Totally touched out

[sunnymw]

When my kids aren't constantly nursing, they are doing this comfort thing where they pinch my fat with their fingernails. It's annoying. It's irritating. I'd rather be stabbed in the eye with dirty needles TBH.

And I'm honestly touched out on nursing and co-sleeping. The boys are 2.5 and 4.5 and when they go to MIL's or GMIL's they go to sleep BY THEMSELVES. HAPPILY. They don't need to nurse. I've been gone up to 3 days before. So what gives? If they can't get the "nee nee" or "the fat" they flip out!!

We are getting them both toddler beds in January with awesome sheets of their choosing. In the same room. I am hoping they are weaned by then as we are surprisingly expecting #3... who I am hoping will sleep in a side-carred crib. At the very least, I do NOT want to family bed with three. Two is too many. Here's to hoping this works.

Tips?

[JuliMummy]

I would think that at 2.5 and 4.5 they are old enough for you to put your foot down and say enough is enough. You say they're happy to go to sleep by themselves when you're away, so it's obviously just habit and not something they really need. You say you're getting them toddler beds in january. Is there anywhere else for them to sleep at the moment? Can you get the toddler beds any earlier? It would seem to make sense to get the toddler beds (or use whatever other sleeping space you've got for them now) and move them into there at the same time as weaning them (from nursing AND pinching you). And I do think they're old enough that you can be quite firm with them, but you know them best and you know how far you can push them at this point. But it's probably a good idea to get them into their own beds and weaned well before your new baby arrives, so they've got time to adjust and don't blame the baby. And so you can get a bit more rest as well. Good luck!

[sunnymw]

Good point about doing it sooner rather than later.

I have a full bed in their playroom but I can't put them both on it unless I find some kind of divider between them, otherwise they poke each other all night. I do have one crib mattress so I guess I could put that in that room as well and just let one sleep on the full and one sleep on the crib mattress. 

Thanks for your reply! :)

[HonkyTonka]

I haven't BTDT but I do quite a bit of reading on this forum, and it seems to me that people might suggest getting DH to put your boys to bed (if that is possible). Make your house more like MILs for a bit, (ie no you!) until they get into the habit of going to sleep by themselves. 

Again, I have no idea what I'm talking about, but it might be worth a try...

[mkksmom]

I think OneStepAhead.com has an inflatable divider you could use to separate them.

I agree that they are old enough for you to sit them down and tell them how what they are doing makes you feel, especially the pinching my LO does that too, and it makes me bonkers. I hold her hand and tell her it hurts. She's only 13 months, but I still calmly tell her no. In fact, I just let her start using a paci again. She had lost interest in it, but I was so touched out and she picked it up one day and went from there. With the night-weaning, I had been doing a more gentle version of the Jay Gordon method and combined it with some ideas from NCSS like the Pantley Pull-off. I figure that we've got to find a way to make sure we're both happy in order to be successful. But they are old enough to comprehend what you are saying, so I would sit them down and discuss it with them.