Dear Karleen, Let me go ahead and say it for the record that I think breastfeeding is extremely important to babies, toddlers and children of all ages. It has tremendous nutritional and non-nutritional benefits. I think this toddler should continue to breast feed as long as he and mom desire. Unlike a younger child, a 2 1/2 yr old toddler that is well fed during the daytime mostly needs the night times feeds for comfort. If that is the only time the mom has to spend one on one with the toddler then she should make the most of it. Gradual weaning from night time feeds might be a gentler way to do it, however, it also depends on how aggressive the child is about feeding at night. If he wants his mouth full of mama everytime he stirs, it could be hard to wean him at night. Toddlers can throw some mighty tantrums at night. If this mom is an over-supplier and the baby is 'gulping' 5 to 6 times during an 8 to 10 hr period, I'm not so sure that he's not getting much breastmilk at night. Whenever I see a toddler that takes a bottle of milk or juice frequently at night or is put to sleep with one in their mouth (also for comfort), I recommend parents to go cold turkey and substitute other forms of comfort such as cuddling, rocking, singing, back-rubs etc. There is no discussion about gradual weaning because some things should not be left to the child. I have seen my share of nursing bottle caries. And yes, I've seen them in breastfed children as well. This is another multifactorial disease where there is no one cause. Every 3rd to 4th child in America is overweight. This is a health issue of enormous proportions. Yes, I'm aware that breastfeeding protects against future obesity. There is a good chance that this baby will slim down as he grows up provided rest of his diet is also modified. However, we cannot base our practice on anecdotes. Studies show that most overweight adults start as overweight children. This story reminds me of a friend of mine who started drinking slim-fast to lose weight. 1 month later she, she had gained 10 lbs. Turns out, she was drinking the slim-fast after her meals, which were unchanged. I'd try to get the mom to nurse more during waking hours and less at night. I apologise if I have offended anyone with my opinions. Vaishali Kute, MD FAAP Momma of 3 who still remember the taste of her milk. I was practicing attachment parenting long before there was a name for it. *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html