bfing night feedings

[dec756]

i NEED to stop night feedings i am like a walking zombie to a 10 month old....any suggestions? has anyone tried subbing for h20? tia

[SnuggleBuggles]

Sorry, I night nursed longer than that. But, you could try having your partner be in charge of soothing. My dh would go in and try rubbing his back, walking with him...whatever seemed to calm him down that wasn't eating. If baby was still unhappy or unhappy again in a short amount of time (which led us to think he probably was hungry or needed to nurse) then I would nurse. But, dh was the 1st line if we felt like ds shouldn't really need to nurse. Growth spurts happen at random times and I know ds2 went through a big one at 9-10m- he was so hungry that nursing + a snack was needed 2 nights! Also, I think that it's totally legit to be hungry at night. I know some nights I get hungry even if i had a good dinner and such. So, don't rule out feeding because you just never know if it is necessary. But, if you can, enlist help so baby can learn to be soothed by someone else.

Beth

[wendibird22]

Well, no BTDT experience because I night nursed DD1 until 19mos and still do for DD2 who is 10mos. With both girls I would bring them to bed, nurse, and then return them to their crib. It wasn't ideal, but nursing lying down was a lot more restful than sitting up in a chair. I've tried sending in DH but DD2 just looks towards the door and screams. Her crying keeps me awake so I find it's just easier to spend 5-10min nursing her back to sleep than listening to her scream for 20+mins. But I have friends who have had success just sending in their SO/DH.

I found this helpful from Dr. Jay Gordon. It's written from the perspective of weaning a cosleeping child after 12mos of age, but the advice is still helpful.

http://drjaygordon.com/attachment/sleeppattern.html