Babies Who Nurse to Sleep Are Hard to Wean

“I am 11 weeks pregnant and have a 19 month old. We finally are down to nursing only for naps and bedtime but for my own mental health and comfort I need to finally wean my toddler. We’ve been trying to gently wean him for the last 6 months and while we’ve gotten far (no daytime nursing at all) we cannot get these last feeds to drop. Nursing has become EXTREMELY painful ever since becoming pregnant so we’ve decided that we need to just hold strong and not offer milk for sleep. He spent the last 2”

“My baby is about to hit 11 months, I’m just planning ahead a little bit because unfortunately I have to have her weaned by 13 months due to a week long work trip overseas exactly when she turns 13 months. She eats solids super well (3 meals a day and 1 snack right now). We nurse at wake up, after each nap, and at the beginning of the bedtime routine right now, with sometimes the odd extra feed in the day. I’m pumping 2x a day at work, and she gets 3 3oz bottles at daycare. This seems to work wel”

“Is it possible to only nurse a 1 year old twice a day and maintain a stable supply, even if small amounts? I had planned to wean at 1 year, but we are switching from nanny to day care earlier than expected, so now I’m thinking maybe better to continue giving breastmilk for immunity this fall. However, I had really been looking forward to sleeping through the night and not pumping during the work day. Is it possible to just nurse/pump on waking and at bedtime just to maintain a small milk supply?”

“Our daughter will be 1 year old next month, and our pediatrician is strongly recommending us to completely wean her off bottles by that time. Shes been weaned off night feedings completely, but she still gets 3 a day (morning, lunch, dinner). She eats solids no problem and calories aren’t an issue, but the bottles have been her morning and bedtime staple since she was born. She’ll get a bottle first thing when she wakes up, and a bottle right before bed (we understand this can be bad for her tee”

“Backstory: my first child self weaned at 12 months(when I got pregnant). My second was on the path to weaning at 13 months (3 feeds a day and one overnight). But….then we night weaned and she has become almost aggressive about wanting a lot of milk during the day. She also wakes up super early (5:30 am) to nurse. I’m frustrated at this point. 1. Both kids only liked my right boob (despite a lot of effort to balance out), so I’m really lopsided and don’t like the feeling of nursing anymore. That”

“My daughter has been ebf her whole life (13 month), I tried introducing bottles and pacifiers early on and tried so many kinds but nothing ever worked for her, so I have never been able to leave her for a very long period of time so that alone is really stressful, also when I am with her, I have to be in her sight at all times or she is screaming. We have also co-slept and nursed to sleep for nighttime and contact naps. Around 11 months is when I realized I really needed to start working on this”

“I was pretty close to weaning my 14 month old.. one quick bedtime nursing session. Sometimes nurse in the morning if I was feeling lazy and wanted to lay in bed for a bit longer. We went on vacation and she had a cold and she is now obsessed with nursing. She points to my chest all day and says “Mo” and demands to nurse 3-4x daily and at the most minor of inconveniences. She cries if I don’t let her. Used to sleep with a pacifier no problem - now refuses to take one writhes away and screams. She”

“My two month old likely has a sleep association and wants to nurse before going down for every nap (even if he ate an hour ago). I am waiting to see if this is truly a feed to sleep association or cluster feeding given his age, but we are hiring a nanny to start when he will be about 4.5 months. Understanding that a lot will change between now and then - for the sake of my anxiety and overthinking- I’m wondering whether this will be an issue when I’m at work and the nanny needs to put him down t”

“My son just turned 3, and I still nurse him for his nap and at bedtime. We also co-sleep. I’m ready to stop, but I honestly feel completely lost about how to do it without making bedtime miserable for both of us. I kept hoping he would eventually self-wean, but that doesn’t seem to be happening. I’ve tried telling him that mommy’s milk will be ending soon, but it only seems to make him want to nurse more. What worked for you, especially if you co-slept? How long did it take? submitted by &”

“My daughter just hit 17 months and I'm down to pumping once in the morning and breastfeeding only before bed. She drinks pumped and thawed breast milk throughout the day currently but I'm hoping to have her off by 18 months. She eats yogurt and cheese almost every day so dairy isn't an issue, but what milk are we giving toddlers 18 months+? I grew up in a 2% house so that's what I'd buy (I don't usually buy milk unless I need it for something specific). But should she be”

“For context, my son (15 months) is in daycare from about 8:15am -4:45pm. The typical schedule is morning wake up/nurse at 6:45am wake up/nursing session 8:30am drop off at daycare/has breakfast there 9:30am bottle #1 11:30 am lunch 12:30pm-1:30pm nap with bottle 2 before or after nap 2:30pm snack 4:15pm bottle #3 4:45pm pick up and I give him another snack 6:00pm dinner The problem is at home he will take 1 longer nap from 10:30 am - 12:30-1pm and we have lunch then. Daycare will not do a later”

“Hi everyone, I'm looking for advice from parents who have successfully weaned a very attached toddler. My son is 23 months old and will turn 2 in August. We co-sleep, and he has been breastfed since birth. Breastfeeding is so much more than food for him—it's his comfort, his way of falling asleep, and honestly one of his favorite things in the world. He only falls asleep while breastfeeding. We also nurse while watching TV, in the car, and sometimes just for comfort or entertainment. He”

“I know there are a lot of questions about weaning flu but I couldn’t find one that addresses my exact experience. Baby just turned 18 months. I said 18 months was where I would try and stop breastfeeding as I feel like he still forgets about things quickly and is easily distracted I am okay with going a little bit longer and slowly weaning from here. We have already been on 1-2 feeds a day for a couple months now. I night weaned him probably a bit too early at around 10 months. After he turned 1”

“My baby is nearly 12 months old. He gets bottles at daycare and is nursed in the morning, to sleep, and during his (usual) 1 (sometimes 2) wakes overnight. I’m pretty tired of the overnight wakes, and have been trying to night wean, by cutting down the minutes I nurse during the sessions overnight when he wakes up. I believe I will also fully wean soon, although I don’t mind keeping the one nursing before bed session for a bit longer. I went on a work trip away for 4 nights. On the first night,”

“For the first 4 months or so I would say my baby did not eat a huge amount at night. We actually had to wake her up for feeds as she had dropped weight due to reflux. The reflux stopped around 5 months and shortly after that I started her on solids and she has almost fully got back to her original centile at birth (she is 8 months old now). So I think she has been playing catch up a bit. However I have ended up doing two long feeds during the night, typically around midnight and 5am, and I find”

“My 12 month old has been on just 1 breastfeed for a few weeks. Every time we let a feed go, I got a new round of weaning symptoms. I'm wondering what your experience was like when you fully weaned? I'm nervous! submitted by /u/Lonely-Chef1185 [link] [comments]”

“how did you transition your baby to drinking whole milk at 1 year old? and do you have to? i planned on breast feeding until 2 years old, or until my baby no longer wants to nurse. he’s 10 months old now. do i need to start offering whole milk at 1 year old (im assuming in a straw cup) throughout the day all day or is it at the same time as meals? i’ve seen so many tips for transitioning from formula to milk but not much regarding breastfed babies submitted by /u/sunsetluving9 [link]”

“Hi everyone! So my 10 month old baby has been exclusively breastfed but Ive reached my limit. I'm very happy I did it but I don't want to do it anymore. I no longer enjoy it and you know, happy mama is happy baby. but the problem is my baby refuse to drink formula. She seems to hate it. She tries one sip and that's it. We tried a bottle, a cup, I even tried spoon fed but nothing. I will talk with our doctor about it, ofc, and maybe we will change brands but Id love to hear from someo”

“When did you know you were done nursing? I have to go back to work on November 2. Baby is currently 7 months. Wondering if weaning so he sleeps better at night, lets me get back on my medication for anxiety nd ADHD, would be helpful before going back or if the guilt of stopping nursing will consume me 🫤 submitted by /u/No-Departure-5684 [link] [comments]”

“Explain it to me like I’m 5 because clearly something isn’t working: I have mastitis for the second time in a couple months, both times aligning with baby dropping a night time feed / starting to stretch his day feeds w solids. He turns 1 this week and this also happened around 9 months. The first time was when he slowly dropped from 3-4 feeds per night to 2-3, and this time he started doing 1-2. The pediatrician said I should pump if he misses a feed but wouldn’t that just exacerbate the proble”

“He had 1 bottle started at 4:30, fell asleep, 5p more bottle, then slept till six then nursed for 25 mins, fell asleep, back up drank bottle, slept, back up at 8 finished 60ml, now he’s been asleep for about. 40 mins. So he had about 140ish + 25 mins nursed. I’m trying to figure out when I need to make sure he’s up again to eat!!! It’s freaking me out that he’s sleeping, usually he sacks out around 10pm!! submitted by /u/Such_Attorney2687 [link] [comments]”

“So my son is 9.5 months now and has been EBF from the beginning. Nurses to sleep for everything except when he falls asleep in the car or someone offers to get him down by standing and bouncing with him (usually my sisters bless their souls). We also co sleep and he will nurse overnight 2-6x a night, mostly while he’s sleeping for comfort. He’s taken maybe 4 bottles of breastmilk in his life, and despite sitting down for two meals a day with us he really doesn’t ingest much food at all. I unders”

“Resources for weaning at a year ? my kid is almost 1, and I’m ready to throw in the nursing bra (towel). Some days my son is fine cutting back feeds, other days he screams until he gets the boob. I’ll offer solids or a cup and he’ll scream until boob. I’m physically and mentally spent and really need to stop soon for the sake of my own mental health. Don’t know a lot of women who breastfed to this point; the few I know who breastfed either ended earlier or later. I don’t work so I’m home all day”

“I feel like I have no idea how much I should be nursing my 10 month old anymore lol I tried asking her doctor at our last appointment but she really only spoke to me in ounces which wasn’t super helpful since we only breastfeed So I’d love to know what others are doing! I’m thinking about maybe going to 4 times a day but idk if that’s too little? We hover around 5-6 but on busy days sometimes we’ll miss a session or two and she does not seem to care at all Is morning, before naps (she takes 2),”

“LO is two next month. I am pregnant with number two due January 2027. LO is very nursing obsessed right now and I’ve had to draw some boundaries for my own sanity. right now we’re at 4x a day- morning, before nap, after nap, and before bed. I am using the countdown method to cut the after nap one (dropping by one minute a day.) I am hoping the return to daycare next month takes care of the before nap one. (I’m a teacher so I have LO home for the summer.) I am more worried about morning/bedtime.”

“We are in the process of finding a sleep consultant, but hasn't happened yet. Meanwhile, life goes on. Baby is 8.5mo, and has consistently woken 2-3 times per night for feeding (breastfed) for many months now. It's a habit at this point. I wasn't planning on forcing a change to happen, but the opportunity revealed itself. A few nights ago I happened to be feeling quite sick, and when I woke in the morning I realized that I had vaguely heard LO crying for her 2am feed at some point in”

“Baby is 9 months, and I’m currently combo feeding with just two little nursing segments a day, the rest is formula and food, I consider the nursing just a snack because I really don’t know how much she’s getting and I mainly use it to get her to fall asleep. My question is do you all feel like I can still consider myself as breastfeeding? I just wonder because it seems like most of the talk around it is like an all or nothing thing. submitted by /u/stuffthingscats [link] [comme”

“I have a 10mo and I just found out I'm pregnant. I haven't had a period yet, and I'm still breastfeeding, but here we are. Currently baby nurses to sleep with me in the rocking chair and then I transfer her to her crib for both naps and to start the night. At night she will sleep about an hour in the crib before waking. I'll nurse her back to sleep and then about 30 minutes to an hour after that she'll wake again. Usually at that point it's about 1030/11, so I'll just”

“I have an 8 month old who currently has solids and nurses during the day but takes a bottle of formula before bed. He starts nursery next month and I was planning to send him with formula and just do breastfeeding on demand morning/evening and weekends. I’m sure every body is different but does that seem realistic at this stage as far as maintaining supply? I mainly want to breastfeed for comfort and don’t mind if the bulk of his nutrition comes from formula and food. I hate pumping and it’ll be”

“Hi so my LO is 3 months tomorrow, and I officially started bedsharing when he was almost 2 months. Anyways i’m wondering how you breastfeed while bedsharing when they wake up, because my boobs are big and my right nipple is so low. I saw to line your nipple with their nose, so I try that but sometimes it’s still difficult. Also, he spits up more often when side nursing I feel so maybe he’s just not old enough for it yet? Open to any tips or suggestions. Thank you. submitted by /u/Cut”

“We just spent weeks gently night weaning my 13 month old daughter. She has always been a terrible sleeper and spent most of her first year latched to me all night. I am so tired. For the last week or two she managed to sleep until 5-6am and it was heaven, but now she’s suddenly waking up at 4am again and asking for milk. If I do manage to soothe her back to sleep with cuddles she just wakes up again immediately, so eventually I figure she genuinely is hungry and I feed her. But if I don’t let he”

“(FTM) My baby is 17 months and I’ve finally decided I wanna be weaned at 18 months. We currently only breastfeed morning and before bedtime routine. As the months go on, we’ve just slowly cut out feeds when it felt right schedule wise and haven’t had any issues just cutting it out cold turkey. (I currently work 2 12’s a week, so I pump before I leave for work and then once at work and only produce about 5oz total between the 2). Any suggestions on how to do this? Is cold turkey the wrong way to”

“My breastfed, contact napping, nurse-to-sleep 6mo is going into daycare in 1.5 months and I‘m nervous about his naps there. We’ve been trying putting him down for the first nap of the day but it’s at least 1 hour of crying (with one of us trying to console him with anything but the boob) and results in 20-30 min nap in the crib. It’s been a few days and I’m strugglIng mentally. I’m reading conflicting information on Reddit with some parents claiming that the transition was much easier than they”

“My son is 26 months old. I’m still breastfeeding morning, night, and once through the night. He does fine at the sitters etc without nursing but won’t go to sleep for me without it. Do kids really wean themselves? At this point, I’d love to transition him to his own bed (we are co-sleeping). Am I crazy that I feel like these two things are tied together? Nursing/co-sleeping. I’m a single mom so it doesn’t bother him to be in my bed. But, I wouldn’t mind sleeping through the night. I’m also nervo”

“My son is almost 9 months old. He’s exclusively breastfed and I feed him to soothe him when he wakes at night. He is a very good sleeper and often sleeps through the night with one or even no wake ups. Very soon my husband and I are going to a wedding (local) and my in-laws are looking after him for the day and the night. What practical advice can I give them when it comes to soothing him at night? I’m going to give them bottles to use during the day, but at night, all the can do is rock and sin”

“I'm needing a little advice on weaning to formula. My little one is almost 11 months and is fully breastfed. He nurses pretty much every 3 hours day and night. He is not a big food eater yet. I have to leave him at the end of July for a couple nights, so I have been pumping and storing breastmilk. The problem is that my baby does not want to take a bottle. I have tried pure breastmilk, and am now doing 1oz formula, 3oz breastmilk. Should I stop nursing competely and only offer the bottle? He”

“I have been breastfeeding my son for over 14 months and he has a strong feed to sleep association. Next week I have a work trip which I’ll be away during bedtime for 2 nights, so I’m taking this opportunity to wean him. I am ready, I think he’s ready, and I need this for my mental health. We have successfully eliminated almost all daytime feeds except for the occasional nap time feed when he’s not at daycare and dad isn’t able to put him down for a nap. He’s great at drinking milk from a straw c”

“I keep seeing people say not to let a baby feed to sleep, but I really don’t understand what the problem is? We do eat, play, sleep just naturally but for bedtime when he’s done his bottle it’s immediately to bed after. Am I creating some sort of bad habit here? He’s going through his 4 month sleep regression right now and fighting naps hard so for the first time since he was a newborn I’ve been putting him down for naps right after a bottle and he’s sleeping better. Am I creating some sort of i”

“My son is 16 months old and he’s still breastfeeding. He nurses many times throughout the day, and at night he wakes up every 1.5-2 hours. I honestly can’t keep up with all the night wakings anymore. I’m chronically sleep deprived, and during the day I can’t be the kind of mom I want to be. I notice that I’m mentally checked out, exhausted, and just not functioning well. It doesn’t help that he’s an extremely demanding toddler. He fights almost everything: diaper changes, baths, washing his hand”

“My LO is 4 months old. Currently, I nurse him in the morning before work and throughout the night if he wakes up and pump during the day at work. I’m starting a new job in 2 weeks that doesn’t have a set schedule- every day would be different and I’ll have a ton of meetings/events to go to so a pumping schedule just won’t really be possible. I’ve tried wearables and they just don’t work on me. So, I was wondering if it would be possible to wean from pumping during the day but still be able to pu”

“My son is almost 6 months old. He's exclusively breastfed. He had a dummy when he was little but then we didn't need it so didn't use it anymore. Now he's waking up even 1.5 hour at night and can not resettle without breastfeeding and I'm exhausted.. i tried other stuff to resettle him but doesn't work he just can't put himself back to sleep without boob. I tried the dummy today and he does take it sucks on it but shoots out of his mouth after 30secs. We have the Tomm”

“Hi, My son is 15 months old. He nurses in the morning when we wake up (co-sleeping), then nurses to sleep before his daytime nap and again nurses to sleep at night. He starts the night in his crib, usually he'll sleep for 4-5 hours and then wake up. When he wakes up I take him to our bed, where he nurses for a couple of minutes and falls asleep again. He'll nurse 2-3 times a night. I want to wean him in order to get pregnant again. We had to use IVF for the first pregnancy due to unexpla”

“4 days into dropping from 2 feeds down to 1 per day (bedtime). The weaning blues are absolutely trashing me. I don't want to cut my baby off entirely (11.5mo), that seems unfair and I feel guilty enough as it is, but I am not coping emotionally. What would you do? Any advice from experience? If I hold onto the final feed, I have to go through this all again in a few weeks when we stop altogether. That would be the 3rd round of our weaning transition. I had these symptoms when we first droppe”

Hi everyone, I’m sitting in our rocking chair cuddling my 14 month old little boy while I write this. It’s the second night that he has fell asleep without breastfeeding. I’m not…

“I had a goal of weaning my daughter by 12 months. She’s 11 months old and goes to daycare and I usually pump 3 times a day while at work. She would get a bottle at 9,1, and 3:30. This last weekend and the weekend prior, I noticed that she would not nurse at 1 pm - skipped the entire feed. I have also been producing about 3 oz less than normal. So I removed that bottle from daycare and 1 pump session. I am barely pumping 5 oz this week and wondering if weaning off bottles during the day will happ”

“Okay so I know the weaning process can be super hard, I weaned my eldest just after 3 year olds (after a year of attempting to do it gently I just couldn’t do it any longer and fortunately they were at an age that they could understand that. I am currently bf my second and they are 19mo but I am now pregnant with number 3, and I now have the BF ick! I feel super guilty but I’m gonna have to stop cold turkey, I’m in so much pain nearly every feed, and it’s as if they have sensed it, they are want”

“I have been breastfeeding my son for over 14 months and he has a strong feed to sleep association. Next week I have a work trip which I’ll be away during bedtime for 2 nights, so I’m taking this opportunity to wean him. I am ready, I think he’s ready, and I need this for my mental health. We have successfully eliminated almost all daytime feeds except for the occasional nap time feed when he’s not at daycare and dad isn’t able to put him down for a nap. He’s great at drinking milk from a straw c”

“I am currently EBF my 10 week old, and thinking about starting to wean… I feel guilty about it because my supply is good & I’m not working currently but I just think it would help my mental health. With that said, there are a lot of mixed emotions about it all so I want to take it slow so I was interested in combo feeding for awhile as I process this all. If I start with one bottle of formula a day, will that tank my supply? Should I do that formula bottle at the same time each day? Ideally”

“Is there a guide or resource you all can share to help with night weaning? I tried having a cut off time for not nursing my baby. But some nights he is just hungry and will cry until he gets to nurse. He will refuse the paci or water if offered. Dad tries to settle him and it doesn’t work. He will not settle unless he nurses. My baby is 11 months old. I want to night wean and hopefully have him day weaned by the end of August or early September when he is one year old. I haven’t gotten solid sle”

“I last breastfed my daughter 24 hours ago. Shes 18 months/16 corrected. We were down to only nursing at nap and bedtime, so only 1-2 times a day, depending on if I worked or not. She typically doesn’t ask for it outside those times and is easily redirected if she does. The last two “would be feedings” yesterday, went better than expected. I told her the boobies were sleeping and she simply stopped asking and went back to cuddling. I’ve been wanting some body autonomy back and want to feel more l”

“My son is 15mos and still breastfeeding, to sleep, comfort and I guess just whenever he asks? I feel like I shot myself in the foot with not weaning sooner, because when he was 12-13mo he was basically down to 3 times a day if that. But ever since his molars started to come in he has been nursing nonstop. Now if he faces ANY mishap (even if he doesn't get actually hurt lol) he will want to nurse. And I have begun to feel very very touched out and just... over it. I understand that with teeth”

“I have a 21 months old toddler who is obsessed with breastfeeding. However I have managed to night wean him somehow for the last 3-4 months. However he still wakes up during the night, maybe 4-5 times, sometimes he asks to nurse but I ignore his request lol and put him back to sleep. I’m gutted that night weaning has not worked therefore not sleeping through the night. I plan to wean him off breastfeeding entirely within the next 2 months with the hopes that he will sleep through the night as br”

“I have a 21 month old toddler who is obsessed with breastfeeding. However I have managed to night wean him somehow for the last 3-4 months. However he still wakes up during the night, maybe 4-5 times, sometimes he asks to nurse but I ignore his request lol and put him back to sleep. I’m gutted that night weaning has not worked therefore not sleeping through the night. I plan to wean him off breastfeeding entirely within the next 2 months with the hopes that he will sleep through the night as bre”

“I have loved my BF journey, and now I'm not loving it so much. The night feeds are not my friend. Baby is 23 months, currently nursing pre nap, to sleep at bedtime, and then however many times he wakes up. But he's not the best sleeper- wakes when he pees, farts, when he wants to roar like a dinosaur at 3am, the usual toddler. Then struggles to get back to sleep without boob and I end up hating every minute of it in the night so ... From tonight no night feeds. I'm prepared for tears”

“My 11 month old has been nursing to sleep since she was born. I became a human pacifier. The thing is, she is fine for her night sleep for about 6-8 hours. She then wakes up and comes into bed with us and needs the boob in her mouth to fall asleep. The reason I want to stop is because we will be doing a few overnights without her for weddings here and there and I don’t want to give her grandparents a hard time. I have a month before the first overnight! What do I do??? submitted by /”

“My baby is 14 months and we still nurse 3-5 times a day. Mostly to sleep for naps and bedtime. I love nursing and don’t necessarily want to stop anytime soon, however we would like to get pregnant again here in the next few months ideally. For those that have breastfed during pregnancy, how did that go? Did you breastfeed your whole pregnancy? Did your baby self wean at some point? submitted by /u/slgirlie11 [link] [comments]”

“Just curious others experiences! Did anyone’s boob loving 1 year old wean themselves? My second is 15 mos and she was the first I almost exclusively nursed (she would barely take a bottle during my half day work hours). I EP with my first. I am still nursing her to sleep at night and throughout the night. Intermittently she will nurse in the AM and afternoon. She is a very strong willed little girl and very much still uses nursing for comfort as she has reflux and I think it has helped - which I”

“My daughter (14.5 months) started showing signs of needing to start the transition to one nap. She would fight her two naps for 20-30mins, then I was open forced to wake her up, especially her second nap, after 30-45 minutes to not let her bedtime be later than 8:30pm. She’s tired after about 4 hours but she can sleep for a LONG time. Yesterday, she woke up at 7:30, lasted only 3.75h awake, napped for like 2.5 hours woke at 2pm, was able to stay awake for 5h and go to bed at 7pm with great succe”

“Little one is 7 months old and just won't fall asleep any other way. It's usually not an issue because I work remotely so just pop out of my office when she needs me. And I nurse her at night before bed. She falls asleep in my arms and I swap nipple for a pacifier to keep her sleeping soundly while I transfer to her crib. Her dad tries so hard to calmly rock her, sing to her, etc etc to help her nap but nothing works so she gets overtired and starts crying until eventually I swoop in and”