My dd just turned 2, and is still breastfed. I never attempted any night-weaning, and I've struggled through this complete lack of sleep (I dont ever get more than an hour at a time), because up until 19 months, she was exclusively breastfed. We tried everything to get her to eat, went to the feeding clinic at the Children's Hospital, nothing worked, until one day, she was ready.
I didn't want to restrict her access to breastmilk at night, because she actually really needed it. Even now that she's eating pretty well, I still worry about reducing her milk intake. But, I need sleep. I am now 7 weeks pregnant, and I need to get her sleeping through the night before we add another baby to the mix.
I nurse her at bedtime, and then I tell her "num nums are going to sleep", she now (its been 2 months) says "night night num nums" and eventually (like after an hour) falls asleep. She doesnt ask to nurse during that hour it takes her to fall asleep, she used to, but now she doesn't. Now I'm trying to tell her every time she wakes, that num nums are still sleeping, rarely she just falls back to sleep. Most of the time, she cries and grabs at me, and eventually, (like after 45 min) falls asleep, only to wake up again asking in 10-45 min. If Im lucky, her first stretch of sleep is 2-3 hours, but after that, its maybe 1.5 hours at best, often less than 20 min.
Not sure what else I can do, but keep doing what Im doing. Problem is, I often give in and nurse her, because Im just too tired. And at nap time, I often nurse her to sleep, and she often stays attached, again, because Im just too tired, and I need that 1.5 hour break in the day.
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