my dd is 6 1/2 mo and is bf. she will wake anywhere from 2-6 times a night to nurse. and the past few nights she has woken almost every single hour. now dont get me wrong, i love nursing my baby. but i am EXHAUSTED! lol i wanted to try to night wean her. it doesnt have to be a completely nursing free night, but i would like to get her down to 2 feedings only if possible. she is on solids. she eats cereal and fruits and veggies. we have not started her on meats yet because i am not sure she is ready for that. any ideas on how to go about this? which feeding should i try to cut out first? this is something that i not only want to do, but need to do. i am on fmla with her so this seems like a good time. please help. with that said, i am not really interested in solutions that tell me i am crazy for wanting to do this and that i should continue to let her eat 6 + times a night.
she has always been an efficient eater. she can empty my breast in 5-7 minutes. i leave her latched for 10 minutes or so. sometimes she pulls off. she is on solids. i will try the cereal tomorrow as she is already in bed (which has already been a struggle). i know she is teething. i am giving her hylands teething tablets and tylenol. i have given orajel as well but that seems to wear off quickly. i am just sooo tired. lol
are you co sleeping? If she's in bed with you, you don't have to get up and deal with all that nonsense. It's so much easier and you get lots of rest.
Great you love nursing.
Why add meats??? gross
It sounds like she is in a growth spurt. If she is so hungry at night one of two things are going on either she is growing or she is simply not getting enough before bed. She should be sleeping through the night or at least 5 hours by now. How long does she nurse at one feeding? Is she 'snacking' and only nursing a few minutes and then falling asleep or is she eating for at least 20 minutes? If she is snacking then keep her awake to finish nursing, rub her feet or back to keep her awake to eat.
Is she getting solids right before bed? It might be that she needs some cereal about a half hour before bed.
I asked a similar question a few weeks ago as my six month old son was doing the same thing. It turns out he was teething. It lasted for five nights for the first tooth, got better for a few nights, and then happened for five more nights for his second tooth. It was very hard to get up so often, sometimes every 45 mins, but thankfully he is sleeping much better again.
The cereal before bed is a good idea.
You don't mention in your post if you are married/with a significant other. If you are, can you send someone else in occasionally? It's unlikely that she's really hungry every 90 minutes. If it's been less than 2 hours, maybe you can send someone else in to cuddle and comfort - without food - so you can get a longer stretch of sleep.
Is she too big to be swaddled? Maybe she's waking herself up? She may be teething and going through a growth spurt at the same time, so she's looking for comfort more than food. There's something called a dream feed, where you feed them before you go to bed without waking them up - kinda topping them off. That might help. And hubby going in to comfort may work as well - he doesn't smell like milk.
Dr Sears has some excellent advice on night weaning here:
night feeding tips:
http://www.askdrsears.com/?q=topics/feeding-infants-toddl...
night weaning:
http://www.askdrsears.com/?q=topics/sleep-problems/night-...
Good luck!! MY baby is the same age, so I know how you feel :) I usually wake her to nurse when I go to bed, and she wakes around 3am for one feeding than we are good till about 8am. I guess I am pretty lucky!
