https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Mon, 25 May 2026 16:36:24 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/questions-for-those-who-night-weaned-their-toddler#post-2070029 Sat, 14 Feb 2015 17:08:31 +0000 Zbug 2070029@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Pirouette: exactly. I'm thinking this is why DH can settle her if she has an early wakeup, but has no luck past 1am or so. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/questions-for-those-who-night-weaned-their-toddler#post-2069617 Sat, 14 Feb 2015 07:36:09 +0000 Pirouette 2069617@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Rainbow Sprinkles: can you just ship your dh over here for a few nights? Because at the moment mine is too sleep deprived to take this on ;)</p> <p>@Zbug: yep, same here. She is hungry when she wakes up and simply cannot settle back to sleep without eating. She'll try but she just can't. She tosses around the crib forever, but I can't blame her, I cant sleep on an empty stomach either! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/questions-for-those-who-night-weaned-their-toddler#post-2068951 Fri, 13 Feb 2015 15:38:36 +0000 Zbug 2068951@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Rainbow Sprinkles: I've tried but she's never interested. We eat dinner around 6:30, start bedtime routine around 7/7:15, nurse her 7:30/7:45, she's usually asleep around 8...</p> <p>@daniellemybelle: true. She understands when told no milk now - that's when she gets really upset. I'm not sure she understands that she will get milk in the morning. The crazy thing is that she stopped nursing to sleep around six months. She falls asleep on her own (well I stay next to her), but it's never changed her desire for milk during the night. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/questions-for-those-who-night-weaned-their-toddler#post-2067879 Fri, 13 Feb 2015 01:35:25 +0000 Rainbow Sprinkles 2067879@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@daniellemybelle: hey, he owed me after I did every single nightwaking for over a year. :-P </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/questions-for-those-who-night-weaned-their-toddler#post-2067876 Fri, 13 Feb 2015 01:33:42 +0000 daniellemybelle 2067876@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Rainbow Sprinkles: You have a great husband to do that! My husband will help at night but that's pretty heavy duty.</p> <p>I've also found that if LO eats dinner earlier than 6:30 she is guaranteed to wake up, so I'm in the camp of trying a bedtime snack, too.</p> <p>I'm far from an expert, again, but I think if she can sign to ask for you, she can understand if you tell her no milk until the sun comes up. I think there is a book about this with that title, actually. I think we sell our kids a little short sometimes on what they understand! </p> <p>Does your DH explain it to her at all at night? "Not right now - mama &amp; milk are sleeping." S has been doing so well when I explain stuff to her directly. (I still suck at this but just trying to help with what I know!) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/questions-for-those-who-night-weaned-their-toddler#post-2067872 Fri, 13 Feb 2015 01:28:52 +0000 Rainbow Sprinkles 2067872@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Zbug: what about giving her a snack of solids right before bed (even before her bedtime nursing session)? Sometimes my DD eats as late as 8 or 830! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/questions-for-those-who-night-weaned-their-toddler#post-2067868 Fri, 13 Feb 2015 01:27:22 +0000 Zbug 2067868@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@erinpye: that's exactly what I hoped would happen :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/questions-for-those-who-night-weaned-their-toddler#post-2067867 Fri, 13 Feb 2015 01:26:48 +0000 Zbug 2067867@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Rainbow Sprinkles: amazing. This is basically what we have tried to do, but we haven't had your success! If she wakes early in the night (before midnight), she's ok with DH settling her. After that, however, she freaks out. Last week, she cried for an hour at 1am while he tried everything to calm her. Maybe she's actuallu hungry? She really doesn't eat that much solid food. </p> <p>@brownie: this interesting. My dd hasn't gained any weight in months. The pediatrician suggested cutting nursing sessions in hopes that she would eat more. I'm torn, however. Obviously, it would be great to not have to feed her during the night, but I'm worried that she won't increas her food intake and end up with fewer calories. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/questions-for-those-who-night-weaned-their-toddler#post-2067864 Fri, 13 Feb 2015 01:18:04 +0000 erinpye 2067864@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We kind of just waited it out with my first until she decided to drop night feedings around a year old. With my second, she's just hit 12 months and has started waking 0-1 times per night, so DH just goes and rocks her if she does wake. It wasn't really conscious night weaning, but I suppose it was. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/questions-for-those-who-night-weaned-their-toddler#post-2067851 Fri, 13 Feb 2015 01:01:10 +0000 brownie 2067851@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Zbug: for us it was a great age. He was failure to thrive and so we got him onto a night feedings schedule for more calories. So we didn't even talk about weaning until he was back on a curve. Then we weaned slowly off the night feedings one at a time. </p> <p>He slept through the night as soon as he weaned. So that worked to our advantage as well. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/questions-for-those-who-night-weaned-their-toddler#post-2067845 Fri, 13 Feb 2015 00:53:08 +0000 Rainbow Sprinkles 2067845@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We are wio (wait it out) and choose not to cry it out with our kids. I actually just successfully night weaned my 14 month old!</p> <p>We were at the point where everytime my dh went in to try and settle her, she would just scream and scream for me. That wasn't heaLthy for anyone, because I was the only one getting up all night long, so we perservered. </p> <p>Basically what we did was send dh in on her first wake up. If she screamed for me, he would put her down in her bed and walk away, to let her know he was "serious." I wouldn't come in and save her. After a moment or two, he would go back in, and usually, she would settle right away. (Hey, dad is better than no one, right?)</p> <p>Once she got used to him for her first wake up, that got her "ready" for him replacing me during the times of the night she would usually nurse (2 am and 5 am).</p> <p>It was kind of a crummy couple of days for dh since he had to do most of the waking with her, but it didn't take long before she was 100% okay with not waking to nurse (and just getting a cuddle from dad). If she was ever really upset, he would do the same thing. Put her down, let her fuss, and then go back in and pick her up.</p> <p>I night weaned about 10 days ago, and she was sttn the last 4 nights ....0 wakeups!!!!! One of the nights, she slept 9 to 9 straight!!!! Success. :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/questions-for-those-who-night-weaned-their-toddler#post-2067826 Fri, 13 Feb 2015 00:28:02 +0000 Zbug 2067826@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@brownie: did you feel like that was a good age? I'm thinking we might wait a little longer. </p> <p>@PurplePeony: yep. Mine signs milk, points to the door and says mama over and over :( </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/questions-for-those-who-night-weaned-their-toddler#post-2067349 Thu, 12 Feb 2015 19:38:11 +0000 PurplePeony 2067349@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Ooh, following. I'm not pushing it yet, but DD is 14 months old so we're nearing that point. Unfortunately, if she wakes in the night and doesn't go back to sleep right away, then she can't/won't settle or let DH soothe her -- she just screams bloody murder and cries "mek, mek, mek" (milk) over and over until I go in to nurse her. I think we will need to wait until she's better able to understand what's going on, but I want to have a plan in place...mama is tired. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/questions-for-those-who-night-weaned-their-toddler#post-2067301 Thu, 12 Feb 2015 19:04:11 +0000 brownie 2067301@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We night weaned about 4 months before 2 years old. We gave him a sippy cup with 90% water and 10% juice. So that was a treat for him. Daddy handled all of the night wakings which was really nice. He did cry but it didn't take much. He slept with us so that was another difficulty for us. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/questions-for-those-who-night-weaned-their-toddler#post-2067281 Thu, 12 Feb 2015 18:49:03 +0000 Zbug 2067281@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thanks, all!! Very helpful. I really appreciate all the input. </p> <p>@littlebittyhouse: my concern is also that she's not ready yet. She should be used to dh handling the early wakeups, but she atill has nights that's she will cry for over an hour if she doesn't get milk. Ugh. In the one hand, maybe it would be less confusing if she knows no milk at all at night. On the other, she's small and not super into solids. She's busy in the day, and only nurses 3-4 times. I'm worries about taking away the only solid and consistent nutrition source for her. </p> <p>@Pirouette: yep. Sounds very familiar. I realize that there will unfortunately be crying. I just personally feel it's different crying while a parent tries to comfort than being left alone in a room to cry alone. From what I've heard, 18 mo is when they are usually cognitively able to understand what's happening. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/questions-for-those-who-night-weaned-their-toddler#post-2066043 Thu, 12 Feb 2015 10:43:25 +0000 Pirouette 2066043@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>we are in the exact same position at 14 months, and have been doing the before 2/after 2 method as well. Lately, though, she's been pushing it to 1/1:30 and i've been caving, and it's been leading to early waking for the day, so I'm also looking to start the night weaning. I'm kinda terrified! I am also not interested in CIO, but i think there's no question there will be crying/protesting involved. She eats a lot at that time so it's not just a little habit. As soon as she sees DH, she points to the door and says mama - she's not going to be fooled! so i don't know exactly what our strategy will be. we'll definitely wait a little longer and give her a little more time to settle on her own, and then DH will go in and try to soothe, but other than that, i anticipate a few very rough nights!</p> <p>Do you know why 18 months is supposed to be preferable? i had actually heard there was an 18 month sleep regression and it was a really hard time to make any changes. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/questions-for-those-who-night-weaned-their-toddler#post-2065955 Thu, 12 Feb 2015 09:57:49 +0000 littlebittyhouse 2065955@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Night weaned at 2yo bc I was so over it. Went cold turkey. We had 1 or 2 nights that were rough but then he started to STTN. We had tried a few times before without success but I think this time he was ready. I think it helped that he understood. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/questions-for-those-who-night-weaned-their-toddler#post-2065926 Thu, 12 Feb 2015 09:49:22 +0000 Rockies11 2065926@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>we night weaned at 13 months because I was pregnant and too tired to get up anymore. We sent my husband in and I started sleeping in a shirt if she was in bed. It was super easy, worked in a couple of days, and she immediately started STTN. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/questions-for-those-who-night-weaned-their-toddler#post-2065923 Thu, 12 Feb 2015 09:48:16 +0000 MrsScallop 2065923@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I gave in and night weaned at 14 months. It took two nights of holding her with a binky in her mouth until she fell asleep, but after that her sleep became amazing! I almost wish I had done it earlier. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/questions-for-those-who-night-weaned-their-toddler#post-2065892 Thu, 12 Feb 2015 09:40:20 +0000 avivoca 2065892@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We night-weaned at 12 months. She immediately started STTN. It was amazing. To do it, I sent my husband in to give her back the pacifier. Now, if she wakes up, she talks to herself or gets her paci/doll and goes back to sleep unless she's pooped (which is rare). It was really easy for us, but I think it was easy because she was ready. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/questions-for-those-who-night-weaned-their-toddler#post-2065752 Thu, 12 Feb 2015 08:42:13 +0000 daniellemybelle 2065752@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We are all over the map with how we handle sleep! I'll tell you that when LO was sick last week, I brought her in bed with us but wouldn't nurse because I didn't want to get back in that habit. She's a boob monster and we do a lot of nursing in bed but I was surprised that she understood when I rubbed her back and said, "No milk right now - night night." She settled down when I said that. I think at this age they are getting pretty smart and you can probably explain it to her! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/questions-for-those-who-night-weaned-their-toddler#post-2065727 Thu, 12 Feb 2015 08:34:35 +0000 JessKas 2065727@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We night weaned a little after 12 months. We bed share, so I couldn't send DH in, but we would rub her back and offer comfort but no nursing. Not going to lie, it was a hellish two weeks. LO would be up for up to 2 hours sometimes. But after that she went from 3-6+ wake ups a night to 1-2, and started STTN at 15-16 months. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/questions-for-those-who-night-weaned-their-toddler#post-2065550 Thu, 12 Feb 2015 01:29:31 +0000 birdofafeather 2065550@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>we sleep trained with the intention of night weaning to STTN at 12.5 months. we did CIO with checks for 3 nights (or rather, DH did the checks) and then she STTN from there. she still has nights where she got up before we weaned, but it was rare (rather than nightly) and I didn't nurse. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/questions-for-those-who-night-weaned-their-toddler#post-2065538 Thu, 12 Feb 2015 00:59:17 +0000 Zbug 2065538@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DD is 16 mo. Currently, dh handles early night wakeups, and I go in and nurse her if it's after 2. We are considering night weaning, but we aren't sure when we want to start. we have some concerns though. I've heard that night weaning doesn't always lessen night wakeups. Also, I've read that 18 mo is a good time to night wean, so I'm wondering if we should wait a little longer. We aren't interested in CIO- my husband would try to settle her. </p> <p>If you night weaned a toddler, did it help wakeups? What age did you do it?</p> <p>Thanks! </p>