Help, My 10 month old still nursing every 2-3 hours at night.

Monica - posted on 07/29/2009

My little one is/was doing the same thing. She is 10 month old. She has been sleeping in a crib in her room since she was about 10 weeks old. She has ALWAYS been up every 2-3 hours throughout the night to nurse. I have a very high metabolisim so I just assumed she was hungry, and I honestly didn't mind getting up with her.



I'm starting to look forward to a little bit more sleep during the night :)



She has been a little fussy lately due to a possible tooth coming through, but we've made progress. She nursed at 9pm last night, midnight, and then at 5am. She rolled over and cried for about a minute around 2:30am, but I was strong enough to not run in there and pick her up after the 5th second of whimpering! She is getting a bottle and ceral at 8am, solids at noon, snack and bottle at 3pm, and solids at 6pm. I've been told that she is old enough to make it all the way through the night without nursing - but I'm not going to push it. I think midnight to 5am is great! I do think that the every 2 -3 hours had become habit for her. I tried a few nights of rocking her back to sleep at 2:30/3am and then a few nights of patting her back at that time to a few nights of letting her cry for about 5 minutes. Now she might whimper for 20 seconds around 2:30am, but she goes right back to sleep if I leave her alone.



I understand your frustration and am sending hugs. Good luck getting the two of you on a compromised schedule!

Shannon - posted on 07/29/2009

I hate to say it... but I think it is just the way it is... my son is now 11 months as of this past weekend. He only nurses 1, maybe 2 times during the day.. usually right before his naps. However, at night... he gets a bottle while I am at work around 8pm. Goes to bed till 2am, nurses for almost a half hour. He is up again at 530, nurses again for about 15 minutes... then abck to sleep til about 8am... he no longer nurses at tht ime... just goes straight to breakfast...

I tried the cluster feeding thing, he wanted nothing to do with it.. actually had issues with him biting me because he wanted to play, not snuggle up with mommy every 45 minutes or so.. he does sleep in his own bed, in his own room next to ours, so I do get up... and all though I have to say I am not an advocate of formula, the one bottle a day he does get is half mine half formula...and having him get the one bottle at bed time has helped since it seems to hold him off a bit longer now and I can get about 3 hours of sleep in before he wakes for his first feeding.

Good luck to you!

Nicole - posted on 07/29/2009

The first year solids are about learning and fun, not nutrition. So I would suggest either nursing more in general during the day or if he won't because of the solids, back off on the solids some so you can get more nursing in during the day.


Also, cluster feeding of an evening helps to get them bulked up for the long night stretch... nursing every hour for 4-5 hours prior to bed.


Also, I would consider bed-sharing. It is a life saver, for me anyway. He can nurse, you can sleep.


Most night weaning tips say to wait until at least 12 mo. before you try to night wean. My son didn't night wean until 18mo. with a little help from daddy and I. He also transitioned into his own bed easily at almost 2yrs.