# At what age does a child naturally night wean?



## dotcommama (Dec 30, 2001)

Has anyone had a child who gave up night nursing on his/her own without strong encouragement from mom?

Is there a point at which night nursing becomes a habit and not a necessity?

Why is the general recommendation to not night wean before a child is one year old? Do they _need_ to eat at night up until that point? Would it reduce the mom's milk supply if they night weaned before the age of 1.

I'm asking out of curiosity and *not* because I'm thinking of night weaning my 9 month old - just want to clarify that.

I night weaned my older two boys around 18 mos, so I have no experience with child led night weaning.


----------



## mama2m&m (Nov 19, 2001)

I purposely night weaned at 2-1/2. I just couldn't wait any longer LOL! I remember the 6-12 months when my doctor kept saying we should cio because at that age she doesn't need to nurse, it was all habit. but it was my personal opinion as her mom that she seemed hungry and I followed her cues rather than the doctor's shabby advice.

Now she was somewhat easy to night nurse and we didn't have crying tantrums for long periods of time, so all things considered, i'd say it went very well. at that point she could understand when i said the memes were sleeping or mommy was really tired. At 6-12 months she didn't understand those things and i was really protective of my milk supply since i woh. i knew the night nursing s would help protect the milk and since she reverse cycled i knew that she was getting milk she didnt get during the day.

i would have prefered to night-wean sooner but all said and done, i think it was gentle as possible and second best to self-weaning.

i guess all kids are different. it'll be interesting to read teh different reponses.


----------



## doctorjen (May 29, 2003)

I think this is a variable thing. My older 3 all pretty much night weaned by age 1. My oldest ds slept through the night starting at about 7 weeks - in bed with me, even. My middle 2 self night weaned by 1 year. By self night weaned, I mean that I made no effort to get them to stop, they just stopped waking. I never refused to nurse them at night, because I'm basically just too lazy to try anything else when nursing was what they wanted. Older dd quit wanting to nurse at night, although she didn't quit waking up. She would just refuse to latch on at night. Dh switched to getting up with her, and he continued to for some time. Both ds's, though, simply stopped waking up at all. My current nursling will be 10 mos on Wed. and still wakes twice or more at night to nurse. I feel quite full at night, and she really seems hungry, so I think these night feedings are important to her nutrition (especially since I'm gone from her during the day.) I suspect she won't be night weaned by age 1!


----------



## kate-astrophe (Jan 26, 2004)

My dd is 18 months and showing signs of self-weaning at night. Until about three months ago, she was a constant night nurser. Now she will sometimes go for five or six hours without nursing. I think, given the course her night nursing has taken, that she would probably self night wean competely around age 2-2 1/4. I have considered nightweaning many times but i've yet to actually take action, so I'm curious about some of the responses will be, especially from parents of other frequent night nursers.

-Kate


----------



## MamaAllNatural (Mar 10, 2004)

I think as long as they are still waking up at night, they're generally still going to want to nurse for comfort and to help themselves go back to sleep. My 3 yo still nurses once a night (sometimes twice). It has lessened over time. I can let you know when she night weans but who knows how long that'll be? :LOL


----------



## mattjule (Nov 6, 2003)

Well, we sort of artificially night-weaned. Ds was about 21 mo and I am pregnant and my milk was gone (not to mention really sensitive/painful breasts!) so he stopped nursing at night. I think for him there wasn't much benefit when there was no milk. I didn't have to force him to stop and we didn't have crying fits, it just...happened. So it was child-led, but pregnancy induced. Which was okay with me, he isn't a very courteous nurser and he liked to clamp down on me at night so I didn't miss it.


----------



## perditafoster (Sep 30, 2003)

I wish dd would night-wean. Like the pp, she is not a very nice night-nurser and tends to have a sloppy latch. OUCH! She's almost 13 months old and still night nurses every two-three hours. Last night, I put her in the stroller at 3 AM to help her get back to sleep because my breasts were killing me from her vigorous nursing. I know that her molars probably have a lot to do with it, but I wish she would just sleep through the night. Oh, wait, she's a baby! She won't sleep through the night until she's much older!!!:LOL :LOL :LOL :LOL :LOL :LOL :LOL :LOL


----------

