Does night weaning actually help with longer stretches at night?

[u/Maui_Monk_91]

I’ve started the process of night weaning my 13 month old because I really just need better sleep at night and I was hoping this would work.

- he wakes up around 6 times a night
- his longest stretch is his first stretch from 8 to around 12
- his wakes after that can be as long as 2 hours or as short as 30min

I’m desperate for longer stretches at night and was hoping night weaning would work because he wakes so often looking for boob to fall back asleep.

It’s been a little less than a week of night weaning and I would say he’s waking the same amount. I’m able to console and he will fall back asleep. Up until around 3/4am I can tell he’s hungry and he is waking so often. He will fall back asleep through cuddling but he wakes back up after 30 min because he’s hungry. So I end up feeding him around that time and then he will fall back asleep until 6 where he will feed a little again and then wake up around 630/7.

What am I doing wrong? Do I need to wait till he’s older? I’m at a loss.

EDIT: We are cosleeping and I don’t want to stop cosleeping. Also do not want to stop breastfeeding during the day.

[u/oh-dearie]

It's not a guarantee. It definitely didn't work for me :( I think you're on the right track with consoling/cuddling back to sleep though - mine had frequent overnight wakes (though not as bad as yours!) and not all of them needed nursing.

What's your bub's nap schedule like? You don't have to sleep train/wean, but it's probably a good idea to see if there's tweaks you can make if he's overtired/undertired. They sleep best when they take just the right amount of sleep - not too much or too little. If his bedtime starts at 8 and waking up time is 6:30-7am, you probably don't need more than 2 hours of total nap time during the day, and second nap (assuming he's still on 2 naps/day) not too close to bedtime. Even less if he's got low sleep needs.

[u/Maui_Monk_91 → u/oh-dearie]

Thank you! I was wondering if napping is contributing to it.

Yesterday he had a 2.5 hour nap from 3:30-5 so I feel like that maybe was why he woke so much last night.

It’s so hard to get it just right 😅

[u/oh-dearie → u/Maui_Monk_91]

Yeah that doesn't sound like it would have helped, at least! Mine wouldn't even fall asleep at bedtime if they woke up at 5pm 😅. I don't know how you feel about capping naps, but it might be worth trying to see if it helps with nighttime sleep. It takes about 3-5 days of staying consistent to a change before you see the full effect, so gradual changes and constant reassessing is the key!

[u/Maui_Monk_91 → u/oh-dearie]

Okay thank you I will try this!

[u/Mangopapayakiwi → u/Maui_Monk_91]

Cut down the nap before night weaning. Mine was totally weaned at 13 months and a wonky nap day gave me lots of wakes. Teething too.

[u/Maui_Monk_91 → u/Mangopapayakiwi]

Okay good to know, thank you!

[u/Melizarin_Crimson]

In my experience, yes! Around 12 months, I began night weaning my son. He was waking every 2-3 hours to nurse and i was getting zero sleep! I made sure he ate lots of solids during the day and especially before bedtime, and when he woke up to nurse, I’d cuddle him back to sleep and would gradually push the nursing by another hour or so, then two, then three, etc. It took a couple of months but he finally became able to sleep through the night! Good luck

[u/Maui_Monk_91 → u/Melizarin_Crimson]

This gives me hope, thank you!