How am I gonna wean this child from night feedings??????

I am exhausted... from 11:30p-7am she wakes up to breastfeed 2-4 (mostly 3)times! I havent slept for longer than 3 hours at a time in I don't know how long! Do you think this will stop once I wean her completely? Or maybe she is just not a sleeper????????? Someone help!
Oh,... and I should add that she still sleeps in our bed(which is a problem in itself)... I think that absolutely doesnt help!

Message edited 3/5/2008 9:14:35 AM.

Re: How am I gonna wean this child from night feedings??????

Is she a light sleeper? I know my DD would definitely wake up if she were in our bed to BF. They say they can smell your milk from 20' away! Something tells me that if you were to get her in her crib, you may have some luck. I've never been through it but it's just a thought. Good luck!

Re: How am I gonna wean this child from night feedings??????

OOOH - that is hard. I would say the first step is putting her into her crib. She will probably still continue to wake up - but being that you're not "right there" maybe it will get better.

Re: How am I gonna wean this child from night feedings??????

I personally would put her in her own room and do CIO, but I am mean like that! She is 10 months old, she doesn't need to eat every 3 hours...

Re: How am I gonna wean this child from night feedings??????

honestly, at 10 months, like another pp said, she does not need to eat 3 times during the night

she may be comfort feeding...

Have you tried to put her in her crib?

Re: How am I gonna wean this child from night feedings??????

That is tough...i know. you might have to go thru some really bad nights to get to a better place. my DD is almost 9mths and still BF's. she goes down at 7pm and gets up to nurse around 6am-then back down. i weaned her from the overnight feeding at around 6months and she's done well. it wasn't easy-i had to kind of "ignore" the middle of the night wake-ups. i would not go in until it was after 5am. after a day or 2 she got the idea that there were no feedings til after 5am. BUT this was possible b/c she was in her own crib which she loves and she didn't go crazy crying so i was able to do CIO then.
anyway, have you tried just getting her into her own crib? that might have to be tackled first. i understand though if you wish to co-sleep as many people do. i think it is time though for you to start getting some sleep! if you can get her into her own space over time then i think that cutting out those feedings will be easier...oh how old is she? does she eat well during the day? could she really be that hungry overnight? it might just be comfort. does she fall asleep at the breast too? those things may factor in too.

Re: How am I gonna wean this child from night feedings??????

We're co-sleeping too and my DS BFs with about the same frequency as your DD. I'm not ready to night wean yet. I'll probably do after he turns a year. (At this point I actually feel very well rested with the co-sleeping. Eventhough I'm up about 3 times a night, I am back to sleep within minutes. That's why I'm not worrying about the night weaning just yet.)

Dragonfly75 posted this on another thread and I bookmarked it for possible future use. I also believe that Janice used this with success. Maybe it will work for you.

Changing The Sleep Pattern In The Family Bed

GL

Re: How am I gonna wean this child from night feedings??????

Posted by thiadora

We're co-sleeping too and my DS BFs with about the same frequency as your DD. I'm not ready to night wean yet. I'll probably do after he turns a year. (At this point I actually feel very well rested with the co-sleeping. Eventhough I'm up about 3 times a night, I am back to sleep within minutes. That's why I'm not worrying about the night weaning just yet.)

Dragonfly75 posted this on another thread and I bookmarked it for possible future use. I also believe that Janice used this with success. Maybe it will work for you.

Changing The Sleep Pattern In The Family Bed

GL

Re: How am I gonna wean this child from night feedings??????

Thanks so much for all the advice... I know we need to get her in her crib, the problem is both DH and I are such softies when it comes to her...I can't imagine doing CIO... but it may have to come to that...

Re: How am I gonna wean this child from night feedings??????

Re: How am I gonna wean this child from night feedings??????

Re: How am I gonna wean this child from night feedings??????

Posted by Cookiegobbler

Posted by thiadora

We're co-sleeping too and my DS BFs with about the same frequency as your DD. I'm not ready to night wean yet. I'll probably do after he turns a year. (At this point I actually feel very well rested with the co-sleeping. Eventhough I'm up about 3 times a night, I am back to sleep within minutes. That's why I'm not worrying about the night weaning just yet.)

Dragonfly75 posted this on another thread and I bookmarked it for possible future use. I also believe that Janice used this with success. Maybe it will work for you.

Changing The Sleep Pattern In The Family Bed

GL

Ohhh... I will definitley check this out!

Re: How am I gonna wean this child from night feedings??????

OMG...she is still waking up at night to to eat It is more of a habit at this point I think. DS hasnt woken up for a night time bottles since he was 5 months old with a few exceptions. Is she eating table food yet? She may not be eating enough during the day and is therefore waking up hungry at night.

ETA: I just read the rest of the posts and realized she is still sleeping in your bed. I would get her out ASAP and into her own crib. She is definetely doing it out of habit. She should not be waking up to eat during the night. OMG....I would lose my mind if DS was still doing that.

Message edited 3/5/2008 12:00:45 PM.

Re: How am I gonna wean this child from night feedings??????

I would transition her to her own room and then slowly eliminate the feedings with the pacifier. I know that DD will go down right away if DH goes in because she can't nurse from him. So let's say she gets up at 11pm, 2am and 5am. At 2am I would have him go in and give her a pacifier.
I am not against CIO so that is what we are doing and she has been sleeping longer.

Re: How am I gonna wean this child from night feedings??????

i honestly think it's much harder for you to wean if she's in bed with you. u probably don't want to do what i did...i took away a nursing session (2nd to last of the day) and added a sippy cup of formula. he now goes from 10pm to about 5am. MUCH better than before where he'd wake every hour (even if i didn't feed him.)

GL!

Re: How am I gonna wean this child from night feedings??????

I am losing my mind! LOLOLOL...
I am gonna try a bottle of formula tonight when she wakes up at 12am... let's see if that helps!!

Re: How am I gonna wean this child from night feedings??????

She is eating solids at 10 months, right? I am surprised she is still nursing so much overnight. It sounds like habit and comfort more than necessity.

I agree that she can smell your milk. I have a feeling that once she gets in her crib, she might sleep better. Who knows...maybe she is only waking up because she knows you are there.

Wait for the weekend. Try the crib and see what happens.