Yes. The week and a half that it was supposed to take to wean Winona from night nursing has taken us much longer. Matter of fact, it is still happening. It is this last step that we can't quite get. We are having a hard time sticking with this one.
The first step was 3 nights of giving Winona boob every time she woke up fussing but not letting her fall asleep nursing. It was hard and Jake really stepped it up and helped me out big time. It was difficult letting someone else tend to her crying in the night. However, she won't let me do anything but nurse her. We extended step one to five nights.
The next step was not nursing Winona when she woke up at all. I still nurse her to sleep initially but when she wakes up and nuzzels for my breast she doesn't get it. Jake has had to dance and bounce her back to sleep. We are really still on this step and it's been about a week. It has gotten better and she falls asleep much easier. I think she is starting to get used to the fact that she isn't getting breastfed.
So he step that we are having the hard time with... When she cries we are supposed to just let her lay there and cry. It isn't working for us. Now I'm not condemning those who choose methods of sleep training like CIO (cry it out.). Different things work for different families. That was not for us and now it is still hard to just listen to her cry and not pick her up. I know that all her needs are met and she can't possibly be frightened but I can't stand it!! We have full intentions of moving to the third and final step. We are just letting her (ourselves) adjust more to step two and ease into it. We will see now it goes. Btw, please excuse the typos as I am posting from my iPhone.
4 comments:
Proud of you baby! Just keep being a wonderful Mommy!!! I love you!
i know this is hard. its SO hard, been there, done that. we are CIO peeps and i know you aren't into that technique but i think what you are doing is a somewhat modified version of CIO. it seems like a more gentle transition....or it gives the idea of a more gentle transition. i know you didn't ask for advice, but, you know i can't help but put something out there;) are y'all planning on transitioning into her toddler bed soon? i think she might be a little confused. do you think she is still associating food with sleep? it might be easier to not nurse her to sleep anymore. i know that's great bonding time but in our nursing experience, i found it so much easier for my babes to learn how to fall asleep when we put them to bed awake...or almost asleep. i know they get so sleepy during that last feed. i did this: feed, change diaper, put on jammies, sing a good night song we made up:)...actually matt and i still sing and dance our way with each child into their rooms:) its become such a sweet and fun tradition and it prepares each child for bed...they know what's coming and they actually welcome it. i know you don't want her to feel distached or neglected, however, it might be easier in this final stage to go ahead and put her in the toddler bed. it might be easier not only on you but on winnie. i hope it gets better! you are doing a great job:)
Erin, thank you for the advice. If I didn't want any I wouldn't put my business out for all to read. I welcome it! =) And always welcome so good advice from a good Mama as yourself.
We are planning to transition Winona to her toddler bed. I just really wanted to nail this before we did. I thought I didn't want to give her too much change at once. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe she needs it all at once.
Also, on a really good note, last night was fabulous. Jake did not have to pick her up at all. Just a few butt pats and back rubbing and she was putting herself back to sleep.
I feel your pain (sort of). We're in the process of transitioning Maddie from her rock n play sleeper to her crib. Right now, she's still waking up 3-4 times a night to nurse when I sleep next to her. When I work (7pm-3am), she sleeps 12 hours straight through.. My assumption is that she thinks mom is an all you can eat buffet, so she can wake up & nurse whenever. While I love these middle of the night bonding moments, I'm losing my sanity... We're up all night, she's cranky all day, and we can't do it anymore. Her crib is in our bedroom, and for the last two days, we've tried putting her in it, but it just ends in lots of tears (I can't handle CIO either..). I'm feeling like she'll never transition.. She can't self-soothe, has never fallen asleep on her own, EVER, and needs to be out of the rock n play in a few weeks since she's starting to sit up in it. I'm screwed. Haha.
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