overnight BFers?

alchris · June 2011

What are your sleeping arrangements?

We moved K to her own room the day after she turned 6 months, but E went to the GTG that equivalent day instead.

K didn't nurse overnight though, whereas E still nurses twice each night.

Convenience-wise, it's so nice to have E right there.

But sleep-wise, I'd love it if she could go back to sleep without me! Mama can't keep waking up every 2-3 hours. And E's at the 95th %ile (!), so I'm far from worried about her eating enough.

If you moved your LO(s) while they were still nursing overnight, how did it go? Did they STTN a bit better?

Just curious what others do, especially past 6 months old. Thank you!

LVBlvd · June 2011

I kept them in my room (Braley in his swing and Jack in the pack n play right next to my bed, since he nursed more frequently) while they were nursing overnight and for several months after, just to be safe.

I did not want to be trucking it to their room. They moved at 5 months.

I kept DD with me until just after 6 months.

alchris · June 2011

LVBlvd:
I kept them in my room (Braley in his swing and Jack in the pack n play right next to my bed, since he nursed more frequently) while they were nursing overnight and for several months after, just to be safe.
I did not want to be trucking it to their room. They moved at 5 months.
I kept DD with me until just after 6 months.

Thanks! How did it work out for you once you moved them?

laura&dan05 · June 2011

I moved both kids to their crib by 4 weeks old. DD woke up to nurse once at night until she was 9 months old. DS is 4 months and still wakes up once at night to nurse.

DS goes down between 7:30-8pm and wakes around 3 - 4 am to nurse. I go in his room and sit in the glider to nurse him. I nurse him on one boob, burp him, change his diper, nurse the other boob, and put him right back in the crib (swaddled) and he goes right back to sleep until around 6-7am. After the early morning nursing session I bring him to bed with DH and I and he goes back to sleep until around 8-8:30am.

The whole middle of the night process takes about 10 - 12 minutes. I don't turn on a single light when I get up in the middle of the night to nurse and it's more like I'm sleep walking than getting up to do something. I go right back to bed and have no trouble falling back asleep.

I followed the same pattern with DD and she was on a very similar schedule.

yankee42 · June 2011

i'm trying to remember with A, but honestly, it was such a blur! hahaha, honestly, that girl was SO attached at the boob, i mean, literally, would sleep with my boob in her mouth like a paci for months..it was the only way we got sleep. i did the same, moved her to her room at 6 months, i slept in there with her for about a month, she would sleep the first leg by herself, then i would end up bringing her to bed when she woke up, because she would not go back in the crib...i ended up having to ST her i waited until about 11 months...and she is now the most awesome sleeper ever, haha! only interrupted by teething and sickness..

but i would totally NOT recommend my method, haha...it was tough, and made it rougher on both of us...if i was practical, i would have ST'ed her earlier, but like ron says, i guess i just knew it was my last baby, and having that BF'ing bond made it so much tougher too but we BOTH needed our sleep!

good luck!!!!

queenbone · June 2011

At 3 mo. we ferberized him and had him sleeping in his crib in the nursery with his brother. When he wakes up (~3-4 AM) DH brings him in to me in bed and I do side lying nursing/ sleeping. At some point I take him off or he pops off and I put him between us where he sleeps the rest of the night. He usually sleeps until around the time DH has to get up for work (6:30-7:30) and I'll nurse him again.

I am working up the nerve to put him back in his crib after that night feeding so that I can get better sleep. I just worry about him crying and waking up his brother. It probably would be fine because he sleeps through all the other crying, but I am putting it off.

schoolsoutbride · June 2011

They're in the nursery next to us. Right now I still bring them to bed to tandem nurse. If there were just one, I'd nurse them in the recliner in the nursery.

When my oldest was BFing, he was in our room because we had one big room and that was it. He was 11 months before we moved and he had his own room. He was always a terrible sleeper.

epphd · June 2011

We moved Sam to his own room around 5 months, and no kidding he went from waking reliably 3-4 times per night to waking twice. It was as though he was being just as disturbed by us! He went to bed around 8, I think, then nursed twice between then and 6 so it was actually totally manageable. I think he dropped the first waking when he started eating better (which took some time) - maybe around 9 months or so. Then we worked with him to drop the last feeding (by introducing Dad and a bottle of water) around 1 year. It took two nights of that for him to STTN completely

crystalgirl · June 2011

For DS1, we moved him to his room at 1 month. None of us were getting any sleep with him in our room. I always went to his room and nursed him in the rocker/recliner until he started STTN. (That was anywhere from 1-5+ times a night over the course of 7-8 months.) His room is close enough that this was not a big deal. I don't remember details, but I know he did 2 wakings a night for a long period of time. He dropped down to one on his own, and to get rid of the final waking/feeding, we did the dad-with-a-bottle-of-water trick, too. He tried it the first night, did NOT like it (haha), and went right back to sleep. The next night, DH picked him up, he refused the bottle and went back to sleep. The following night he did not wake. This was around 9 months, I think??

For DS2, we kept him in with us for 3 months. I was actually cosleeping... It's just what worked this time. I don't sleep well that way, though (it was killing my back), so we moved him to his room, and I've been doing the same as with DS1. He was doing 5 night wakings for a loooooong time. Actually, it has been less than a week that he has started waking only 2-3 times, consistently. (Let's hope I didn't just jinx that! Last night was his longest stretch ever at 6.5 hours. Hoping this is the beginning of a trend.

With both boys, it takes/took about 15 minutes total to go in, nurse, and put back down. It had been taking a bit longer with DS2, but now that he's older, it's pretty consistently 15 minutes.

ALY1981 · June 2011

Once I moved Henry to his crib (8 weeks), he started STTN. I'm talking 8 pm-7 am versus up 3 times a night. I definitely think it made a difference!

Mouseygail · June 2011

we moved him to his own room around 5 months. He was waking up about a billion times a night. at the same time, we start having DH go in to try and calm him before a certain time (which we kept pushing back). Sometimes I'd have to nurse him anyways if he was just freaking out, but often he would go back to sleep for DH...and eventually he started not waking as frequently...so we would push back the time a little more.

after a bit, he was usually only waking around 4:30...i would nurse him then and put him back down. around 8 months he dropped that session too. ahh...blessed sleep!

dusk42 · June 2011

We moved her around 6-7 months because she could crawl out of the cosleeper. She would sleep the first stretch in her crib, then DH would get her and bring her to me when she cried for her (usually 3 am) feeding. Then we would cosleep as long as she would let us.

naflmj · June 2011

DS stayed with us until 9 months...mostly because it was hot and no a/c in his room but it helped that I didn't have to get up and go across the house to get him. He didn't wake any less frequently once he moved to his room but he's not even on the charts for weight so he needed to eat.

alchris · June 2011

Thank you so much! I'm obviously hoping that we'll have similar stories to epphd and ALY1981. If she's going to keep waking to nurse, it's just easier to have her right there. But if moving her would help her not wake, either immediately or within just a couple days, then that may be the way to go. Thanks again!

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