Babies Who Nurse to Sleep Are Hard to Wean

“I’ve been exclusively nursing for 20 months! I’m definitely ready or close to ready to be done. I am okay with the weaning process being months if that’s better than cold turkey. My daughter nurses constantly.. she’s not in daycare and I only work for about 2 hours a day in the evening so any other time she’s constantly asking. I wouldn’t mind as much if it was only a few times a day. My problem is, it’s the way I put her to bed - I do put her to bed awake but nurse her prior to putting her down”

“Baby is almost 5 months old and has never been a great sleeper. Talking 30-45 minute naps and 1-3 hr stretches at night, but lately he will only go to sleep nursing and if I leave the room it’s hit or miss for him staying asleep. The longest stretch of sleep is usually first and then he tends to get worse from there. Many early mornings he ends up in our bed and we side lay nurse. My husband and I are going on a trip in 2 weeks and I have no idea what my in laws are in store for when it comes to”

“I’ve been nursing my son for 14m. I love it but it’s taking a toll on me. I don’t want to fully cut him off but I want to start the process of at least night weaning. He can’t go longer than 3 hrs without a least a sip. I know it’s mainly a comfort thing. I used to be a stay at home mom for the first year so I wasn’t worried about him coming up to nurse and I wanted to, and still want to nurse him until he’s at least 18m. I didn’t mind waking up every 3 hrs or having him sleep with us, but now I”

“I have an almost 13 month old who is still waking multiple times a night to nurse and I’m doneeeee (lol). I don’t really even know where to begin with night weaning because with my first I had to travel for a week and that kind of happened naturally. any tips? I know it’s not for hunger since it’s just like flutter sickles till she falls asleep which was fine for a year but I’m now beyond sleep deprived. submitted by /u/Afraid_Cash1091 [link] [comments]”

“Any tips on weaning when your toddler still feeds to sleep? I’ve had a hell of a time trying to get my 18 month old to sleep in her own without a boob for both nap and bedtime. Only recently have I been able to stop contact napping, but that’s after she’d fall asleep from breastfeeding and I’m able to put her down already asleep. She just will not settle down and sleep without a boob initially. At bedtime once I have a breastfeeding session with her and get her to sleep she still wakes up severa”

“My LO is just over 8 months old and constantly uses my boob as a dummy to soothe and fall asleep. We co-sleep and contact nap (the only other way he falls asleep is in the pram) and he always needs to latch in order to fall asleep. Once fully asleep he sometimes unlatches and rolls into his own space. However, he's recently been teething and needs my boob even more, if I try and unlatch when he's fallen asleep he panics and starts to wake up! I have tried dummies (he is happy to play wit”

“My son is 20 months old. I only ever planned to nurse until 12 months or so.... but then life happens. My son is obsessed with nursing, and will go back to sleep in my bed in the morning for another hour if I nurse him. We tried to cut down to only 1-2 feeds/day, but he also wanted a 3rd feed when he gets home from daycare. It really is his ultimate form of comfort... and it's SO hard to think about giving up an extra hour of sleep every morning. My husband and I are thinking of trying for o”

“Hi all! My 14 month old son is currently only nursing before nap at home, at bedtime and then multiple times a night. I don’t mind 1 or 2 wake ups but it’s frequent wake ups and then losing his mind when I unlatch him when he falls back asleep. We do currently cosleep, however, he does have his own bed he can move into, it was just easier because I was breastfeeding but now I am done. My plan right now is to buy Sudafed and dry it up and hopefully he’ll self wean but I don’t know if that’s a stu”

“i still nurse my 18 month old to sleep. he takes one nap a day so i only nurse him before the nap and before bed. he has completely self weaned otherwise so i only have these 2 feeds. just found out i am pregnant again! how can i teach my son to go to sleep on his own without me 😩 submitted by /u/Large-Preparation754 [link] [comments]”

“I’m currently still breastfeeding my 11 month old and was originally going to wean her off when she turned 1. Now the time is almost here, I’ve decided to wean her off daytime feeds (she’ll be at nursery full time soon) but happy to continue feeding morning/night/overnight for as long as she wants to. My only concern is that I have an overnight stay without her planner mid December. Have any breastfeeding mums done any nights away before? What did you do and any tips? I’m going to a gig so tempt”

“Hi! My 3 month old typically needs to nurse to sleep for naps and bedtime. I am about to go back to work 😬 she will take a bottle of pumped milk very reluctantly but won’t calm down and fall asleep usually without the boob. Help! submitted by /u/LoveGoldens545 [link] [comments]”

“​I am at my wit's end here. My 14-month-old wants to nurse all the time, especially while sleeping, and is not interested in solids at all. He won't take more than 2-3 bites and relies heavily on nursing. My doctor said no treatment is going to work for a longer time if your toddler is attached to your boob all the time and asked me to wean him. ​This is my 3rd kid and I first got this infection when my 1st born turned 2; I immediately weaned her. Got it again when 2nd born turned 1, but”

“Is there any evidence that breastfeeding is better for babies than dummies, I.e breastfeeding to sleep and back to sleep in the night vs giving them a dummy ? submitted by /u/sleepyjean2024 [link] [comments]”

“My 6 month old baby’s sleep is getting pretty good. But about half the time she wakes up in the middle of the night. She always needs to eat in order to go back to sleep. I always nurse her and it always does the trick. But I’m afraid I am training her to need milk to be able to go back to sleep. Any thoughts? submitted by /u/sunny-beachy [link] [comments]”

“They are very rare moments when the 3mo baby nurses awake. Most of the time when drowsy or while sleeping he's fussy and searches the boob and there I am. He only nurses side lying, so I'm stuck with him while he sleeps so I don't waste a feeding window. Since he's awake windows are longer it seems also he's growth is slowing down. I'm not sure when this will end. Not all the time when he's awake window stops he is hungry so it's a battle to put him to sleep becau”

“I was planning on weaning off completely after baby’s first birthday but so far at 13 months I managed to drop three day time feeds, leaving us with a morning feed, before bedtime and anytime she wakes up in the middle of the night (which is freakin twice every night 😭). So far we got sick twice in August which reminded me that cold and flu season is coming. I think it’d be so convenient to nurse when she’s ill. Also I’m not looking forward to her staying up at night because I can’t knock her o”

“So we’ve basically stopped daytime feeds as he’s at nursery 4 days and we do the daytime nap out and about. I’m currently doing all of the things…night feeds, feed to sleep, feed on demand. He STILL wakes up multiple times a night. Kind of screaming or shouting and I feed him. We co-sleep but I have been putting him to bed in his sisters room. He often has a morning feed with me. But… I have been away for 5 days, 4 nights and he’s had bottles with his dad. I’m ready to wean him from breastfeedin”

“My LO is 10.5 months old and exclusively breastfed. He does one night feed around 4am, but I’m ready to cut this out. I think he is too as his MOTN feed has started to get shorter and I know he doesn’t NEED it. How did you night wean your LO? Any tips and suggestions welcome! He is sleep trained and doesn’t feed to sleep so no association there. submitted by /u/chlilgray [link] [comments]”

“My son is 16 months old and still nurses to sleep and overnight usually wakes up once or twice to nurse back to sleep. I’m currently eight weeks pregnant and I really want to wean him by 18 months because breast-feeding while pregnant is really just draining the life out of me and I don’t think I can keep doing it. Last night he woke up around 3 AM and screamed and cried wanting to nurse, but I held out trying just to rock him hold him, etc. for comfort. He screamed and whaled for over 30 minute”

“Not sure if this is the right sub, but I think my son may be self-weaning. Recently, his feeds have dropped massively. He no longer wants milk when he wakes up, but he’ll have at around 09:30 - 10am (before his first nap), then 3pm (second nap), then 5pm, then 7:30pm (bedtime), and then once at night. He eats three meals a day plus gets lots of water. Is this normal? Is my breastfeeding journey coming to an end? I had hoped to breastfeed for two years but I’m not sure that’s going to happen now.”

“I’ve been feeding my 8week old to sleep via side lying in bed and then transferring to bassinet, which has been working well until a few days ago. Usually once he is asleep I will re-swaddle him and move to bassinet, but now every time I do so he immediately wakes up and is hard to get back down. Any and all advice is welcome!! submitted by /u/Main-Leg-8040 [link] [comments]”

“My baby turned 12m and for the past few weeks he has been comfort nursing all night. I sleep in his floor bed and he will wake every 2 hrs from the time he goes to bed at 7:30p. But at 3a he wakes every 30 min to 1 hr to comfort nurse. I have tried pulling him off and he screams. He doesn’t look to nurse for nutrition but will drink if a letdown happens. I am now ready to night wean and I’m thinking to approach it with either dragging out the first feed by 20 min until it’s dropped then work on”

“My baby (11.5 months) still has a strong nurse to sleep association and nurses to sleep every nap and for bed. He also is waking a lot at night and has to be soothed by the boob. He’s currently teething and he also still sleeps in our room so it’s almost impossible for my husband to soothe him at night because he knows I’m right there. I know I could go longer but I’m ready to stop at 12 months. I weaned my first at 12 months and he did great. He also used a pacifier and was great with a straw c”

“Hi how do I get my 29mo to stop nursing to sleep and waking up and nursing at night? Not really trying to wean but maybe I have to at this point to stop it. She will cry her little heart and scream and wake everyone up in the house if she doesn’t get it. I’m worried about cavities. She’s been waking up so much lately. I’m exhausted in the morning. We do bed share. Any tips? submitted by /u/Visible_Associate344 [link] [comments]”

“Hello! Can you give me your story of weaning at 12 months and how you did it? LO is 10m now and i don't plan on starting til after 1st bday but I would like to forward plan. Iv started patting LOs bum whilst nursing and unlatching before fully asleep in hopes this is good prep work. Would love to hear your experiences. Currently LO is on 3 good solid meals a day and feeds whenever but its usually - wake up, fed to sleep for both naps, before bed, plus fed back to sleep overnight on average w”

“Hello everyone, I’d really appreciate your insights, as I’m not sure what would be best for my son. He is 27 months old, and I still nurse him to sleep for both his nap and bedtime. I also nurse him if he wakes during the night or very early in the morning. I’ve been wanting to wean him for a while now. However, he recently had chickenpox, which seemed to throw him off quite a bit, so I decided to postpone weaning until he was feeling more settled. I had planned to start today. But today, we wer”

“How do you plan to do anything or go anywhere if baby is constantly on the boob? I feel like since 5:30am, baby has been on the boob every other hour. He feeds until he falls asleep and unlatches himself and then cries showing hunger cues so I relatch him & it’s a constant cycle 🙃 I’m too nervous to go out because I feel like I’ll be stuck breastfeeding for hours? submitted by /u/paliprincesss [link] [comments]”

“My 14mo is entirely weaned except for when she first wakes up in the morning. She was combo fed, so weaning off of middle-of-the-day nursing was fairly easy, overnight feeds dropped when she started sleeping through the night, and her bedtime feed was surprisingly easy as well (she just seemed ready to drop it). But when she first wakes up, she immediately starts fussing to breastfeed and wiggling into position. I’ve tried offering a sippy cup of milk, but she refuses it til after she’s sleepily”

“I’ve been down to 1 feed a day for about 2 months. Occasionally I’d feed her during the night if she woke up, and otherwise it was always just first thing in the morning. She’s 13 months now and I have to stop breastfeeding due to a prescription I’m taking, so I stopped breastfeeding completely about 3 days ago. It seems like she wants to eat even more, and it’s awful to try to soothe her at night when she wakes - it’s literally all she wants and it’s breaking my heart. Is this common? Any tips?”

“I’d love hear people’s night weaning stories: What age was your kiddo? How did you start? How long did it take? Any advice looking back? Is it possible to night wean without the help of a partner? My husband offers to help but my son (1 year) just screams his head off and I can’t stand it (ppa/ppd) so really I want to do it on my own. Currently I feed him to sleep, then feed him every time he wakes up and when he wakes after mid night I bring him into bed with me where he feeds randomly througho”

“I’ve noticed over the last few weeks he’s just really really into nursing. I work 3 days a week and home with him the other days. He’s fine without nursing when I’m gone but oh boy as soon as I get home he’s pulling on my shirt, which I get, but then it seems like every 20 minutes or so he wants to get in my lap and nurse a bit. Sometimes I’ll just put him in the carrier and walk around with him while he stays latched. On the days I’m home it doesn’t feel as nonstop but he still wants it like ev”

“i can’t seem to wean the last night feed for 11 month old. i’ve tried doing less time bf but he just screams in crib until he eats more. now i am done bf and using formula and he’s eating 4-8 oz. i’ve tried to let him cry for a few minutes to see if he resettles but he just seems to get more upset. help!!!!!! submitted by /u/Dramatic_Bad_5812 [link] [comments]”

“My 25 month old has been weaned for about 3 months now. I never had a problem with him holding or touching the other boob while nursing and never thought anything of it. But now that he’s weaned and/or I’m pregnant with #2 I can’t stand it. He nursed only for nap and bedtime for a long time, then just bed time, and on his own those feeds got shorter and shorter. One night we stayed out past bed time for a family party and I was able to just rock him to sleep, and that was the end. No fussing, no”

“My 10-day-old baby cannot stay awake on the boob. She’ll nurse anywhere trim 3-9 minutes on one side but by the end she’s completely knocked out. I change her diaper between boobs to wake her up but it’s the same story on side two, usually for even shorter of a time. I went to a lactation specialist and my baby had dipped below 10% of her birth weight so we have to triple feed (both breasts and bottle with pumped breast milk). Since starting triple feeding almost a week ago, she’s gotten back al”

“I have a 7 month old who currently nurses to sleep. We are having trouble getting her to take naps (at daycare and at home) because she doesn't fall asleep independently. So now I'm considering sleep training but I'm having a hard time picturing what the bedtime routine looks like. Currently, we do bath time or read a book and then we nurse. She falls asleep while nursing and then I transfer her to her own crib. I worry that if I nurse first then bathe, she'll be totally thrown o”

“Hi all, I have a 4 year old boy and would like to stop nursing. He mostly only nurses at bedtime and nap time. Sometimes I can get him to have a cup of milk or water instead, but a lot of times he just wants to nurse. We only nurse at home but it's at a point where I don't think he's getting much out of it other than cuddles. We've talked about how he's getting to be a big boy and "mum-mums" (the term we coined for nursing) will be all gone soon, but those last few”

“Lately my 6 month old has been getting up 1-2 times at night to nurse. Nights have been like this: bedtime 7/7:30pm, wake up to nurse 1:30am, wake up to nurse again 6am, wake up for the day 7:30/8am. Sometimes she’ll only wake up once around 3am. At any time in the middle of the night she’ll nurse and go right back to sleep. We’ve been introducing purées 2-3x a day so I would think that she’s getting all the calories she needs between purées and nursing. She knows how to self soothe at this poin”

“I have a 12 month old who im trying to wean. We’re at 4 feeds per day and 1-2 overnight. Despite knowing how to use a straw cup, she refuses all other fluids. I try water, juice and milk daily to give her options. She’ll intake the fluid but the second it touches her mouth spit it out. Could this mean she’s not ready? I’m really hoping to be completely done within the next 2 months. submitted by /u/Aware-Rent8950 [link] [comments]”

“Hey everyone, We’re in dire need of some weaning while cosleeping advice. I have been cosleeping with our 19 month old and feeding to sleep since his birth. He sleeps at daycare once during the day and has slowly progressed to only needing a bottle of milk and almost no assistance to fall asleep there, but if I’m around hes very adamant about only wanting to nurse. My husband has been able to get him to fall sleep in a carrier for naps and rocking him for night time sleep on the very rare occasi”

“My daughter is 10 months old and i'm hoping to wean her off the boob by 12 months. Any tips on how or when to begin the weaning process? She breastfeeds in the morning 7 AM, before her first nap around 10 AM, 3 PM sometimes 5 PM and then before bed at 7:30 PM. Would love all the tips! submitted by /u/kxtasha1 [link] [comments]”

“As the title says, would love to keep night feed for now but want to cut the morning feed as baby is a mess when he wakes up and doesn’t get it straight away. He’s 15 months and I would also love to start the weaning process entirely but will start with the morning feed. Night feed is the only other feed and that’ll go soon after. Any tips? submitted by /u/funny_bunny_124 [link] [comments]”

“Hello all, Dad here who needs thoughts / perspectives / help. Our little one is 18 months. She is low sleep needs and has never slept well, so we haven't wanted to wean and make things worse. We found out recently she has low ferritin (which hurts sleep) and this is being addressed. And it's finally time we wean. I'm able to handle middle of night wake ups by bouncing her to sleep. But the moment my wife walks in, she demands the boob and will scream cry until she gets it. For going”

“I exclusively breastfeed and struggle with getting my baby to sleep without nursing. It’s hard when trying to drive for long periods of time cause he can’t figure out how to fall asleep in the car seat. Before, I could nurse him and he’d fall asleep, or walk him/carry around a store and he’d sleep. But Since hitting 12 weeks, he’s become a lot more curious and aware of his surroundings. Walking him around stores no longer work cause he just wants go look at everything on the shelf. While I’m hap”

“My 16 month old son nurses before bed and in the morning. Occasionally he will sign for milk on weekend days and after daycare and I will nurse him. He has been waking up around 5 for several months, idk if he has ever regularly slept until 6. He used to wake at 4 and I’d nurse him and he’d sleep and nurse later. But now he doesn’t fall back asleep. Now he wakes at 5 and nurses and we’ll start the day at 6 but he won’t sleep in. He also goes to bed around 8 I want to stop nursing in the morning”

“my baby is 9 months old and my milk supply has tanked. it’s very painful to nurse now. she also just got her 4th tooth so it’s just time. the problem is that she has a MAJOR feed-to-sleep association, especially for naps. she contact naps until she wakes is there a way to wean her from nursing without sleep training? idk how else we can do this without CIO but e really don’t want to do that edit to add we’ve always combo fed so she’ll be getting her normal bottles. For the past few months she’s”

“My baby is 7 months. I love breastfeeding! It has its ups and downs but no plan to stop any time soon. We cosleep and baby has always been obsessed with the boob. I’m already concerned about how hard weaning is going to be… for those who enjoy and cherish it, did you have an easy weaning experience or find a natural stopping point for both you and baby? Or is it horrible for everyone lol. How did you know when you were done? submitted by /u/KnownLocal579 [link] [comments]”

“My baby is 13 months and has never been a good sleeper (wakes every couple hours on average). I’m not ready to fully wean him yet; ideally I would feed him to sleep then wean through the night so he learns to sleep longer. Has anyone done this successfully? Fed to sleep initially but then refused to feed throughout the night? Thanks! submitted by /u/AccordingAct9553 [link] [comments]”

“Title: How to wean my 10-month-old from breastfeeding? My daughter is almost 10 months and still breastfeeds several times a day, usually around naps/bedtime, and wakes at night to feed, not really sure if she wants milk or what but I give in and breastfeed Her solids are very inconsistent — some days she eats okay, but other days she only has a few bites at each meal. She also doesn’t really like breakfast. I want to gradually wean her, especially because I’m travelling in October, but I’m conf”

“My nearly 6mo defo has a sleep association with sucking my boob for comfort. I nurse / rock him to sleep. Whenever he stirs in the night he immediately looks for the boob, fidgeting and grunting so I side latch. Sometimes I can gently unlatch quickly and he stays asleep - other times he then stirs and have to latch again. Sometimes it’s a side latch sometimes I sit up and pick him up. Is there a way to reduce this? Because generally he sleeps pretty good, ‘throughout the night’ but providing the”

“First time mom here to my 8 month old son - I exclusively breastfeed and nurse to sleep for naps and bedtime. Prior to nursing to sleep, though, my son would only go to sleep at bedtime with me, and continues to protest dad now as well. I’m a SAHM so 99% of the time this isn’t much of an issue, but it makes me feel as though I cannot leave the house after 5pm! Any tips? For example, I had a hair appointment today at 5pm and just got home at 8pm. My son was still awake, apparently dozing off with”

“I really want to wean my one year old. I have chronic pain and the only thing that works is CBD. I can’t use that while breastfeeding. My one year old is very reliant on feeding to sleep and I don’t know what to do. I feel like I’ve tried everything. My husband will try to put her down and she just screams. I’ve tried lowing the time but she just re wakes up and hysterically cry’s. I’ve tried sitting next to her and rubbing her back, giving her cuddles and singing but she cry’s. Every-time she j”

“My LO is 10 weeks old and currently nurses to sleep for naps and bedtime. She’s EBF but will take a bottle if needed. I’m planning to return to work in two weeks and baby will be home with dad during the day. The problem is, he can’t put her down for naps without the boobies. Anyone have advice? submitted by /u/al3xis333 [link] [comments]”

“Hi all, My baby turned 13 months this month, and I’m returning to work next month. He’s been breastfed since he was born, but we’ve started reducing his daytime feeds. He used to feed on demand and would feed to sleep all the time. Now, he only feeds when he wakes up in the morning and before naps (most days he only has one nap, sometimes two). Nighttime is a different story, though. He feeds before bed and every time he wakes up, which at the moment can be anywhere from 1–4 times a night. I use”

“I’ve been breastfeeding my 17-month-old throughout the night, sometimes 5+ times. I decided to cold-turkey wean almost 2 weeks ago. The first few nights were awful—hours of crying, multiple wake-ups, and he wanted me to carry and walk him for 30–60 minutes. My back and hands are now hurting badly. He refuses Dad when he wakes and only wants me. He stopped asking for nursing pretty quickly and doesn’t seem hungry at night. Some nights have improved, but others are still terrible, especially after”

“My baby is 11 weeks old. Since having him, when it’s nap time he will easily fall asleep by being swaddled and then nursed for 5 minutes. Without nursing, and just walking a swaddled baby around will take me 30 minutes to get him to sleep. Will there ever come a time where he can fall asleep without nursing? Is this something that he needs to be transitioned out of? Will he outgrow it? Will it fade to stop once solids are started? My husband and I are planning to take a week trip without LO when”

“So my LO will be 11 months at the end of the month. He has been up like every 3 hours to nurse since he was born. But lately it’s been worse and he’s just using me as a pacifier. The goal is for him to sleep through the night so we can also get some sleep. He HATES when dad goes in and tries to console him and only wants the boob. He screams when I try to just pat his butt back to sleep or just rock him without feeding him. He used to just wake up and eat for about 8 minutes and but up for a tot”

“So my problem is pretty much that. Little guy never naps (catnaps 5 min naps for 5 or 6 or more times a day), only sleeps with breast in his mouth during day and night. We then gradually started cosleeping. I try the crib each time, but end with baby with me in the bed at the end of the night. That's been the case since birth. This way we both sleep during the night. When he's in the crib he does sucking motion during sleep and wakes up minutes later crying. While awake, whenever he sees”

“Baby is 12 months old. He was sleeping well with 1 or 2 wakes a night, then suddenly at 11 months went to up to 4 or 5. Ive tried everything, schedule changes etc. Nothing has worked. I decided to try and night wean, which went very well, pushing the first feed to 4am, then 5am but the wakes have got worse and worse and I am getting less sleep than ever. Should I give up? He was settling with a cuddle and water but now thrashes about. He settles instantly with a feed. Id do anything to go back t”

“I’m in the process of weaning my LO, and we are doing pretty good with day feeds as he’s on solids and a bit of formula. But he comfort nurses at night as well as has one or two normal feeds over night, and we cosleep. I’m barely awake when he nurses at night, I mostly whip out my boob and go back to sleep. I’ve never given him a bottle before at night except for the first or second night he was born so I don’t know what or how to manage this. I’d like to wean him fully off my boob within the ne”