I also experienced the night restlessness and increasingly wanting to nurse
all night long with my eldest son at around 15 months, and I did get lots of
advice to get him out of my bed and/or to wean him. One doctor offered to
prescribe medication for me to give him at night to "break the habit."
It seemed to me, though, that my son was expressing some need through this
behaviour, and I wondered if perhaps he was so busy during the day,
discovering the world, that he was not getting all the skin contact and
nursing he needed. My efforts to nurse him less at night were making him
more unhappy. So I took an opposite approach, and decided I would nurse and
hold him as much as he wanted - and more - day and night. I began offering
to nurse every time he looked at me, even if he only nursed for a couple of
sucks. I tried to increase skin contact, getting in the bathtub with him,
for example, something I had stopped doing once he could sit up well on his
own. I carried him more, offering to carry him even when he could walk, and
rocking him in the rocking chair.
At first, he was amazed and delighted and increased his nursing, both day
and night. But within a few days it began to decrease again, and eventually
went to a much more manageable level. He started to nurse only once a night
and sometimes not asking at all during the night. I think once he was
reassured that it was there and available to him, he didn't need to keep
asking for it.
I think there are many different ways to deal with this situation, but it is
important to figure out what the mother is feeling and what approaches she
is comfortable with.
Teresa Pitman
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