him back down if he woke up then. After that, I would not nurse him again until 5:00 a.m. Honestly, it was NOT bad at all. And he was a big time night nurser! He had fallen asleep spontaneously in the carseat a gazillion times, also in my lap and with other caregivers so I knew he could sleep w/o nursing. Also, he eats and drinks really well so I wasn't worried about that.

It probably took a week, tops. He did "fuss" a lot - screeches, no tears - but he was right between mommy and daddy and got lots of hugs and kisses, etc. Now he doesn't even nurse back down @ 10 when we go to "big bed," he just rolls over and goes back to sleep. He's sleeping for longer stretches of time and can settle himself back to sleep if he wakes up. The hardest part of the whole thing was to stop the autopilot latch-on whenever he'd roll over to me!

Night weaning is kind of a personal thing but it has been a great step for our family, not least of all b/c I will begin traveling for work in July and DH is much less worried about it b/c he knows he can cuddle and soothe ds back to sleep without me.


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## yemango (Jan 27, 2007)

thanks for the input. we'll see how it goes tonight!


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## AnewMommy (Mar 6, 2007)

I'm in this position, though I'm different from the OP as I would like to night wean. JessBB, thanks for sharing your story. It gives me hope! I'm going to try that this weekend I think.

DH is gone for 10 weeks, and I am preggo and exhausted as DS is getting more restless at night - he eats fine during the day, so I'm thinking I'll start by nursing him right before I go to bed (11pm or so) and then not nursing until 5am maybe? We'll see how firm I can be on my own LOL!

GL - hope you can work something out so you can get some sleep - I totally understand!







s:


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## edamama (May 26, 2007)

I'm right there with you! My DD is 15months and DH and I have been talking about night weaning for about a week now. DD is up numerous times to nurse, I feel like it's getting worse not better. I feel like I'm turning into a mean mama because I am so tired.

We are going to give it a try this weekend. We haven't decided how to do it exactly. We are looking at the Sears info and the Gordon stuff. OP, this might be what your friends were suggesting? We also have the NCSS for toddlers and this seems like the gentlest way to do it, IMO. Have you read that book?


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## happy2bamama (Apr 29, 2006)

This is a thread that was started a few months back about night-weaning and it has some super helpful stuff in it. Seriously, it sounds like you NEED a change and night-weaning sounds like the key. Of course, it works differently for everyone, but you can choose how gradual you want it to be and tweak it from there on out depending on your DC. Good luck to you!

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=847974


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## edamama (May 26, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *happy2bamama* 
This is a thread that was started a few months back about night-weaning and it has some super helpful stuff in it. Seriously, it sounds like you NEED a change and night-weaning sounds like the key. Of course, it works differently for everyone, but you can choose how gradual you want it to be and tweak it from there on out depending on your DC. Good luck to you!

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=847974


Thanks for the link, I've read thru most of it yesterday and today. We are going to give it a try tonight!


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## happy2bamama (Apr 29, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *allielb* 
Thanks for the link, I've read thru most of it yesterday and today. We are going to give it a try tonight!

Good luck and just know that even if the first night is a bit rough, it's amazing how quickly the kiddos can adapt


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## 5in9years (Nov 18, 2005)

My now 3yo did the same thing at about the same age. I decided to night wean, and once she learned that there would be no more marathon nurse and doze sessions (for her-for me, it was a marathon of pain d/t being stuck in the same position with my eczematous nipples being constantly gnawed and slobbered on)she stopped waking at 3-4 am and slept until about 7 or 8, when she happily nursed and began her day.

I hate to tell you that night weaning involved some tears. Sure, I was holding her, but she was absolutely furious that she wasn't having nummies.


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## lizziebits (Sep 3, 2007)

We nightweaned for a stretch b/t 11-4 at 15 months, and it went really really well. He's 17 months now, and sleeps from like 8-1, then nurses and sleeps til about 4. I'm actually thinking about pushing the 4 nursing back a little bit at a time.

I love getting a decent stretch of non latched on sleep!


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## AnewMommy (Mar 6, 2007)

I want to know how it went! I half-heartedly tried a few nights ago, and with my DH gone (he's going through OCS to get into the Marines) I gave up! Hoping it went better for you


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## orangekoolaid (May 21, 2006)

is your DS teething? I definitely notice more night wakings when DD is teething.

But the waking up every hour in the mid-morning hours-- I think Dr. Sears says it in his book (I could be wrong) that your milk is the fattiest at this time of day and babies like the taste of the milk more then so perhaps that is a reason why he wakes up so frequently then?

My DD is 17 months and I'm not ready to night wean yet. I do find it helpful to nurse her on both sides when she does wake up as she'll get a longer stretch.


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