Did your breastfed baby ever start sleeping through the night on his/her own?

Shannon - posted on 04/20/2011

I gently weaned both of my boys at about 18 to 19 mos. We also co-sleep with our boys. When it was time to wean I put them back to sleep when they woke up to nurse by lying next time them, offering a sippy cup of milk or water, a cozy stuffed animal and back rubbing. My second boy (who I weaned a few weeks ago) cried the first three nights during this but it was ok because I was right there next to him comforting him. We never let him cry by himself. After both our boys were weaned they immediately slept through the night because the only reason they were waking up was to nurse. They knew if they woke up that they were not going to get any so they never woke up. Note: I try to wean when I know teething is not real bad. Our second child could have probably weaned sooner but he started getting all four of his molars in at one time and was waking every hour to nurse because he was in pain. I waited until all of those teeth came in to start the weaning process. Good luck!!

Angela - posted on 04/20/2011

My son is 10 months this week and just started sleeping through the night last week. He occasionally may wake up once now. I talked with my doctor and he said that at this age night time feedings are not needed. When ur baby wakes up just see if he will fall asleep on his own. Let him play in the crib with a crib toy until he falls asleep again. I also founf that when I was getting up with my son that he was not really awake but whining to get comfortable and by seeing me he got up to nurse.

Ann - posted on 04/20/2011

I breastfed my son until he was 12 month old, I started weaning around 11months and by 12 months he was done. He would be up 2-3 times a night until he was around 7 months old, then he started sleeping through the night, not every night, but eventually he started sleeping through the night most nights. Now he is almost 2 years old and he sleeps through the night every night.

Meagan - posted on 04/20/2011

Once I weaned my daughter at 12 months, she began sleeping through the night. I weaned her slowly over a period of about 2 months. Remove feeding from one nap time for a week or so and then removed it from her 2nd nap and eventually her before bed feeding. IT happened pretty natually without any fuss:) Good luck.

Sharon - posted on 04/20/2011

My little girl is nearly 7 months old and in the past month she has started sleeping through the night from 7pm-6am. I have followed the routines from The Contended Little Baby Book by Gina Ford and have found for both of my girls (my eldest is 2,5yrs) that I have had very little sleep problems with them. I believe in routine and sleep structure but it is not for everyone. I am still breastfeeding my almost 7 month old and and breastfed my now 2.5yr old until she was 16months. I have in the past 2 weeks dropped the 10.30/11pm breastfeed I was giving her as she is now on 3 meals/day and she now sleeps through until around 6am. At that time I give her a feed and pretend it is still the middle of the night and pop her back into bed until 7. I am lucky she is happy to go back to sleep/doze for the hour or so but wouldn't be complaining if she stayed up from 6am given that 11hrs is a long stretch. The general jist from the contented baby book is to not let them sleep too much throughout the day and make sure that they get their full quota of milk feeds and solids between 7am and 7pm and not to let them sleep past 7am. If my little girl wakes before 4am I try to ignore and she usually self settles. A bit regimented but if you have the sort of personality for routine and structue - then her book is for you. Good luck.

Rachel - posted on 04/19/2011

My daughter was ebf until she was 9 months and started sleeping through the night at 5 months. I still bf during the day and just started a bottle prior to bed and she still sleeps through the night without a problem and she just recently turned 1 in february.

Paula - posted on 04/19/2011

I read the babywise booing kids 8 mons and nurses once at night what I did was put him on a 3GS schedule and since your child bigger than nurse longer

Paula - posted on 04/19/2011

I read the babywise booing kids 8 mons and nurses once at night what I did was put him on a 3GS schedule and since your child bigger than nurse longer

Georgina - posted on 04/19/2011

I feel for you! My daughter has always been a great night sleeper. Since probably 6 weeks old. She is almost 17 months now. We are still nursing but only do it twice a day...in the morning when she wakes up and at night before bed. If your little one is waking up that much at night, he may be sleeping too much during the day. At almost 1 year old, he should still be taking naps during the day, but not for too long. If you let him sleep more than 3 hours throughout the day, that may be why he's having a hard time settling down at night. Try keeping him awake more during the day and "wear him out" with lots of playtime (and if the weather is nice, fresh air!!) and see if that helps him sleep better through the night. Good luck and congrats on your second addition!

Jessica - posted on 04/19/2011

HI Carrie. My girl started sleeping through the night around 2, and now that she is 3, she sleeps through the night really well.
I weaned her around 18 months when I became pregnant with #2. Breastfeeding was just too painful, plus my milk started drying up. It was pretty easy. I just told her it was hurting mommy and she seemed to understand.
My youngest is 15 months and still doesn't sleep through the night and still breast feeds.
I think CIO would be hard on them if they are used to being comforted and feeling loved all night long. I think you should still respond to his cries, but maybe try not to nurse or have your husband take over night duty.

Tracey - posted on 04/19/2011

all my kids were "sleeping through" (11pm - 5 or 6 am) by 12 weeks and by 1 were all weaned so I'm not much help. I didfind though that when they got to that stage where they needed solids in their diet they did breastfeed more often and for longer, but as soon as we started solids they went back to the same routine of sleeping through and in fact the times extended from 8-9pm to 6-7am. and also introduced breastmilk from a cup slowly so then they learn to get their drinks from a cup instead of you and then replace breastmilk with water as they get older

Michelle - posted on 04/19/2011

I let my 1 year old cry it out. After a few times they get use to it. Do you leave any lights on in the room while the baby is trying to fall asleep? I use to leave the tv on, and I figured out that once I turned it off and left her alone in the dark, she would knock out. Maybe cry for a bit and that would be it.

Lisa - posted on 04/19/2011

I have a 3 year old and 9 month old, neither of which slept through the night before a year old. I do not recommend cio, as it is counter productive to the bonding experience of breastfeeding. I nursed my first until he was 2 years old and I was 5 months pregnant at the time. As for night weaning, I followed Dr. Jay Gordan's 10 step night weaning program. He supports attachment parenting and the family bed, so I felt it was a gentle way to night wean. Good luck, I know what it feels like and how daunting it can feel as you think of adding a newborn to the mix.

Tracy - posted on 04/19/2011

Hi Carrie. When my daughter was a year old she slept through the night but sometimes she'd wake up like once a night to eat. But then she'd go right back to sleep. I would say that right now your baby is just waking up for the satisfaction of being close to you. I suggest you get the book "The 90 minute baby sleep program." This saved me. Please try it. Its awesome. And if you have any other questions, let me know. : ) Good luck.

Leanne Leonard- - posted on 04/19/2011

my girl is 3 in April, & my boy is 1 in May, i breastfed, my girl till i was around 30wks pregnant, by that stage it is back 2 Colostrum & she was really only comfort sucking anyway.

My boy even as a newborn slept thru the night mayb woke for 1 feed, when he started 2 roll around the cot alot more he started 2 wake more frequently as he was bumping his head on the sides of the cot, but i just let him settle himself back 2 sleep,i have a video monitor, so i can see he is fine & he doesn't scream & cry in distress, u should really start letting him settle himself back 2 sleep, cause it may take a long time, a friend of mine her little girl woke frequently for comfort sucks, she did the cry method, it worked after a long time, but then every few wks, her girl would scream for hrs on end...good luck...

Laura - posted on 04/19/2011

Oh and as for crying it out, you can also start small...we will leave out little one for just 5-10 minutes and then get her and as she gets progressively older we let them go longer. The average baby they say cries 3-4 hours a day and thats not a baby with colic! Thankfully none of mine have cried that much but it doesn't hurt them to cry in small sputs and all of ours are great sleepers and i think in part because we did do the progressive cio and they have always gone down awake and slept about 12 hrs at night (well once they were 4 months old or so) but honestly its whatever you are comfy with! So if you don't like listening to them cry (which no one really 'likes' it), it just may take longer!

Laura - posted on 04/19/2011

I have found the same as someone else who posted. My little one is about five weeks old and I just focus on feeding her more often during the day and she eats about every hour or hour and a half until about midnight (starting around 7 pm) but then she will sleep 4 or 5 hours...eat and sleep another 3 or so . Just remember too that when they use the term sleping through the night it really just means sleeping through a feeding. So if your little one eats every 2 1/2 hours...she would eat...sleep a 4 or 4 1/2 hour stretch and eat again. So its kind of a misleading term....Both of my other two little ones (who are all 15 months apart ) just started sleeping longer stretches between eating at night and gradually around 8-10 weeks were sleeping 6-7 hours! I would personally not try anything to drastic until about 2-3 months as then their body naturally starts to go longer between eating and sleeps more as well at night.

Soraya - posted on 04/19/2011

my little one is now 13months and has been sleeping through the night from 3months. she was breastfed until 10months when she weaned herself off and switched to formula. She only wakes up if she is sick, or teething, or an asthma attack (she sufferes from asthma and server allergies). I;v never used CIO and dont believe I ever will. I did have a week or so of being up for hours at night while training her to go back into her cot after going back to sleep from waking during the night. Sleeping through the night is like you said a milestone which babies reach in their own time. My daughter now wakes at 7am and goes to bed at 7pm.

Angie - posted on 04/19/2011

I have a 12 week old who sleeps through the night most nights. We definitely don't CIO, especially so young. She just started doing this on her own at 5-6 weeks old. She sleeps for a 7-10 hour stretch most nights. My older one was a lot more difficult. I really don't think it has anything to do with whether or not they're breastfed. Some are just better sleepers than others.

Jessica - posted on 04/19/2011

go to a facebook page called the leaky boob. This is a support group for breastfeeding mothers and these amazing women help me every day in my nursing journey.

Brittany - posted on 04/19/2011

I did a controlled crying, not really on purpose but I was often so tired that I'd end up falling back asleep before I could go and get her. I think she was around 5 months when she was sleeping though the night completely. Before that I was getting her up at about 5 am or so to feed her.

I found that with my daughter, table food trumpted breastmilk except for her morning feeding. Even now at 17 months and on cow's milk she isn't happy until her has her warm milk in the morning.

Jessica - posted on 04/19/2011

Try the No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley. I love this book. It has helped me so much with both my girls sleeping longer stretches at night and works great with breastfed and bottle fed babies. Teething and learning new things like walking will definitely make sleep get less for a while but at a year old my oldest was sleeping about 8 hours a night with the help of that book.

Bridget - posted on 04/19/2011

My boy is 3 1/2 months and for the last couple of (3-4)weeks he has been sleeping for like 7 hour stretches at night..I let him sleep upstairs during the day I dont turn the tv off or stop the dogs from barking..he is teething now too..he maybe eats once a night whereas before it was 3-4 times..he is about 15 lbs right now. I make sure that..although he gets naps that I dont hush the house or put him into a dark room..he knows that when I do that that its bedtime..I make sure not to pick him up if he fusses a ton either..try more frequent daytime feedings and extra cuddles for that "closeness" time and at night feed him put him down in his bed and turn off the light if he fusses snuggle him but dont feed him..if he wakes up crying and you cant snuggle him back to sleep then give him a minute or two of nursing..stop him..and put him back to bed..either let him snuggle you until he falls asleep or just place him into his crib..my boy really likes the soothing waterfall type sounds if he's having trouble sleeping..now i've only had 3 1/2 months with my guy so I have no idea if this is a long term sleep through the night thing..but I dont know that every week that goes by since about 6-11 weeks..he has gotten alot better :) I sure hope that your man starts to sleep well..its exhausting getting up that many times at night!!

Donna - posted on 04/19/2011

My son still nurses at night at 3 years old. He started to sleep through the night around 2 years old. I remember feeling the same way, I felt as if I never could get a good night sleep. He only nurses now to sleep and it lasts only a few minutes.. ;) I am letting him wean himself since we have had so many changes in our life the last year, it is something constant that I can offer him for comfort. Good for you for nursing so long! ;) I swore I would only nurse for the first 6 months.. LOL

Jessica - posted on 04/19/2011

My oldest nursed until she was 19 or 20 months. My youngest is 22 months and still nurses. As for sleeping through the night, my oldest didn't sleep thorough the night until after she stopped nursing and when she had her own bed in her own room. I don't remember the exact age, sorry, but I think it was somewhere between 1.5 and 2 years. My youngest sleeps mostly through the night now, but does still wake up sometimes and ask to nurse or drinks a cup of water. So your child still getting up sounds fairly normal to me. I personally am not a CIO Mom. I don't have the patience to listen to my child cry when I am tired, so I'd usually rock them back to sleep, or tuck them in, give them a cup and rub their back, something like that. Best of luck to you.

Lucy - posted on 04/19/2011

wow Kendra... if someone has a 1 year old, saying you night weaned at 4 months 'as you should' isn't very helpful, is it?? This isn't a place to be telling what other SHOULD be doing, just a place to offer your own story, without judgement. jeesh!

Ruth - posted on 04/19/2011

There are already 100 replies when i'm reading this, so i'm sure you are getting some varied answers. While the topic is one of the most heated i've ever heard, i let 3 of my 4 kids cry themselves to sleep, in 5 minutes intervals. The key to this not being the worst experience ever, is knowing when they're tired. Obviously as they're older, like your baby, it's a bit easier. In the beginning, i feel it is crucial to get them on a routine. It's not strenuous or mean, it's just introducing them to the concept of day and night. At this point, I would imagine that your baby takes a morning nap and an afternoon nap. If not, that's a great place to start. Getting their day time sleep figured out, sort of works out their night time sleep on its own. With my first baby, i never let her cry, and nursed her back to sleep everytime she woke up. She didn't sleep through the night until she was 7 mos, and that was most likely because she went to daycare and a routine. The subsequent 3 babies i have gotten on a daytime routine, and really haven't had to do much at night. They all seem to want to lay down when they're tired, and not to eat when they're not hungry. They all started sleeping through the night between 3 and 4 months. I think it's hard feeling confident that a breastfed baby isn't hungry since you can't quantify how much they're eating, but a routine really helps with that, too. I hope this helps, and isn't viewed as a mean tactic to kids.

Lisa - posted on 04/19/2011

To answer your question I will give you a back story:
I have four children. I have nursed (or still am nursing) all for two years each. My first two are 15 months apart. The oldest became jealous at the newborn and would bite so hard he'd make me and the newborn bleed. He'd also cry when he watched his brother nurse. But then he'd get to nurse too. He never slept through the night until I weaned him. Same with baby number 2. Both of them slept in the same bed with me until I was able to get them their own beds in their own room at ages 2 and 3. Even then the younger one would come into my room around 4am and cuddle.
Then along came number 3. Husband wanted her out of our bed around 15 months old, so he'd put her along side our bed, but I couldn't sleep like that, so I kept her in bed with us until she was almost 3, when we got her her own room with her own bed. She started sleeping through the night at 2yrs when I weaned her. Then we had baby number 4, and the only problem we had was that mommy didn't have enough sides for everyone to snuggle at night. baby got one side, daddy got the other, lil girl got my feet. lol. My last baby is now 16 months old and still doesn't sleep through the night. If I eat or drink chocolate close to bedtime he will wake more often, if he's had a busy day he wakes only twice. Either way he won't stop waking until he's weaned. To wean them, I offer them a sippy cup of water when they wake. They cry hard for the first few nights, then accept it, then stop waking up altogether.

Ann Marie - posted on 04/19/2011

Just to chime in - I finally had to night wean DD at 16 months, and only then did she start sleeping through the night. I didn't let her "cry it out" so much as kneeling by her crib and talking to her until she calmed down and went back to sleep. It took 3 nights, about 45 minutes to and hour each night, before she decided to sleep all night. Oh, and I bring water and some cereal along with me just in case she's really hungry or thirsty.

Katie - posted on 04/19/2011

Hi Carrie, My first son was 15 1/2 months old when he started sleeping through the night that is also around the time he was weaned from nursing. Otherwise he would nurse a couple times through the night as well. I was pregnant with my second son around this time which is why my 1st son stop nursing. They stop on there own eventually because your new milk will be coming in for the new baby plus it hurts when you nurse the further along you get in your pregnancy at least it did for me. Good luck! The nice part is you wont be so tired with the next since your so used to getting up already, that was a bonus to me... lol Congrats on second baby.

Kristi - posted on 04/19/2011

My little one sttn from 2-5 months every single night and then stopped. She then started waking up 3-4 times a night and it slowly dwindled down to 1-2 times a night. She went through a phase around 11-13 months where she did STTN some, and then stopped again. I am still bfing her and finally at about 19 months she has started to STTN on her own most nights. CIO never worked for her either. She would just continue to scream for a long time and even the few times that she did go back to sleep on her own, the next night she would scream even more. I had to let her start sleeping when she was ready. She does still wake up some nights but if so, only once and nothing like it used to be. Good luck!

Lucy - posted on 04/19/2011

Same thing here! My second is 10mo and I am 2 mo pregnant. I plan on tandem nursing and both my son and daughter sleep with me... and I plan on keeping it that way :) so I can't offer any advice (although that my daughter didn't sleep through the night until she weaned at about 3 yrs old) I just thought it was neat that your baby 1 &2 will also be 17 mos apart like my 2&3 :)

Jennifer - posted on 04/19/2011

If you feel comfortable with continuing nursing your son into the second year, you could definitely tandem nurse.

My oldest daughter wasn't ready to stop nursing & I didn't want her to have feelings of jealousy or animosity towards her baby sister, so I just let her nurse if she wanted to while the baby nursed. It was great for their relationship--they would hold hands while they nursed! I tandem nursed until the baby was two and my oldest was 3 1/2. I weaned both of them at the same time and it went pretty smoothly.

Some people are rather judgemental about nursing past one or one and a half, so I just didn't share our situation with too many people.

Good luck with whatever you decide. I just didn't want you to feel you had to wean him now, if you didn't want to.

Naomi - posted on 04/19/2011

All my children were exclusively breast fed for a year - my first child slept through the night from 6 weeks (!!), my second did not even learn the difference between night & day for 8+ weeks and took at least 10 months to sleep through, and my final child was about 8 months before he slept through. With the last 2, I stopped offering the breast at night from 7 months (they were not eating enough solids during the day, so stopping night feeding encouraged better daytime feeding).
Good luck!

Naomi - posted on 04/19/2011

All my children were exclusively breast fed for a year - my first child slept through the night from 6 weeks (!!), my second did not even learn the difference between night & day for 8+ weeks and took at least 10 months to sleep through, and my final child was about 8 months before he slept through. With the last 2, I stopped offering the breast at night from 7 months (they were not eating enough solids during the day, so stopping night feeding encouraged better daytime feeding).
Good luck!

Shawna - posted on 04/19/2011

My daughter nursed until she was nearly 14 months old. She started to sleep through the night right before, at about 13 months. We followed the instruction in, What to Expect the First Year. It was difficult (her father had to do it) but it worked for us in 2 days. The hardest part about parenting, I think, is figuring out what is right for your child. Every baby is different and every parent child relationship is different. Some people really advocate CIO (teaches self soothing, etc.). Other people think it is horrible and destroys trust. I think it depends on the temperament of your little one and your relationship. I left my husband in charge of going back in the room to check on her and soothe her in the crib but also heard her and knew her cries were angry cries. When she cries out with real distress, I always go in immediately and pick her up to figure out what is going on. Go with your instincts and you'll do okay.

Rachel - posted on 04/19/2011

I think I dropped the night time feeding around 9-12 months with our older son. I went in to check on him, said good night, and he cried it out a couple times. They just need to realize they don't need to nurse themselves back to sleep. Part of the problem is that it's just a habit, they want the comfort of nursing to put them back to sleep.

Alisha - posted on 04/19/2011

my daughter is nineteen mths and judt now started going to sleep without the breast two weeks ago but still wakes up twice a nigt (once if she co sleeps which we do often). I have no intentions of taking the breast away till she can undestand why but the sleep thing plagues me as well. Try keeping a more structured bed time routine and when he he will eventually grow out of it he just obviously still needs you : ). Good luck with everything my best advice is let him enjoy being a baby while he has the chance weaning wil come naturally when the time is right.

Bianca - posted on 04/19/2011

My first fed once or twice a night at twelve months i started introducing cows milk by fourteen months she was off me and by sixteen months sleeping through
My second fed lots i never got sleep and co sleeping made it worse when he was ova one i finaly got him off the boon and onto bottle and out of my bed at two years it was a LOT of work.
my third is now 8 weeks and been sleeping through the night for the last 5 weeks (6-10 hrs) i haven't used control crying i just feed and put stright to bed if he wakes i rock him and 9 times out of 10 he will full welded within five minuts.
if you love feeding your little one you can still feed him and the baby at the same time for more info go onto australia breastfeeding association they have great advice

Angela - posted on 04/19/2011

oh yes, i forgot to mention, babies wake up more when they are roght next to Mommy and their favorite source of food is staring them in the face. sometimes lettin baby sleep with daddy or in a co-sleeper is helpful.

Angela - posted on 04/19/2011

Hi there! first off let me just say congrats on your new babe! With my baby (she is six months) we put her in her crib in her room with her sister who is 3, and we let her cry it out for a few nights going in there every three minutes the first night every five minutes the next night and so on.i comfort her but i dont pick her up. it got easier every night and now she wants me to put her in the crib. now she falls asleep while daddy reads to big sissy.she always gets up beteween1 and 5 am and then stays in bed with us from then on. oh i forgot to mention that i feed her dinner too at around 7. you know with your son being so young and still breastfeeding, did you know you can still breastfeed him and the baby too? I wish i would have let my older daughter wean herself, i weaned her at 18 mos but by then she wasbreastfeeding just for comfort. it may be a great bonding experience for both of them breastfeeding together. i wish i had done it w my girls but i didnt know you could. i think people in this country think its wierd to breastfeed past like 1 year old, but in other countries, they do it up until like 5 years old. i think you should do what feels right to you no matter what people think and trust your mommy instincts. anyhoo, at his age, he probably wont sleep more that 5-7 hours before needing to wake up and eat. i hope this was helpful to you and good luck :) Mrs. Music

Michelle - posted on 04/19/2011

I know! I was so lucky with my first he slept through the night from very early on. But my Lilly is tough. I know there is a light at the end of the tunnel and I chose this life and love it!!! I love being a mom. At night they both get a bath i read a book to them and then off to bed with there ocean wonders night lights. I did it with m son and he still hits his light with the music and off to bed he goes.

Sarah - posted on 04/19/2011

It's a hard one. I guess I've been lucky since stopping the night feeding. I only have one so really not sure how to help. At least your trying keep it up! One day your baby will sleep through. How does she go to sleep at night?

Michelle - posted on 04/19/2011

Hey Sarah At first I would go in right away when she was younger but then I let her cry for about 5 10 min to see if she would fall back. THen instead of nursing right away I would rock her to see if she just needed comfort but even now she gets up and acts like she is soooo hungry. I am lost. :( Was it something I did?

Sarah - posted on 04/19/2011

Michelle how long do you wait after she has woken before you go settle her?

Michelle - posted on 04/19/2011

Hey my daughter is 16 months and she still doesn't sleep through the night. I have no clue what to do. I breastfed her up until she was 7 1/2 months and she just got in that habit of waking up. So I feel like ther is no sleeping through the night. If anyone has advice please share. Mom in need of sleep here lol

Sarah - posted on 04/19/2011

I fed my baby to sleep so she would wake up constantly through the night and wouldn't go back to sleep without boob. As soon as she was on the bottle she started sleeping through unless teething. Was off boob at 10 mths and is now almost 13 mths. I couldn't do the CIO.

Janet - posted on 04/19/2011

Both mine were exclusively breastfed and both slept through (about 7 hours) from around 7 weeks. By 6 months old they both slept 12 hours a night without feeding.

There is nothing wrong with letting your baby cry for 10 minutes or so. Don't let them get totally distraught but a whinge to a steady cry is fine. They need to learn to self settle. I have found that a lot of the times my kids have woken in the night, and I have gone to them and comforted them, they will do the same thing the next night and then the next - they get in a pattern and it is just a comfort thing. It can be hard work to break the habit for them but worth it in the end. I really don't think a 1 year old needs 3 -- 4 milk feeds during the night - my 1 year olds never even got that many feeds for the whole 24 hour day!

Sleep school is great (went there for my first for day sleep issues) but you have to want to try what they say and give it 100%. Hope that all helps!

Nicki - posted on 04/19/2011

WOW, i dont know how you do it. My son is 16 months, he still wakes at night but hasnt been feeding since about 11 months. He still had a dream feed at 10pm until about 13 months. He stills wakes depending on his teething. I tryed to follow the book by Tizzie Hall " save our sleep". It gave me a good guideline to follow.

Caran - posted on 04/18/2011

i weaned my son at 1 year old by just rocking him back to sleep. he didn't even cry. this went on for 2 nights. he's been sleeping through the night since.