Weaning 13 Month Old Who Nurses to Sleep

Let her sleep with something of yours, that you have worn a lot and that has your smell on it.

Does she have a lovey? If not, try to see if she will gravitate toward one. My son for example since 6 months old, loved to sleep with his stuffed cow.

The previous poster, MechanicMama also gave some commonly used alternatives.

Perhaps also, instead of nursing her before sleep.... feed her from a bottle before sleep. Instead. Either your pumped milk or whole milk etc.

Most kids/babies... nurse/drink milk before bed. It is soothing. And there is something in milk, which naturally calms a child.

Where does she sleep? In a crib? Co-sleeping?

Any transition, may take time. So, keep that in mind.

all the best,
Susan

have you tried a pacifier? giving her pacifier instead of mom?

Hi E.,

My daughter was a bit older when she stopped nursing before bed (she stopped falling asleep nursing -- we would nurse and she would be calm but awake), so I don't know if this will be helpful to you, but I thought it was worth a shot. I started singing to her while nursing, and having the same routine of songs each night. Then I started to cut down on the number of songs, so she was nursing for less time on each side.

My husband was able to put my daughter to bed without nursing when I wasn't there (this might be tricky w/ a 13-mo-old, though). And then we tried having him put her to bed with me at home. She was resistant at first, but after the first couple nights it went well. He put her to bed himself every night for about 2 weeks, and after that I was able to put her to bed just singing songs (no nursing).

You could also check out the "No-Cry Sleep Solution" by Elizabeth Pantley. She has some suggestions in there for gradually getting your baby to stop nursing to sleep.

Best,
R.

My little boy nursed himself to sleep until he was 15 months and I weaned him. Our nightly routine was: dinner, bath, read stories, and then nurse to sleep. He does use a pacifier.

The bedtime nursing was the last one I cut out. Instead of the nursing, I offered him a snack or a drink (he's not a big milk drinker) and then I rocked him to sleep. He didn't seem to miss nursing at all.

He is 22 months now and I don't rock him to sleep anymore. He wants to be independent, lol. He has been in a toddler bed since 18 months old, so each night we read stories, I turn out the lights and I lay next to him until he falls asleep (well, we lay on the floor--his bed is a little too small for me). I move him to bed when he falls asleep.

Congrats on the second baby!

Babywise by Gary Ezzo - has been my lifesaver for 3 babies in a row now. Teaches you how to train your kids to self soothe and not be nursed to sleep . Good luck!

Hope this helps!!!

http://www.theskinnyscoop.com/search/weaning?utm_campaign...

We began rocking our son to sleep. He eventually grew out of that as well, and now we have a very different bed time routine.

It might help a lot of Daddy or someone else we to try for a few nights. Many babies will really resist if they are used to nursing and can smell Mommy.

My son went to sleep the same way and when I weaned him off of one feeding at a time that bedtime one was the last to go--it was his favorite. What I did was give him water in a sippy cup--which he was already using during the day. Also I held him so he would still be cuddled. At first he cried and pushed the sippy away. But then as he got sleepy he finally just accepted it because he needed to suck on something. He fought me every night for a while--he even tried to get his hands into my shirt he wanted to nurse so bad--but I kept at it and he soon accepted the sippy. Pretty soon all I had to do was hand him the sippy and lay him down in his bed--half the time he didn't even drink the water, he just liked holding it.

Has she ever taken to a paci or a bottle or a sippy?

If you don't want to deal with the paci or bottle, you can try a sippy.

Will she drink milk or water or toddler formula?

Or is this just a soothing mommy/baby (yes... she's still a baby) : ) bonding thing?

I know a few women that still nursed while pg and continued to "share" with both after the new one was born. But you say that you're exhausted. COMPLETELY understand. You're pg AND nursing. Nothing is more exhausting. : )

Can you have your husband handle putting her to bed for awhile by himself? Like others suggested maybe give her a sippy cup of water and also something of yours so she can smell you and but you just won't be available for her to breastfeed.