I finally night weaned my son! Woo hoo!

[Gina]

Well, I finally did it....I night weaned my son! He's 21-months-old and loves nursing A LOT, so I thought it would be pure hell to wean him from nursing at night. SO NOT TRUE! I used a technique I found online and it worked like a charm, so I wanted to share it with all of you. I'm sure it worked as well as it did because my son was ready to stop night nursing. Here's the link: http://www.drjaygordon.com/development/ap/sleep.asp
He only cried for 20 minutes the first night when he woke up in the middle of the night then went back to sleep, and has only woken up once each night since then (he used to wake up 9-10 times per night). I just held him while he cried so he wasn't crying it out or anything. And he goes right back to sleep without nursing! He hasn't nursed officially for 2 nights now and is sleeping SO MUCH BETTER! Just wanted to share! Can you tell I'm excited??

[Gina]

Congratulations Shelly! That is so great that your son is night weaned! Sounds like having him sleep with your husband really did the trick.
I know how you feel about nursing an older child. I am struggling with the EXACT same issue--a part of me feels I should let my son nurse until he shows more signs of being ready to stop (right now he still likes to nurse 3-4 times a day, only for a few minutes each time except at bedtime, and I am a stay-at-home mom so it works out OK), but another part of me hates having to defend my choice to do extended breastfeeding and having others look at me like I am a freak when they find out I'm still breastfeeding. It is really sad that people in our culture look upon extended breastfeeding as so taboo. I find it odd considering that is what breasts are for!

[Melissa Ann Tipton]

I still am nursing my 2 year and 4 month old so i know how all you feel. She sometimes is doesnt nurse much a night but havent been able to get her off it all the way. She also nurses alot still during the day normally she isnt on that long but still does it. She does not normally ask for it if we are out somewhere but if we are home its nursing central. I hate having to defend my choice to extended breastfeeding but in this society that is just what happens. So i am in the same boat as most of you nice to find somewhere that i can talk about it with.

[Gina]

It is really nice to hear from another extended breastfeeding family, so thanks for responding Melissa. My son is still nightweaned fully (woo hoo!) and I am working on SLOWLY weaning him during the day. It's the same as your situation...if we're out he forgets about nursing, but when we're home he gets bored and wants to nurse. Right now I am only letting him nurse before naptime and bedtime, and during the day only if he is completely adamant about it. I offer him food or water/milk first and many times he is taking it instead of nursing. Hopefully I can wean him within the next few months--it's getting hard to nurse such a big boy!

[Melissa]

Well, we just moved a week ago from our house to an apartment. So now I am weneing John (18 months old today) from everything. He was wened during the day and when I started packing about a month ago he went nuts and started wanting to breastfeed all the time. I did give in because I want him to feel sacure for our move. Well, now that everyhting is done and we're in our routine, I have been weneing him. In the house I never shut him bedroom door. But in the apartment it seems to be the trick. He eats dinner, gets a bath, gets loves and cuddles from mom and dad and he gets put in his bed and I shut the door. The first time was three days ago for nap time and I was just waiting for him to beat on the door and scream for me to open it but he didn't. So I did it again for bed and again the next day and so on. It has been three days and two nights and he has done wounderfully. He goes into his bed at around 9p.m. and I have the monitors on. I go in and open the door at 9:30p.m. and he's asleep. So I leave the door open. He does still wake up most nights/mornings right around 2a.m. And I put him back in his bed and just stay in there with his door open til he falls asleep. It's been working so I will continue. Now I just wounder how long til my milk drys up. I've been waking up with wet pajamas.

[Gina]

That is so great, Melissa! Sounds like John was totally ready to wean since he's handling it so well. Has your milk dried up yet? And how have you been feeling? I've read that weaning can lead to some mild depression which scares me a little. Has your mood been affected?