Night weaning

It's not recommended to actively night wean before the age of 1 as milk is still their main source of nutrition

I have no words but I'm exactly the same as you. I'm dreading going back to work as some nights it's more than twice. I'm 99% it isn't hunger as she's on 3 meals and constantly boobing through the day 🙈 x

Yep same here most nights it’s 3-4 times I’m exhausted 😴 also back to work in a couple of weeks. when I saw the health visitor last week she said when he wakes in between feeds at night for comfort to offer water not boob then hopefully he will realise that he’s not going to get boob and not bother waking up x

I find that the more my boy gets during the day the longer he goes at night so during the afternoon I make a real effort to offer boob he won't show signs of hunger but rarely turns it down. Also when he's in his own room he does better than in my bed where he uses me as a dummy xx

Yes I haven’t fed my little girl in the night since she was about 6 and a half months! My other half just started going in to her in the night so that it wasn’t an option (I’m sorry if you’re a single mum and don’t have this option 😘). We also did controlled crying with her for one night and she basically slept through ever since! It was a game changer for us! X

I need get some courage and do what you did @Naomi. But why do they have to plant doubt and say don’t night wean for 12 months. Do they want mothers to go crazy with sleep deprivation. No wonder people quit breastfeeding. Gah! Makes me so angry.

@Katie 🦎 I hear what the HV says but how do we know which wake up is for hunger or comfort. I genuinely thing my LG wakes for comfort every time. She would naturally take more calories in the day if milk was taken away at night.

I read somewhere that most babies beyond 6 months shouldn’t need milk in the night, as long as they’re eating/feeding well in the day, so that’s what triggered me to stop. I don’t know if that’s right or not but it’s worked for us. She was definitely just feeding for comfort! X

@Naomi how long did she cry for? My LG is a Madame and cries if she doesn’t get what she wants. I worry because I have a 3yr old in the next room to her and I don’t want to disturb her 🙈😵‍💫

Most times my LB will just suckle and fall straight back to sleep within seconds of being on the boob. So I suppose that’s how I know he just wants comfort xx

I won’t lie it was really hard 😅 on and off for like 90 mins. We did the whole 2 mins, go in and settle, 3 mins, 4 mins etc. She did actually fall asleep a couple of times but then then stirred and started again. It broke my heart but by going in every few mins she knew we weren’t completely abandoning her. And then the next night she slept through, and has basically slept through every night since. We even said at the time if we had another child we might not have been able to do it though! Lots of my friends say their toddlers sleep really deeply and sleep through the cries but I’m sure lots might not!

@Naomi with my 3 year old I had to leave her to cry cos every time we went in it made her crying worse. But like you the first night was th hardest. She was older though, I think she was 18 months. As sleep habits are always changing at this age I just worry I will put her through something that with time will change. Trouble is I don’t have time as I’m tired and I’m back at work.