Frequent Night Nursers OLDER than 3 Years - Page 4

[katiecat]

Originally Posted by hummingbear

I hope my post was helpful coming from a mom of a four year old who used to night nurse frequently at three

It was helpful for me! I also got very sick and ended up in the hospital one night but ds was only 15 months old. I'm sure neither ds nor dh got much sleep that night but I couldn't help it. It was awful. That's the only night I'd been away from ds until just recently.

Any night weaning I've attempted in the past has been met with hysterics and I will not do that to ds, dh or myself. I do wonder now, maybe if I talked to him about it he'd be obliging but I gave up so long ago. I do see him sleeping longer stretches and things like how much he ate in the evenings and closer to bedtime do make a difference. The evenings he eats more and closer to bedtime, especially protein, he definitely sleeps longer.

Allison
ds 5/8/02

[jazzpurr88]

Originally Posted by UrbanPlanter

here it is:
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=244536

Im right there with you my DS is only 21 months and has never slept more than 6 hours his entire life and he was sick when he did and I was up anyway worried about him and checking him for feever.

He takes power naps 20 minutes here, 1 hours there, 3 hours over here. With nursing inbetween. I just figure I need to sleep and rest when he is sleeping. I kept track one day on how much sleep he was actually getting and how much "time" he was actually nursing and it worked out that he nursed 1.5 hours total and slept almost 12 hours total. So when you look at how much they are actually nursing it is not that much at all. My little guy is a cuddle bug and spends a lot of time just sitting on my lap and laying on me in bed. I think our babes just find comfort in our arms and at our breast and we need to be there for them for as long as they need us and they are ready to move on to something else they find comfort and pleasure in. They are only little once and we need to enjoy every minute of time they give us. I get frustrated about him being on me constantly but then I remind myself that he will growing up and moving on and not wanting to sit on my lap, cuddle in bed, NURSE, and eventually not want Mom bugging him. Hang in there there is light and sleep at the end of the tunnel we just have to make it through crazy time of sleep deprovation first.

[UrbanPlanter]

hummingbear, of course your post was helpful! Thank you!

I was just addressing the other posts which were about children UNDER the age of THREE.

jazzpurr88 - my DS is nearly TWICE the age of your DS!

I appreciate what you posted - I was posting the same thing half his life ago.

Try doubling the time you know of nursing your ds, along with his weight, and the fact that a 45+lb 3 1/3 year old climbing all over you in the middle of the night is much more disturbing for me than it was when he was <2, compounded with the fact that I have not slept more than 3-4 consecutive hours myself for nearly 4 years (in utero kept me awake as well).

**************

On the subject of allergies, I pm'd this to TiredX2 yesterday:

So, I think I'm going to eliminate corn and dairy. At the same time.

My ds usually only eats cheese, yogurt, and the occasional ice cream for dairy, but when he does have ice creem he sleeps terribly and wakes to pee at 2am. Corn just made him bounce off the walls, and he's been complaining about a stomach ache for three days since he ate it (two ears). I have always tried to avoid HFCS, but there is corn syrup in everything, so it gets in him here and there. Now I think I have to diligently avoid all traces of corn and dairy for his eczema and sleep. Hoping it will help.

He has good nights and bad nights. The worst nights are after eating ice cream.

I also think he's ready to give up his nap, but I'm not

If he doesn't nap, he's more likely to sleep deeper at night, I think. Tho, if he's overtired, he is filled with adrenalin and won't go to bed as easily.

Anyway, I should have addressed the allergies a long time ago!

I've always suspected allergies, but elimination diets are discouraging to me bc ds eats so little as it is, that it seemed futile to eliminate what little he does eat IYKWIM.

But, as soon as my exams are over, I am going to go full throttle - both he and I will be OFF dairy, corn, and -ACK!- coffee! (Coffee never seemed to be a problem; I've eliminated it before; but I think it would be better for my health as well bc I am gaining weight and I'm sure it's bc of the coffee messing with my adrenal glands or something).

[UrbanPlanter]

oh, and by the way, he ate the corn on Sunday and he is STILL complaining about stomach pains and is still pooping kernals. And, he is waking up A LOT.

[TiredX2]

UrbanPlanter---

Sorry, but I can't remember...

Have you done allergy testing with DS? I know he is young, we had DD tested at 5.5 and it went really well but 3.5 is a *lot* younger. Just an idea. It didn't bother DD as much as I thought it would.

[TiredX2]

Oh, I actually came to this thread to announce that it looks like I might be leaving in the near future

DS nursed to sleep last night at 9pm and slept until...






















6 AM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He then nursed again around 8 and was up for the day. So he has totally slept through the night!!!! Crazyness. And for once I actually got the full 12-5 amount of sleep I felt pretty darn good this morning.

So, I think he no longer qualifies as "Frequent" but I'd like to stick around until we're "all" done (that 6 am nursing is gone).





And yes, I am aware that this is going to be the biggest jinx ever and he will go back to 1-2 hour intervals tonight :

[MamaMonica]

Congratulations, Tired! You won't be tired much longer...

UP- elimination diets are discouraging. I did it for awhile when ds was at his worst and ended up giving up on all but the worst offenders (nuts, soy, peanuts, wheat for him). Mine eats so little, too that I just need to him to eat or he nurses even more.

Corn is a problem for us, too but giving it up is hard. I haven't been able to give up both wheat and corn.

Good luck to everyone.

[UrbanPlanter]

Tired that's so GREAT! Hope it is a constant habit!

We did a blood test at ds' 3year appt with the ped.

It showed nothing.

I have a thread about it somewhere....

I want to go to an allergist who won't just prescribe drubs.

I have a friend who refers me to hers but her son is on drugs bc of him.

His name is Paul Ehrlich and he wrote What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Children's Allergies and Asthma - does anyone know this guy or his book? I'm gonna post in allergies about it later...

[OhTheThinks.....]

UrbanPlanter.............if you know your child's blood type.......you should try a diet according to his blood type. It works WONDERS for all gastric and skin problems and difficulty sleeping. Especially for O Blood.

Dairy, Corn, Wheat.........big culprits of children's problem with gastric and sleep problems.

Also try getting testing for an "immature" gastric system. This is not readily seen in breastfed children as the breastmilk heals up all the "irritation" in the throat lining and esophagus most times before the doctor can see it. If you child is waking screaming at night it could be this. In adults is it is referred to as GERD or gastric reflux. Also the stomach valve may not have matured fully yet in children.
One of my friends little one was SO BAD, that she did have to agree to having a child size presciption of Pepcid/Zantac those kinds of things to keep it at bay. She had difficulty keeping to the diet, but also the problem was so severe that medication was warranted. Her little one now gets SO MUCH BETTER SLEEP AND REST. She is a whole new child.

Another idea, is watch what the late night snack is..........no milk! go for natural fruit or dried fruit.

Last suggestion, at 3 your child may be able to develop a "routine". As in nurse to sleep, then if he awakes, he gets to nurse for 5 seconds, you count aloud 1-2-3-4-5 and then nite-nite again.

Hugs to you.........we are also still nursing to sleep and nap (3.3), no major issues, just run of the mill CLW.

[TiredX2]

Still getting less frequent here.

Last night I was a bit bummed that DS woke around midnight (had gone to bed around 9:30) but he nursed and then didn't wake up for another 6 HOURS, so that was

[MamaMonica]

We're had a breakthrough as well- ds now likes goat milk so if he drinks a cup of that before bed he has only been waking twice between nursing down and the marathon at sunrise.

I actually can't sleep after 3 1/2 years of constant waking- when he sleeps I am so trained to wake it is hard to stay asleep for a couple of hours straight.