R.K.
I nursed my son until 19 months and I was 2 months pregnant at that time. At the point, we had gotten over the hurdle of the nighttime nursing, but it was difficult. He was a co-sleeper, so I had to just sleep in our guest bed for a few nights while my husband stayed in bed with him. These were sleepless nights for all three of us. He didn't cry all night, just didn't sleep well and woke up frequently. But with your husband being gone, you don't have that option. Maybe you could try something similar over a long weekend or holiday when he is home?
When I did come back to the bed, I just said no to him when he woke up to nurse, which wasn't very often after the few nights away from him. I think he was around 12-14 months at this time. He would get frustrated and mad when I said no, but would usually snuggle up and go back to sleep pretty quickly. After a while, he just stopped waking up and didn't want to nurse if he did wake up. Then we were on a pretty good schedule of just nursing before nap and bedtime before he quit at 19 months.
It was really hard to say no to him during the night, but he did accept it and that led to better sleeping and less waking up. Maybe that would happen with your daughter too.
Good luck with whatever you try. I know the nighttime nursing can get very difficult.
