A Parenting & kids forum. ParentingBanter.com

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » ParentingBanter.com forum » misc.kids » Breastfeeding
Site Map Home Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

Help with night weaning



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old April 24th 06, 10:11 AM posted to misc.kids.breastfeeding
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Help with night weaning

Since birth, my 14 mo DD has been waking between 2 and 4 times a night to
nurse. Three weeks ago I decided it was time to stop nursing her during the
night in the hope that she would start sleeping through. (I am soooo tired.)

For the first few nights if she woke before 1am I offered her water then
held her for a few minutes then put her back in her crib. If she
woke later than 1am, I nursed her. Over the course of a week I gradually
pushed back the first nursing until 5am, then dropped it completely. She
didn't seem too bothered. She now nurses first thing in the morning,
mid-morning snack, before nap, after nap, then bedtime.

I haven't nursed her at night for over two weeks but she still wakes up at
the previous nursing times. I go to her room and she is standing in her crib
(smiling!). I pick her up, hold her for a few moments then she goes back
into her crib awake and she sleeps for a few more hours. Sometimes DH goes
to her room and finds exactly the same thing.

She made the transition to her own room, without any fuss, 3 months ago. At
bedtime, from newborn, she has always been put in her crib awake, and drifts
off to sleep by herself quite happily. So I know (in theory) she can get
herself back to sleep if she wakes at night.

I stopped nursing her at night in the hope of getting her to sleep through.
It hasn't worked. Has anyone got any advice please?

Thanks Rachel













--









  #2  
Old April 24th 06, 04:10 PM posted to misc.kids.breastfeeding
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Help with night weaning

I haven't nursed her at night for over two weeks but she still wakes up at
the previous nursing times. I go to her room and she is standing in her
crib
(smiling!). I pick her up, hold her for a few moments then she goes back
into her crib awake and she sleeps for a few more hours. Sometimes DH goes
to her room and finds exactly the same thing.


is she crying to let you know she is awake, or is it just awake noises?
sounds a little like my DS, who once he had stood up in his cot, he just
would not lie himself down, it didn't prove to be a long term problem as for
other reasons he decided he hated the cot, so we just went to a bed as it
didn't seem a battle worth fighting.

Sorry that is not much help, but it may shed some light on why she needs you
to go in.

Anne


  #3  
Old April 24th 06, 08:51 PM posted to misc.kids.breastfeeding
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Help with night weaning


"Anne Rogers" wrote in message
...
I haven't nursed her at night for over two weeks but she still wakes up

at
the previous nursing times. I go to her room and she is standing in her
crib
(smiling!). I pick her up, hold her for a few moments then she goes back
into her crib awake and she sleeps for a few more hours. Sometimes DH

goes
to her room and finds exactly the same thing.


is she crying to let you know she is awake, or is it just awake noises?
sounds a little like my DS, who once he had stood up in his cot, he just
would not lie himself down, it didn't prove to be a long term problem as

for
other reasons he decided he hated the cot, so we just went to a bed as it
didn't seem a battle worth fighting.


She is crying for me (someone) to go to her. Sometimes she lets out a little
moan as she turns over, and then it goes quiet. But this is different - if I
wait the crying steadily escalates until I go in. I am hesitant to delay for
too long in case she gets too awake and then won't go back to sleep easily.


Sorry that is not much help, but it may shed some light on why she needs

you
to go in.

Anne


Thanks for your reply, Anne. I am at a total loss as to what to do. I
believed for all these months that she was still waking because she was
hungry. Once she had stopped nursing at night I expected her to start
sleeping longer. My DS slept through after a similar night weaning programme
when he was 16mo.

Rachel




  #4  
Old April 24th 06, 11:13 PM posted to misc.kids.breastfeeding
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Help with night weaning

Rachel wrote:

[...]
I haven't nursed her at night for over two weeks but she still wakes up at
the previous nursing times. I go to her room and she is standing in her crib
(smiling!). I pick her up, hold her for a few moments then she goes back
into her crib awake and she sleeps for a few more hours.

[...]
I stopped nursing her at night in the hope of getting her to sleep through.
It hasn't worked. Has anyone got any advice please?


She's got into a habit of waking up at those times, and hasn't learned
to get herself back to sleep when she wakes up, because she's used to
you coming in and doing something for her. Possible options a

Try to break the sleep/wake pattern she's got into. To do this, you
wake her part way up before the time she normally wakes up, then settle
her again. This shifts her sleep cycle into a different phase and
resets her internal clock, so that she then gets out of the habit of
waking up at a particular time. What you do is set your alarm clock for
an hour or less (not less than fifteen minutes) before the time she
normally wakes up, go in there, disturb her just a bit - shift her
position about, rub her tummy, that sort of thing - get her stirring,
then settle her again. According to Tracy Hogg, if it isn't working
after three nights you might as well give up, but if it does seem to be
working you should keep going for six nights to get her body clock
properly reset. This is known as the 'scheduled awakening' or 'wake to
sleep' method, and has a reasonable chance of success, but is unpopular
for obvious reasons.

Try to break the pattern of her needing your help to get back to sleep.
This can be done in stages, if you like. First, instead of picking
her up, just take her hands off the cot sides and lower her down to the
cot. If she starts crying again when you leave the room, just go back
in and repeat the same thing as often as necessary. In fact, it's
actually useful to keep count of how many times you have to lie her
down, so that you can see whether things are improving over subsequent
nights. If she's still waking up after a few nights, just go in and
give her a pat and a 'good night, time to sleep' and go out - again,
keep going in to repeat as often as necessary. The idea is that
gradually she needs less and less input from you to get back to sleep.

There are all sorts of variations on this - for example, you can skip
straight to the pat-and-goodnight stage (if you're confident that she
knows how to lie down for herself), or you can leave her crying for a
few minutes between each time you go in so that she gets used to
spending time by herself, or you can gradually extend the amount of time
between going in to settle her each time (the Ferber method). Doing it
by gradual stages is easier on everyone concerned at the time (including
the neighbours) but does take longer, so it depends on how exhausted and
desperate you're feeling.


All the best,

Sarah
--
http://www.goodenoughmummy.typepad.com

But how do we _know_ that no-one ever said on their deathbed that they
wished they’d spent more time at the office?
  #5  
Old April 24th 06, 11:29 PM posted to misc.kids.breastfeeding
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Help with night weaning


"Rachel" wrote in message news:NC03g.58569

I stopped nursing her at night in the hope of getting her to sleep
through.
It hasn't worked. Has anyone got any advice please?


I hate to say it but after mine were weaned at night they continued to wake
up and ask to nurse until they were completely weaned during the day as
well. They just asked to nurse and I said no...they went back to sleep. We
co-slept though so it wasn't like I had to get up and go to them. I hope
you get some good tips!

Oh, #1 was pretty much night weaned at 18mos and 100% weaned at 20 months.
#2 was night weaned at 20mos and 100% weaned at 26 months so he spent 6
months waking up, even though we co-slept.


--
Nikki, mama to
Hunter 4/99
Luke 4/01
Brock 4/06
Ben 4/06


  #6  
Old April 25th 06, 12:04 AM posted to misc.kids.breastfeeding
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Help with night weaning

I hate to say it but after mine were weaned at night they continued to
wake up and ask to nurse until they were completely weaned during the day
as well. They just asked to nurse and I said no...they went back to
sleep. We co-slept though so it wasn't like I had to get up and go to
them. I hope you get some good tips!


we didn't even get that, almost Ada's entire life her big brother has got up
more times in the night than she has. He is easy and speedy to settle, but
he still gets up, but it's not predictible.

Anne


  #7  
Old April 25th 06, 09:53 AM posted to misc.kids.breastfeeding
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Help with night weaning


"Sarah Vaughan" wrote in message
...
Rachel wrote:

[...]
I stopped nursing her at night in the hope of getting her to sleep

through.
It hasn't worked. Has anyone got any advice please?


She's got into a habit of waking up at those times, and hasn't learned
to get herself back to sleep when she wakes up, because she's used to
you coming in and doing something for her.


I agree that it must be a habit. We have eliminated (I think) every other
possibility like hunger, thirst, being cold, teething or illness (given pain
relief).

Possible options a

Try to break the sleep/wake pattern she's got into. To do this, you
wake her part way up before the time she normally wakes up, then settle
her again. This shifts her sleep cycle into a different phase and
resets her internal clock, so that she then gets out of the habit of
waking up at a particular time. What you do is set your alarm clock for
an hour or less (not less than fifteen minutes) before the time she
normally wakes up, go in there, disturb her just a bit - shift her
position about, rub her tummy, that sort of thing - get her stirring,
then settle her again. According to Tracy Hogg, if it isn't working
after three nights you might as well give up, but if it does seem to be
working you should keep going for six nights to get her body clock
properly reset. This is known as the 'scheduled awakening' or 'wake to
sleep' method, and has a reasonable chance of success, but is unpopular
for obvious reasons.


I can understand why this isn't everyone's first choice. Setting my alarm
clock in the middle of the night when I so desparately crave sleep just
doesn't float my boat at all! I'll come back to this one if all else fails.


Try to break the pattern of her needing your help to get back to sleep.
This can be done in stages, if you like. First, instead of picking
her up, just take her hands off the cot sides and lower her down to the
cot. If she starts crying again when you leave the room, just go back
in and repeat the same thing as often as necessary. In fact, it's
actually useful to keep count of how many times you have to lie her
down, so that you can see whether things are improving over subsequent
nights. If she's still waking up after a few nights, just go in and
give her a pat and a 'good night, time to sleep' and go out - again,
keep going in to repeat as often as necessary. The idea is that
gradually she needs less and less input from you to get back to sleep.


I'll try this method first. Thank you for your tips.

There are all sorts of variations on this - for example, you can skip
straight to the pat-and-goodnight stage (if you're confident that she
knows how to lie down for herself), or you can leave her crying for a
few minutes between each time you go in so that she gets used to
spending time by herself, or you can gradually extend the amount of time
between going in to settle her each time (the Ferber method). Doing it
by gradual stages is easier on everyone concerned at the time (including
the neighbours) but does take longer, so it depends on how exhausted and
desperate you're feeling.


All the best,

Sarah
--
http://www.goodenoughmummy.typepad.com

But how do we _know_ that no-one ever said on their deathbed that they
wished they'd spent more time at the office?




  #8  
Old April 25th 06, 09:57 AM posted to misc.kids.breastfeeding
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Help with night weaning


"Nikki" wrote in message
...

"Rachel" wrote in message news:NC03g.58569

I stopped nursing her at night in the hope of getting her to sleep
through.
It hasn't worked. Has anyone got any advice please?


I hate to say it but after mine were weaned at night they continued to

wake
up and ask to nurse until they were completely weaned during the day as
well. They just asked to nurse and I said no...they went back to sleep.

We
co-slept though so it wasn't like I had to get up and go to them. I hope
you get some good tips!


Thanks Nikki, I want (no, need) to get sleep. My DS continued to nurse in
the day until he was 2.5, eventually going down to just one feed before
bedtime. I hope that DD will nurse that long too, but not if she keeps
stopping me from sleeping. I didn't realise how much of a 'drive' the need
to sleep is.


Oh, #1 was pretty much night weaned at 18mos and 100% weaned at 20

months.
#2 was night weaned at 20mos and 100% weaned at 26 months so he spent 6
months waking up, even though we co-slept.


--
Nikki, mama to
Hunter 4/99
Luke 4/01
Brock 4/06
Ben 4/06




 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
misc.kids FAQ on Breastfeeding Past the First Year [email protected] Info and FAQ's 0 October 19th 05 05:36 AM
misc.kids FAQ on Breastfeeding Past the First Year [email protected] Info and FAQ's 0 March 30th 05 06:33 AM
weaning & night feeds [email protected] Breastfeeding 7 March 29th 04 03:02 AM
misc.kids FAQ on Breastfeeding Past the First Year [email protected] Info and FAQ's 0 March 18th 04 10:11 AM
Help! Night Awakenings after Sleeping Through Wendy J. Breastfeeding 13 October 2nd 03 03:46 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 11:05 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 ParentingBanter.com.
The comments are property of their posters.