help me my son breast feed too much

Divya - posted on 01/17/2011

hi.

I am here to thank everyone for their wonderful suggestions....now my son has stopped using me as soother n now I just nurse him once in early morning...the best part is that he sleeps through out the night n letting me sleep as well.

Jacqueline - posted on 01/06/2011

Okay, I know for my sanity I need to do this, let him start crying or "self-soothing" himself back to sleep but my question is HOW? He sleeps in our room, we dont have another room to put him in, At night I nurse him to sleep put him in his crib, he usually sleeps from 9pm or 10pm, to about 1am, after that I change him, feed him and put him in bed with us, because honestly I am TOO TIRED to keep getting up and down all night. And he WILL then wake up like 4-5 times before 8am. I have 2 other children who have to wake up for school at 8am and my husband has to wake up at 4:30am for work. So I cant very well let him scream his head off. Plus the sound of my baby crying will kill me. I have never been able to let my kids cry. But I NEED sleep! Daddy will not get up with him he barely does it on the weekends, but on the plus side when he is home in the morning on the weekends he comes and gets Trey when he is up at 8am and takes him downstairs and i go back to sleep until 10 or 11am.

Divya - posted on 01/05/2011

thanks becky, maria n melody for ur suggestions, frm last 10 days i hv stopped giving him bf in the daytime n frm today i vl stop giving him bf in the night..m crossing my fin gers...hoping to get success n make him sleep through out d night without bf..

Maria - posted on 12/29/2010

I have the same book Melodie mentioned and it is a good book and I have used it with both my children. In there it says that bottle fed babies don't need to eat during the night at nine months. It is ok if a breast fed baby still eats at night, though they shouldn't eat more the 2-3 times over a 12 hour night. Breast fed babies often continue to eat at night until they are weaned.

I stopped feeding my first at night and lost my supply of breastmilk (however, that was a 3months old not 9 months, so maybe it would be ok now...).

I also agree with Melodie that a bed time routine is a must. My kids have bath, feeding, books, songs, then they get put to bed drowsy but awake. They are in bed by 7:30.

Are you sleeping in the same room or same bed as your baby? I used to co-sleep with my 2nd baby and he got to the point where he would wake up like you are describing, so I moved him out of my room and the problem was solved instantly.

Maria - posted on 12/28/2010

Is he feeding well during the day? Is he gaining weight well? Has he started any solids?
I agree with Becky, you must teach him how to fall asleep without the breast and if he has always done this, it will probably involve some crying.
I am a big advocate of feeding on demand, but I read that babies need to learn that it is ok for their stomachs to not be full. The book was about sleep and how to get babies to sleep longer at one stretch. It said to make sure the baby went 3 hours at a time between feeds during the day. I tried this (I had been feeding every 2 hours as he was younger).When I increased it to every 3 hours, he did sleep longer between feeds at night. Now that he knows how to sleep longer I am back to feeding on demand. (Usually every 2.5 - 3.5 hours during the day and twice at night.)
As long as he is eating well during the day, you probably need to deny him breastfeeding some of the time at night. You need to teach him other ways to soothe. Can his daddy or another person besides you go to him the first time he wakes up at night and try to soothe him? If he smells you, he will want your milk, so it's easier to send someone else. Try having them sing to him, rub his back, give a pacifier.... etc. last resort have them try to rock him back to sleep. He has probably learned to wake up to feed just to have the pleasure of your company! Not good for you or him!

Becky - posted on 12/28/2010

also.. does he do this every night or is this new? could be a growth spurt too..

Becky - posted on 12/28/2010

hi.. I am in the SAME BOAT as you! I feel my son is ALWAYS breastfeeding... he actually does pretty good at night (he normally sleeps 7pm to 4am and then wakes for a feeding and joins me in bed from 4-6 and nurses as we sleep, but during the day.. i feed him on average about once to twice an hour ALL DAY. It is very exhausting.

As for him waking at night, i think it probably is that your little guy probably associates sleeping with nursing. How do you put him down to bed? Do you nurse him to sleep. I used to nurse my son to sleep every night and he would wake about 5-10 times during the night to nurse and fall asleep within minutes. I discovered that if i read him a book at night and then nursed him a few minutes and then gave him a pacifier and laid him in his bed before he fell asleep, he slept so much more sound because he was able to self sooth himself and fall asleep on his own. It was super hard at the beginning.. three nights he cried about two hours straight, but after those first few nights, he fell asleep within minutes..now he falls asleep the very moment i lay him in his crib...