i have a 9 month old. i am looking to start night weaning her. she wakes up 2-3 times a night to nurse. i know that she is not actually hungry EVERY time she wakes and that at least one of those wakings are to nurse for comfort. i have done ferber for her bedtime and that has worked great. should i do this for her night wakings also? i read the book the no cry sleep solution and as much as i think that book is great, i would like to accomplish this in a shorter time frame than the 2+ months the book discusses. any ideas? i am ok with crying, but i will not leave her to herself to cry all night long. i have not done this with ferber, so i am not willing to do this in the middle of the night.
my daughter self weaned from her paci by 2 mo. i wish she still took one. lol
Do you have a paci? With both of my kids before picking them up to give them a snack, I gave them the paci..
With my son, I had to have my husband get up and go in there for him. Give him either a bottle or just hold him for a while.. he was not getting what he wanted so he stopped getting up in the night.
Good luck.
I'm a big fan of the pacifier hehe. So I breastfed my daughter till about 16 months. I had her night weaned by 9 months. I made an effort to put her down with a full belly whenever it was bed time. I'm also a believer of the no-cry solution. I would advise against aiming for a "easy time frame" for making this transition. Kids are funky and they choose how long something takes. Some kids can take months to be ferberized and others will adjust quickly. You just gotta keep trying something until you find something that works.
The other thing is that kids regress - so they will unlearn some things from time to time. My daughter sleeps 11 - 13 hours at night - and I've had to sleep train her ( no-cry) twice. Despite all the books saying that kids who are ferberized are likely to regress and no-cry kids less to.
Anyway - I digress ...
Make sure she's full at night when she goes to bed. If she wakes up at night, in the dark - go in, check her diaper, you can even lay her back down and pat her back. Wear something heavy so your boobs aren't there for temptation. At 9 months there's "some" intentional behavior - you can train her that there's no food at night. She might be nursing for comfort more so than hunger...
I would also recommend having dad go in instead if possible. We did this for awhile with our second but to be honest, after 2 months of going in every night I decided not to go in one week when my husband was out of town. I just let her cry and within 3 nights she had stopped. Even the first night she cried less than 10 minutes when before we would sometimes have to sit with her for 15 or 20 minutes or go in multiple times. She was about 7 months when I stopped going in but she hadn't nursed at night for the entire 2 months prior, just wanted comfort.
May I suggest co sleeping? It's beautiful and gives your child so much security. It's completely safe unless you're a drinker or a druggie..... It doesn't sound like you are. I think it's great you're continuing to nurse. This is such a special time in your life and it goes away so quickly.
If you co sleep, you will sleep really well, won't have to get out of bed and take her up and risk her waking as you put her back into her bed. She will naturally snuggle up to you, feel your warmth, comforted and sleep well. You say she's waking to comfort, it's a win win situation.
Co sleeping children grow up to be very independent, secure and loving people. Not saying non co sleepers don't but some worry that is they co sleep children won't become independent.... Not true.
Good luck!
She's going to cry, send your husband in until she's past it. Ferber might work but seeing you will make her want to nurse. And give her a lovey to snuggle with.
I liked this website for night weaning. He very clearly says that he doesn't recommend night weaning until babies are 12 months. But you are pretty close, and if your baby is otherwise healthy, etc, I think you could do it.
