Night weaning ? (upcoming surgery)

kikijbunny · March 2012

Anyone here been in this situation? DS is getting ear tubes next week, and since he'll be put under general anesthesia, the doctor told us that DS shouldn't have anything to eat or drink, including milk, from midnight on (surgery is in the morning).

But we bed share and I nurse him on demand at night. I was thinking I should try night weaning in preparation, but not sure how to do it. He generally does not drink every time he latches on at night, much of it is for comfort. He just cries out when he stirs and I'm afraid he will not settle down.

So one question I have is whether to even try the night weaning, or just go cold turkey (one night of being awake vs. several). In larger context, I like bed sharing (and DS hates his crib anyway), but DH is tolerant/indifferent of it (at least for now as DS doesn't disturb his sleep very much). Eventually we'd like DS to go to his own bed, but we haven't discussed when that will be.

tokenhoser · March 2012

I would probably just not feed him that one night and expect to not really sleep much. Night weaning is hard for a baby that isn't ready; it would likely take about 2 weeks of work on your part, and he will easily regress after the surgery if you let him.

kikijbunny · March 2012

tokenhoser:
I would probably just not feed him that one night and expect to not really sleep much. Night weaning is hard for a baby that isn't ready; it would likely take about 2 weeks of work on your part, and he will easily regress after the surgery if you let him.

Thanks, I will plan for that, and in the meantime maybe see how his reaction goes to being slightly less available to him. Occasionally he can be refused and not squawk, but I've never yet tried doing that in the middle of the night.

SandiaPinaMama · March 2012

LO had surgery at 17 weeks, and he too could not have anything at all after midnight as well. He didn't night wean for many many more months. We just had one rough night. I held him, and he cried for a few minutes longer than he would have, but it was pretty much no big deal. He wasn't upset really until he woke up around 2 pm, and then we were allowed to nurse!

Good luck!

3003girl · March 2012

I had to go away for a 2 night trip when LO was about a year, and we didn't do any night weaning. DH just slept with her and offerend a sippy - which she didn't take. He said she just woke up a few times, cried for a few minutes, then went back to bad. I'd have your DH sleep with your LO and you stay out of the room, and it should go smoother than you being in the room - if I am around LO will scream for milk for.ever.

I'd just have LO go the one night without milk, unless you want to nightwean anyway.

KCKappa · March 2012

DD also had to get tubes when she was ~10 months old and we just went with one rough night rather than trying to night wean. We don't bedshare, but she nurses at least 4-5 times a night, so I knew it would be a long night, but I wasn't ready to put her or us through the stress of night weaning at that point. I went ahead and dreamfed her right at midnight that night (which I don't usually do, but thought might keep her asleep a bit longer than usual), but she woke up again around 1:30 a.m. and wouldn't go back to sleep without nursing until about 5 a.m. Of course, we had to leave for the surgery center at 5:45, so none of us got much sleep, but we just ended up coming home and taking a 2 hr nap after the surgery was done.

kitkat145 · March 2012

My daughter had tubes put in last month. I was very concerned about not feeding her after midnight since she reverse cycles and nurses frequently through the night. I found lots of good information on Kellymom and the La Leche League website that said breastmilk is considered a clear fluid and can be consumed much closer to surgery time than other food/drink.

I contacted my ENTs office to relay what I'd researched and asked if someone could call the anesthesiologist to clarify their restrictions on breastmilk. I got them to allow me to nurse dd until 2am (surgery was at 8) which meant one more feeding I could give her.

MikesMom12345 · March 2012

DS had to be put under general anesthesia at 7wks for a surgery. We were told he could have breastmilk up until 4 hours before the surgery. The worst part was when we actually got to the hospital 2 hours before the surgery. He was sleeping soundly in the moby wrap, and they had to take him out to weigh, measure and get his temp and bp. He was PISSED. And of course wanted to nurse. We were actually about 2 hours from home and they had squeezed us onto the schedule the day after his initial appointment (rather than waiting 3 weeks for the next available appointment), and DH was not with me.

Luckily, MIL had come with and was able to hold and rock him from that point until they took him back for surgery. When I was holding him he just wanted to nurse and would get really worked up.

Sorry for the rant, but I agree with having DH or somebody else with when you are not allowed to nurse, because it will be easier for LO to fall back asleep, IMO.

Also, after the surgery, DH (doctor, but not peds) informed me that you avoid food before surgery because if you have an adverse reaction to the anesthesia you will most likely vomit and it is a lot less of a mess if you are just vomiting water as opposed to food. With that knowledge, I probably would have just let DS nurse in order to comfort him rather than make him suffer with no milk, but that is just my opinion. Good Luck!

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