Mothering Forum banner

It's a Party!! Come celebrate with me!!

1K views 21 replies 15 participants last post by  tara 
#1 ·
Just thought I'd share with all you mamas who have supported me through sleep deprivation hell (and all you mamas who are still there and might need some hope...)

Jackson is sleeping! Jackson is sleeping!


For the last week or so, Jackson has been sleeping 6-8 hours a night. Like without waking. Like without nursing. Like sleeping through the night. For a while he was spending the rest of the night tossing and turning and crying, which made for some pretty rough nights (especially considering his 6 or 8 hours starts at 7 pm and I rarely go to sleep then!). But the last couple of nights have been heaven. 1 or 2 wakings total, a little sweet talk and backrub and he drifts off again. And, he is teething right now and has a cold!!
Do you believe that?!?!!


What worked for us was some serious nightweaning. We abandoned the 6 hour period Dr. Jay recommends and stopped nursing in bed altogether (except for nursing to sleep initially). Even when he wakes for the last time in the morning I don't nurse him in bed, I take him out to the couch. My gut just told me he didn't 'get' the whole 6 hour period thing, that he was holding on, waiting until I would nurse him instead of learning how to not nurse at night. So, we did it, it was hard, it worked...


So, come to our party! I'm bringing some really good coffee and these monstrous cinnamon rolls I saw at the Maltby Cafe last weekend (dinner plate size, in a huge puddle of frosting!).

 
See less See more
24
#5 ·
tara, that's FANTASTIC!!!!!!


You must feel like a whole new woman! Do you even KNOW what to do with yourself? LOL...

oh, I am SO happy for you. AND what a wonderful example and role model you are for all those mamas with sleep problems.

YaY!!!!!!!
 
#6 ·
I don't feel like a new woman yet, but I'm getting there. I think it will take a few weeks of good sleep to even start recovering from 16 months of horrible sleep. And I notice that my tolerance goes down with a few nights of good sleep - last night he slept a 7 hour stretch and then was pretty much awake for the day. I only ended up with 5 1/2 hours of that, which would have felt great a couple of weeks ago, but this morning I am wiped out! But, we are definitely getting there and I am so glad...
 
#7 ·
Tara- i just loved your post! I can feel your excitement! I'm new here, I've been reading posts for some time and your thread made me want to write in!! I would love to hear how you got Jackson to sleep. If you already posted it somewhere maybe you could direct me to it. My 8 month old nurses every ten minutes at night lying next to me in bed. I love co-sleeping, but I don't love this! The only way he'll go to sleep is by nursing and lying down on my bed. I know he's still young, but I'm just feeling worn out. I know this kid doesn't need to be nursing that much! I'm exhausted and would love some help! Thanks!
Pam
 
#8 ·
Hey, janiedu! Thanks for joining the party!


Nightweaning is what made the difference for us. Check out Dr. Jay Gordon's nightweaning plan. This is where we started with nightweaning, though we ended up tailoring the plan to fit our babe a bit better (ended up ditching the 6 hour plan and weaning for the whole night after about 6 weeks of struggling with the original plan). But... nightweaning is not usually recommended for babes under 12 months, in part because the little ones are more likely to actually need the nourishment (every ten minutes, though? not likely, you poor thing!).

We had some success with The No Cry Sleep Solution, and I highly recommend starting there. Also, it's not a bad idea to talk to a doctor (an AP-friendly doc, though, or all you'll hear is, "Get that baby out of your bed!") to rule out any physical stuff. Food sensitivities are sometimes to blame. We did craniosachral work to no avail, but a lot of folks are successful with it. We did some homeopathic stuff that also didn't work but works for some people. So, I guess what I'm saying is that there are a bunch of places to start, but you just might end up at nightweaning like we did. It's hard work, especially when you're exhausted, and it's work I never expected to do (I really, really believe in child-led weaning). But, an exhausted mama's got to do what an exhausted mama's got to do.

Now, who else is coming to my party?
 
#9 ·
Hi Tara,

OOOOHHH! I'll come party with you.
What an inspiring post! I've been following your nightweaning journey with great interest---but I'm typically way too tired to respond or post much! I'm so excited to hear your news. Wow!
Hope!!!!

Thanks so much for posting your strategies. Our suituation is intermitently, and often barely, tolerable. I'm a WOHM and DD became a reverse cycler when she was about 6 months old so I've really wanted to continue night nursing as long (albeit as infrequently...) as I could....in the hopes that she'd eventually sleep through the night. No such luck...though has gotten substantially better since she turned a year old.

I'd wanted to wait till she was more verbal to nightwean, "The Nummies are sleeping" sort of an approach. But I'm just soooo tired that we may need to do this in the next few weeks....
 
#11 ·
Welcome to the party, StillForest and ladylee! SF: I also wanted to wait until I could do the 'milk is sleeping' thing... But, we couldn't wait and instead just did the cuddle, comfort instead of nursing thing. For a while I was regretting nightweaning, since it resulted in no real change in sleep habits without an easy way to get him back to sleep. But then we ditched the 6 hour plan and it worked!

lee: It was fast, wasn't it? And I never expected sleep like this... But something clicked for him and he figured it out. Yippee!
 
#14 ·
Thanks! And Rachel, I know you're still in the thick of it... Hang in there!

I don't feel incredibly well-rested yet because he is waking at 4 in the morning. Yup, he sleeps from 8-4 without waking, but we're up early. I am *so* not complaining, as it's still the best sleep I've had in nearly a year and a half... What is helping a lot is that he is finally napping well, too! Like one and sometimes two naps per day, at least an hour long!! He's been such a catnapper that I can count on one hand the number of times I've been able to nap with him before this happened. Well, I've napped with him twice this week! Yay for us!
 
#15 ·
Thats so great Tara!! We are also coming to your party and mayeb Jackson can talk to Parker!! LOL We have actually had 2 great nights these last nights, only 2 wakings compared to 6 or 7 wakings. Its so hard and I feel so overtouched after marathon nursing all night long, but we are learning together and I think he will eventually get it!!
 
#16 ·
Tara, you probably don't remember me, but YOU CHANGED MY LIFE! I only posted a couple times on this board, but I followed your advice . . . you advised to completely stop nursing in bed. You inspired me and IT WORKED!

First, I stopped nursing in bed. Then, I had a serious talk with DH that I was going to go insane if I had to keep waking up every 2 hours (if not more) to nurse, especially knowing that he was sleeping soundly in another room. So, he said he'd give me a "break" and sleep with DD (w/o me).

After an ugly fight, DH agreed that this wasn't going to be a little break for me, but that he'd share nighttime parenting responsibility. Night #1 had crying at the regular intervals, and DH would soothe Fiona to sleep. Night #2 had a miraculous 4 hour stretch. Within one week, Fiona has gone from waking every 2 hours to getting in a 4-7 (that's right-- SEVEN) hour stretch. And even after waking, DH is able to soothe her to sleep!

I can't thank you enough, Tara. It's a miracle.
 
#17 ·
Right on, Mizelenius!!!
That rocks! I'm so very, very glad for you.

(And, of course I remember you! You're the one that spoke up on my 'nightweaning failure' thread about how a lot of the moms who don't get it about nightwaking are the lucky ones who sleep through nursing... I wish!)
 
#19 ·
Heck yeah I'll party with you!


I've brought a baguette, melted brie and some red wine.


I am so stoked tonight because dd actually fell asleep on her own!!! It was amazing. Usually I lay with her til she falls asleep (and more often than not, I do too) but tonight, sweet baby! I had to go to the bathroom (she was still awake) so I got up and she didn't follow me. I peed. Not a sound. I stood in the hallway for about 5 minutes, nothing. I logged onto mothering and well, here I am- parting with you fine folks!

We nightweaned about 3 months ago, and YES! It definitely changed my life!!! My little girl is getting so independent!



But enough about us.


WOOHOO TARA!!! Live it up!!!


And after the party~ sweet
Jackson's gonna have a great day tomorrow with his well-rested mama!
 
#21 ·
Tara, I'll bring some decaf chai and some homemade oat scones with lemon curd - it would be too bad if you finally have the chance to get some quality sleep and you get too buzzed from the coffee to snooze!

Congratulations, mama! I too have followed the Trials and Tribulations of Tara and Jackson with great interest, as I have a baby who is not the greatest sleeper on the planet...you deserve the mama of the year award for keeping it together for so long with no sleep!

 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top