Weaning a 14 month old from the breast?

Question

Breastfeeding is a big source of comfort for her. She still wakes up a couple times a night to nurse (she sleeps with me)So, how do I go about breaking this habit of nighttime nursing...and eventually weaning altogether? She will take a bottle of formula during the day, but absolutly refuses at night. If you have strong opinions against breastfeeding, or cosleeping, PLEASE do not reply.

Answer 1

I think it's wonderful that you're still breastfeeding and co-sleeping with your daughter - that's exactly where we were when my daughter was 14 months. Of course, I was horribly irritated with the whole nighttime feeding thing then too. :)

I searched and searched online back then, looking for a method that would work for us - I wasn't ready to move her out of my bed, and refused to put her in her own room and let her cry it out (I never did have the heart for it.) And thank goodness, I found Dr. Jay Gordon's site, followed his advice on "changing the sleep pattern in the family bed", and it worked wonders for us! I'm so glad I saved the link, and here it is...even the first night wasn't as horrible as I was afraid it was going to be. It does take a little time but hey, you've made it fourteen months - what's another week or two to do this thing gently?

In our case, I started this method when my daughter was fifteen months - in a couple of weeks, she was no longer nursing in the middle of the night (just at bedtime), and at eighteen months she moved into a bed in her own room. No tears, no trauma (for either of us!) I hope it works as well for you. Good luck!

Answer 2

Congrats on breastfeeding for 14 months! It can be a difficult time for both mother and baby when making the break from breastfeeding, especially at night times, as you say it's a source of great comfort to your daughter. Is there a reason you wish to wean your daughter at night? Breastmilk is still extremely beneficial to her and some children are quite active during the day and so take more milk at night to make up for it. Its okay to do this if you are comfortable with it.

Do you have a partner or someone who could assist you resettle your baby at night? That can be one idea. Sometimes baby will settle better for someone else, where as with Mum they know she has the goods, so to speak. Another idea may be to shorten the night feeds and ensure your daughter comes off the breast awake and goes back to sleep off the breast, to help reduce and finally eliminate her need/desire for the breast to fall asleep. A strong nighttime routine which includes putting baby to bed awake can also help. If you co sleep that can be okay, but you may want to ease into it. Its a lot of think about at once so good luck with it. Whatever you decide know that you are doing a great job.

Answer 3

I hear ya. I also breastfed my three sons. My twins were harder to wean because there were two of them. The thing that worked for me was having a blanket that they held onto while they nursed. When we started the weaning process, we started w/ naps, I'd rock them in the same nursing position they were used to, but with a pacifier instead of the breast and the blanket. I know some people aren't cazy about pacifiers and some kids aren't either. It was trying at times, but I got through it, and went on to nurse my third child. As tough as it was we got through it with a lot of patience, they are 5 and 3 now.

Answer 4

i weaned my son at 15 months he was old enough to understand what was going on a bit sounds like you've already got her taking sumthing else thats the first step i weaned my son bc i got pregnant and decided i was not breast feeding 2 at once and did not want my son to be jealous of the baby taking his food
we co-sleep and he also nursed a couple times a nite one nite i wore a hard to acess shirt to bed and told him no he cried and it was really sad and after about 15 min of crying i was about to give in and then i decided that i would just have to go through it all again so i'd wait a little longer and he stopped crying after like 5 more min so it was like a max of 20 maybe 25 min of crying then he just snuggled beside me and went to sleep after that i always readily had juice avaliable and he didn't really care that much i think he relized hes big you just have to try and not leave her much for the first couple weeks i work only 2 days a week so those 2 days he wanted to nurse when i got home and would for about 5 min and he would fall asleep right away and that would be the only time i let him nurse i had to let him 3 times in total before it was over for good but he seemed to understand i think now is a good time i didn't really plan on weaning him that nite but i did want him to stop at nite but i found it easier to stop altogether i don't know how it'll be for you but try and substute uddle time for breast feeding i think thats the part they don't want to give up
P.S. they don't need to drink during the night at 14 months and it just a bad habit try to skip the bottle at nite if youo can i think she'll be happpy to cuddle with u instead

Answer 5

Is he on entire milk but? Maybe you might present a bottle or sippy of entire milk rather whilst he wakes up for his four am name? My daughter self-weaned, and we took one feeding away at a time with my son. It might be simpler if his nursing consultation used to be in the course of the day so that you might present a meal or snack rather.

Answer 6

I have strong opinions about co sleeping. Your child needs to learn to be an independant person and sharing your bed does not achieve that. Your job as a parent is raise a self sufficiant, productive member of society and you are only raising a codependant, needed person. Second, about the breast feeding. I think it's great if you can deal with it. I think it is best to be stopped between 6 and 12 months. I also don't think weaning means anything other than the parent doesn't want to put up with just saying no more and making the child get used to something new. If your daughter takes a bottle during the day she is perfectly able to take one at night. She also should be past the point of waking for a bottle at night. Especially if she is doing this several times a night like you say. You need to feed her solid foods at meal times and give her milk in a sippie cup and maybe a bottle at night then when she wakes up at night no milk. Give her a cup of water if she wants a drink. She should sleep all night and you deserve all the problems your about to have with bedtime and nighttime if you don't make her go without. She needs her own room and her own bed and a cup of water on her bedside table in case she is thirsty. She is still small so of course you can go in and comfort her and tuck her in should she wake up but what do you expect to have happen when you let her sleep in your bed and breast feed past 12 months? I'm also guessing that your a single parent or you just never plan on having sex again? By the way, if you are set on her having breast milk then why not use a pump and put it in bottles?

Answer 7

my friend has a 2 year old who was very much attached to breast feeding. he got sick recently and was too weak to nurse, and afterwards when he'd ask for it, she'd refuse. eventually he stopped asking and is able to fall asleep and stay sleep through the night and naps. if you don't want to force your child to stop, just wait til she's ready.

Answer 8

FIRST OFF... GOOD FOR YOU, SO MANY MOTHERS NOW DAYS ARE EITHER TO BUSSY OR ANY NUMBER OF OTHER EXCUSES.. TO BREAST FEED. YOU HAVE DONE A WONDERFULL THING FOR BOTH YOU AND YOUR CHILD. I BREAST FED MY DAUGHTER UNTILL SHE WAS 2. I HAD WANTED TO START WEANING A LOT EARLIER THEN THAT BUT SHE WAS VERY ATTACHED. THE DAY SHE QUIT WAS THE DAY WE WERE AT DENNYS EATING BREAKFAST. SHE HAD A WAFFLE AND JUICE IN FRONT OF HER, BUT SHE TURNED TO ME AND SAID (VERY LOUDLY) "MOMMA NEED CHI CHI" i TOLD HER NO AND SHE PRECEADED TO RIP MY SHIRT DOWN THE FRONT ABOUT TO MY BELLY BUTTON. THAT WAS WHEN I DECIDED IT WAS TIME TO STOP. SHE WENT COLD TURKEY, IT WAS ROUGH FOR ABOUT THE FIRST 3 OR 4 NIGHTS BUT SHE GOT OVER IT. SHE EVEN BEGAN TO SLEEP IN HER OWN BED AND DEVELOPE BETTER PEOPLE SKILLS BECAUSE SHE WASNT CONSTANTLY ATTACHED TO ME. I WOULD SUGEST TALKING WITH YOUR CHILD AND SLOWLY DECREASING THE TIMES SHE IS ABLE TO NURSE. GOOD LUCK.