This was soooo fascinating and I have a million comments and questions but I will stick to just one I’ve been mulling over since the babyhood workshop and this article kind of brought up again for me.
Do you think that since toddlers are still dependent on melatonin that night weaning should be held off until they have a fully matured independent circadian rhythm? Would that mean that dropping the daytime nap (at least for the most part barring deep summer/winter) would signal when it’s safe to night wean? Is that why you say between 2-3 bc that’s when this most often happens?
Thank you for another great piece and indulging me! 🙏🏻
Ahh, great question. Baby is only 100% dependent on mama’s melatonin in the first ~6 weeks of life. By the time they are old enough for you to be considering weaning/day weaning/night weaning, they are releasing good amounts of their own melatonin and the breastmilk is more of a support anyways. Also, daytime milk also has components in it (like endocannabinoids) that have similar antioxidant and time-synchronizing time cues at melatonin. So… watch baby and see how they do! I’ve seen families successfully use either day weaning or night weaning as a bridge toward full weaning (or neither and just slowly releasing the breastfeeding relationship without making hard and fast rules about nursing at day or night). Each child is really unique in how they handle weaning so even in the same family, things can be different one time compared to the next. Something that has helped me with weaning is to move towards breastfeeding be after meals rather than before (in the morning this can be tricky if your toddler is used to breastfeeding before breakfast!). Also, yes, the ability for them to drop naps and still act happy all day is a sign of circadian maturation but hadn’t really thought about it as an indication of readiness for weaning. That’s an interesting idea and I’ll have to give that some thought. Thank you for bringing it up!
I was feeling a very acute sense of need to night wean my now 2 yr old asap in my first trimester due to aversion and exhaustion and a sinking sense of loss of self. However now on the other side in the happy second trimester I am glad I decided to slow roll it and we have been very very slowly doing it. Lots of discussing, reading, and “not now”, she seems to be weaning herself as she understands I need a little less booby time. lol
I’ve done nothing else in my mothering abruptly or without considering her feelings first, so I’m glad I was able to get over the hump.
I’m glad to know if it does end it won’t be to her detriment in this way at least! Thank you for your thoughtful response. 🤍
This was soooo fascinating and I have a million comments and questions but I will stick to just one I’ve been mulling over since the babyhood workshop and this article kind of brought up again for me.
Do you think that since toddlers are still dependent on melatonin that night weaning should be held off until they have a fully matured independent circadian rhythm? Would that mean that dropping the daytime nap (at least for the most part barring deep summer/winter) would signal when it’s safe to night wean? Is that why you say between 2-3 bc that’s when this most often happens?
Thank you for another great piece and indulging me! 🙏🏻
Ahh, great question. Baby is only 100% dependent on mama’s melatonin in the first ~6 weeks of life. By the time they are old enough for you to be considering weaning/day weaning/night weaning, they are releasing good amounts of their own melatonin and the breastmilk is more of a support anyways. Also, daytime milk also has components in it (like endocannabinoids) that have similar antioxidant and time-synchronizing time cues at melatonin. So… watch baby and see how they do! I’ve seen families successfully use either day weaning or night weaning as a bridge toward full weaning (or neither and just slowly releasing the breastfeeding relationship without making hard and fast rules about nursing at day or night). Each child is really unique in how they handle weaning so even in the same family, things can be different one time compared to the next. Something that has helped me with weaning is to move towards breastfeeding be after meals rather than before (in the morning this can be tricky if your toddler is used to breastfeeding before breakfast!). Also, yes, the ability for them to drop naps and still act happy all day is a sign of circadian maturation but hadn’t really thought about it as an indication of readiness for weaning. That’s an interesting idea and I’ll have to give that some thought. Thank you for bringing it up!
I was feeling a very acute sense of need to night wean my now 2 yr old asap in my first trimester due to aversion and exhaustion and a sinking sense of loss of self. However now on the other side in the happy second trimester I am glad I decided to slow roll it and we have been very very slowly doing it. Lots of discussing, reading, and “not now”, she seems to be weaning herself as she understands I need a little less booby time. lol
I’ve done nothing else in my mothering abruptly or without considering her feelings first, so I’m glad I was able to get over the hump.
I’m glad to know if it does end it won’t be to her detriment in this way at least! Thank you for your thoughtful response. 🤍