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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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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?)

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).

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.

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.

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.

@Rainbow Sprinkles: You have a great husband to do that! My husband will help at night but that's pretty heavy duty.

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.

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!

Does your DH explain it to her at all at night? "Not right now - mama & 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!)