how should I start weaning?

[MarinesFamily5]

my son is almost 6 months and I would like to start giving him bottles 50% of the time but he refuses to take any kind of bottle!... He wakes up like 3-4 times a night and my doc said stress may have decreased my supply but nothing has helped increase it so I am stuck feeding him several times a night because he wakes up hungry...
I need a full nights sleep before I go totally crazy! also I think he is getting to used to the closeness and not learning to self soothe which was my saving grace with my daughter. HELP?
How can i get him to take a bottle or feed less at night?

[tiredmommyof8]

Hugs to you. I don't know what to tell you but I will tell you that you are not alone. My 11 mo old eats solids 2-3 times a day. She will not take a bottle and never has (although we have tried a couple of time). She has decided she is too busy playing and eating in the daytime to nurse very often. BUT she nurses all night long. I haven't had a full night sleep in years.

[rosalynsmom]

I have breastfeed all mine and I too developed supply problems at that age. My second ending uo weaning herself at 8 months because I was very sick and my supply dropped to next to nothing. I was so sad afterwards . It really is a special relationship and such a loss when it ends.

Have you tried a cup and solids. Both my oldest daughters started on a cup at about 4 months of age. And six months may be old enough for lots of different foods (depends on the baby of course).

[jenkathryn]

Just wanted to give you support. My 10.5 month old still wakes up at night. It might be a comfort thing too. I really don't think she is that hungry b/c she'll nurse for about 30sec. She has never done the bottle but the tupperware sippy cups work well if I watch that she doesn't turn it over. Good luck.

[adensmom]

Originally Posted by tiredmommyof8 Hugs to you. I don't know what to tell you but I will tell you that you are not alone. My 11 mo old eats solids 2-3 times a day. She will not take a bottle and never has (although we have tried a couple of time). She has decided she is too busy playing and eating in the daytime to nurse very often. BUT she nurses all night long. I haven't had a full night sleep in years.

ME TOO!! None of my 3 have every slept through the night before 1 year of age, and the first one still doesn't sleep through consistently and he's 5!!! My youngest (7 mos) is on solids 3 times a day and still nurses a couple time at night. I really hoped the solids would help but they haven't. He too is very busy during the day, sometimes going 4+ hours between nursings. He makes up for it at night, though. He shares a room with his older brother (the one who still doesn't sleep well!) so I can't really let him "fuss it out" or I'd have two awake. You could try feedings by cup, but with my ds, he is still very messy with a cup. Good luck! They eventually sleep through the night....at least that's what I'm told (LOL)!

[mum2James&Julia]

You CAN have her sleep through the night and still breastfeed. Babies don't live perilously one feeding to the next. If you force her to go without the breast at night (gradually cutting down one feeding), she WILL learn to eat more during the day. I promise.

The only slightly challenging (uh, "slightly" is an understatement) is that the last thing most people want to do when they're dead tired in the MOTN is rock a crying hungry baby back to sleep. It's so much easier to bring the baby into your bed and nurse you both back to sleep.

It's your choice though. If it were me, I'd have to choose a painful few weeks of night weaning but continuing to breastfeed full time. Even if you add a bottle during the day, one could never predict the outcome. It could end up that you're still nursing her at night anyway, but your breastmilk just dries up during the day.

The other thing I've found, at least with my kids, was that they're so active during the day they had a hard time settling to nurse. Therefore, at night, when everything is quiet, they nursed much better and my supply would gradually adjust to increase in the MOTN because they were doing their longer, more intense nursing sessions then (and much shorter, more frequent sessions during the day). You can reverse that. It just takes stubborn persistence. If you can get backup from your SO that would definitely help you out.

Some people don't mind CIO, and that works as well. Personally, I think letting a baby cry for a few nights, but extending nursing (and your sanity), would be worth it. But then again, many people wouldn't agree with me. We ended up letting my ds CIO at 12 months. Once he started getting a full night's sleep he was a completely different child... much more pleasant to be around. I felt like I was a much better mother too, because I actually had the energy to DO things with him. I think the lack of sleep was getting me depressed too, which is never a good thing.

I'm lucky my dd has been a bit of an easier night timer than he was. Or maybe it's because mommy's a little more stubborn and not giving the boob at the first peep this time

Just my two cents

[kattayanna_mom]

Originally Posted by mum2James&Bean You CAN have her sleep through the night and still breastfeed. Babies don't live perilously one feeding to the next. If you force her to go without the breast at night (gradually cutting down one feeding), she WILL learn to eat more during the day. I promise. The only slightly challenging (uh, "slightly" is an understatement) is that the last thing most people want to do when they're dead tired in the MOTN is rock a crying hungry baby back to sleep. It's so much easier to bring the baby into your bed and nurse you both back to sleep. It's your choice though. If it were me, I'd have to choose a painful few weeks of night weaning but continuing to breastfeed full time. Even if you add a bottle during the day, one could never predict the outcome. It could end up that you're still nursing her at night anyway, but your breastmilk just dries up during the day. The other thing I've found, at least with my kids, was that they're so active during the day they had a hard time settling to nurse. Therefore, at night, when everything is quiet, they nursed much better and my supply would gradually adjust to increase in the MOTN because they were doing their longer, more intense nursing sessions then (and much shorter, more frequent sessions during the day). You can reverse that. It just takes stubborn persistence. If you can get backup from your SO that would definitely help you out. Some people don't mind CIO, and that works as well. Personally, I think letting a baby cry for a few nights, but extending nursing (and your sanity), would be worth it. But then again, many people wouldn't agree with me. We ended up letting my ds CIO at 12 months. Once he started getting a full night's sleep he was a completely different child... much more pleasant to be around. I felt like I was a much better mother too, because I actually had the energy to DO things with him. I think the lack of sleep was getting me depressed too, which is never a good thing. I'm lucky my dd has been a bit of an easier night timer than he was. Or maybe it's because mommy's a little more stubborn and not giving the boob at the first peep this time Just my two cents

I agree I started night weaning my 2 yr old in early Oct. it took about a week and she was down from 3-5 night nursing session to 1 around 5am then all of a sudden Halloween night she started waking every hr not just to nurse but to be held and walked for hours after more than a week of that we went back to night nursing and she's only waking about twice a night now usually not until 3-4 am then again around 6am.