new plan for sleep

[tecumsehsmom]

hello moms.  I try not to label my son's hodgepodge sleep patterns as "good" or "bad" but, it is very challenging to survive on small amounts of interrupted sleep.  A good nights sleep is when I nurse him every 4 hours or so.  Its really only getting up twice for me (3x for him) and I can handle that pretty well.  Lately though he has been waking every 2 hours.  I have decided to stop nursing him every 2 hours because 1. i know he is not hungry and 2. we all need to move through this stage!  So, tonight we will try the patting him back to sleep unless its been long enough that I know he needs food.  I thank the last post for some practical advice on this method.  

Surviving days like today when I am a zombie from lack of sleep is without a doubt the hardest part of being a nursing mom.  Any more stories of how to coax a 7 month into returning to sleep will be greatly appreciated.  I will keep you posted on how this new idea works!

[Jaxy]

My 5.5 month old is still waking up every 2hours to "nurse" so I'm with you..!

[cheryllynn]

My Babe started this around January - he was giving us about 3-5 hours of sleep at a time, then in January when he was 6 months old, he started waking up very frequently - ever 90 minutes - 2 hours 24x7.  The only thing that comforted him was being put on my breast.  I was exhausted all over again.  He is now over 8 months old and sleep pattern continues - every 2-3 hours.  he used to fall asleep on his own during naptime when drowsy, but night time, it's a different story.

We have started this plan:  for the 11 and 1 times, I nurse him back to sleep. Any time after that - he goes with daddy to another bed and room and he will stay there until 7. Last night he went to sleep at 9, then up at 11;15, then 2:30.  After he didn't fall back asleep and it was 3:30 a.m., he went with daddy and slept until 8. 

So... not sure I have an answer for you, but it seems he is more agitated with me than daddy.  He will not go to sleep on his own - he cries and cries until we pick him up. 

I am not sure why his sleep pattern has changed.  I have resisted asking the doctor because I don't accept the cry-it-out solution.  However, we all want more sleep in our house too! 
 

[Jaxy]

I'd love dh to take over at night but he has already a hard time sleeping and if he gets up more than likely he won't be able to go back to sleep... That won't help any kind of sleep training...

cheryllynn I love your kids' names :)