xp: Need some advice about bedtime after weaning

ashleyhuney

So, it's looking like LO is weaning.  He makes the most awful faces when I try to BF (get that THING away from me, lol)  I'm crushed, but, the most important thing is to follow his cues so if he's done nursing, so be it.  Maybe I'll invest in a nice non-nursing bra in celebration!

Anyway, I've always nursed before bed, then put him down before he goes to sleep.  It's part of our routine, and something I saw us continuing for a lot longer.  Last night he wanted nothing to do with nursing and cup milk sooo badly, he screamed and screamed, then woke after only an hour (been sleeping 10 + hours, v. unusual) with the same request. Ok, so we gave him cup milk, and all was well.  Isn't it bad to give him WCM before bed?  He REALLY wanted it, and I am expecting the same thing tonight because he is still refusing nursing.  For naps he goes down just fine, no need for food/milk/rocking, just lays down and falls asleep at DC.  For some reason nights are different.  I've thought about just giving him water, but if he's having dinner at 6, going to bed at 8 and sleeping till 6 he probably does need something...right?

Any advice would be appreciated, I am emotional about this abrupt weaning and want to be prepared if this is just the way it's gonna be. 

Angela814

DD just weaned about a month ago. Since about 2 yrs she's always wanted cow's milk and mommy milk before bed. I know it's probably wrong, but I do give her a sippy of milk before bed and after brushing her teeth. Some nights I can convince her to drink water, others she needs the milk. Oh, and at 1 year I would guess your DS is just going through a nursing stike and not necessarily weaning. I'd keep offering unless you're ready to wean.

RootBeerFloat

First, I agree w/ pp that at his age it could just be a nursing strike.

But I would feel like I needed to brush his teeth after the whole milk and before sleeping.  DS is weaned now, and we sometimes give him a snack before bed.  Like you said, it's sometimes a couple of hours between dinner and bedtime, so it's understandable that he might be hungry.

Also, in the few weeks after I weaned DS, he would wake up very early in the morning (like 3-4am) and demand food.  He was used to nursing at night, so I assumed that he was used to getting some calories in the middle of the night.  We were patient with him (as he was adjusting to not BF anymore) and gave him a snack when he'd wake, but we weaned him of that pretty quickly.

mrs.baum

If the weaning is abrupt, I would suspect nursing strike, weaning is a gradual process. If you want to wean, then I'd run w/it, but if you don't, then I would work on figuring out why he is refusing to BF.