HOW TO: Get Toddler to Fall Asleep Without Nursing

Описание: How To Get Toddler To Fall Asleep Without Nursing

2023 UPDATE: Check out my proven & gentle toddler sleep training program here: https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/b...

Your toddler has always nursed to sleep, but now you want your toddler to fall asleep without nursing. If you want to gently night wean your toddler, here's how to do it!

Your toddler will soon be falling asleep on their own and sleeping through the night!

Ready to get your toddler sleeping at night, but don't know where to start?

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TRANSCRIPTION:

Today I'm answering a question sent in by a tired mom on our Facebook Live Q&A Call. She asked me how she could get her toddler to fall asleep without nursing.

I hope you enjoy it.

I recommend you sit your 2 year old down in the middle of the day when he’s happy and it’s nowhere near bedtime. I would just flatter him, praise him. Say “You’re such a big boy. You can do all these things. You can run, you can skip, you can climb. You can do the monkey bars! You can do so many things that big boys do. And now that you’re 2 years old, we’re not going to have any more milk when we fall asleep. We’re not going to have any more milk in the night. Instead, we’re going to have our milk during the daytime.”

I would just leave it at that. I’d leave it happy, I’d leave it upbeat. I wouldn’t get into long explanations. I would flatter him, give him lots of praise, tell him what a big boy he is!

Let’s say he’s drinking from a sippy cup. I would show it to him and say, “The milk’s going to be going to sleep when you go to sleep. When you wake up in the morning, the milk’s going to wake up!”

Let him know your expectations.

At Bedtime:
Move your feeding earlier in his bedtime routine. I’d try moving it right after his bath time.

After his bath, I'd get him ready for bed. Then I would give him the milk while we read a book together. Have the overnight lights turned off to have that darkness, help him produce melatonin and get sleepy. When he’s finished we’d read maybe another book or tell a story. Really separating that feeding and falling asleep.

He’ll probably by fine with it. But chances are when it comes to falling asleep, he’s not going to know how to fall asleep, because he’s always been drinking milk.


Night 1-2:

For the first few nights, it’s perfectly OK to give other hands-on soothing. Do whatever it takes to get your toddler to fall asleep without feeding. Your first goal is just to get him to stop feeding to sleep.

If he's really upset, it’s perfectly fine to hold him, cuddle him, rock him until he falls asleep. Your only goal here is separating feeding and falling asleep.

My philosophy is to do whatever it takes to get through that first goal without him getting so, so upset. You can rock him, hold him, cuddle him, even lie down with him until he falls asleep.

You would want to do that for about 2 nights. We do like to set limits because if you just go to that first phase and stay there, then you might be writing to me next month going, “It’s great! He doesn’t need the milk. But now I’m rocking him for an hour at bedtime.”

Set a limitation – do whatever it takes for 2 nights.


Nights 3-4: For the next 2 nights, you could just hold him without the rocking.

Nights 5-6: For the next 2 nights, I would have him fall asleep in his bed and I would sit in the bed next to him.

Nights 7-8: Sit in a chair a few feet away from his bed while he falls asleep.

Nights 9-10: You can sit in the doorway and then just gradually move yourself out of the room.

It takes a while. It could take a week or so, but you’re doing it slowly and gradually. You’re giving him time to adapt.

Night Wakings:

Especially the first few nights, he’ll probably still wake in the night
asking for milk. You can have maybe a different sippy cup with water in it. For the first 2 or 3 nights, offer him water when he wakes up. He could be genuinely thirsty. He’s used to having milk in the night. Give him some water. Say, “Remember, the milk is sleeping. But you can have some water”.

Use the same tactic you’re doing at bedtime to get him to sleep, when he wakes in the night. That means that every 2 days, make sure that you continue to progress forward even with the night wakings.

If at bedtime you’re sitting in a chair by his bedside, make sure you’re not co-sleeping with him all night, if that’s not what you want. Whatever you’re doing at bedtime, continue to do it at night wakings too if that makes sense.

When you stay super consistent, your child will adapt quicker!