[simple life]

<p>I never, ever, ever thought I'd be coming here to ask this, ever.  I have been wanting too for two or three months, but kept hoping it would pass.  It would for maybe a week and then back to waking all the time.  I nursed her brother until he weaned totally on his own at 2.5 (I was pregnant, so it was most likely the pregnancy, but it wasn't my doing on purpose, I really had wanted to tandem!).  But even though he woke at least every 2 hours to nurse - until the day he stopped forever, he was so calm about it, he'd root around for a little and then start like grunting or maybe just a small fuss if he couldn't find the boob.  Dolores, she's always been a screaming, and not even a rooter then screamer, it wasn't as big of a deal when she was only nursing twice at night, now with this all night stuff (5 or more wake up) it's a big deal.  She'll be peacefully sleeping, and then in her head get the desire to nurse, then scream, well, I guess it's more crying, not screaming.  So it's always very disruptive, there is no sleeping through it, plus the franticness of me having to turn over and get her latched on always wakes me up.  Sometimes I can fall asleep, but other times she'll nurse for a minute, unlatch, cry, nurse, cry, nurse, cry, nurse.  So that when she is done, I am just waiting for her to cry again, because of course as soon as I doze off, cry.   It would not be an issue if she was quieter about it!</p>
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<p>I don't know if I'm really ready to night wean her, but I need to know what it looks like.  I am just so done, I can barely function and live in a constant haze.  If she gives we a day or two of her old night nursing, I'm still not all caught up on sleep.  Her and her brother only sleep 10 hours a night, add in her now normal nursing every hour or so and I'm just fried.  It takes me at least an hour to fall asleep and then I'm up about an hour before them because she usually starts a cluster nurse around that time.</p>
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<p>So just wondering how it worked and looked for those who did this.  Also, having hubby help isn't and option, he just doesn't wake at night and if he does get woken it's a huge deal.  He sleeps more than the kids, yes it's a VERY sore issue for me! </p>
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<p>Thank you,</p>
<p>Julie</p>

 

[PatioGardener]

<p>I have no personal experience (ds is only 6 mo) but I do have a link to share:</p>
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<p><a href="http://drjaygordon.com/attachment/sleeppattern.html" target="_blank">http://drjaygordon.com/attachment/sleeppattern.html</a></p>
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<p></p>
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<p>good luck!</p>

 

[jecombs]

<p> I night-weaned my DD when she was 14 mo. old because she was still nursing 4-5x a night.  Like you said, I just couldn't live in the costant haze anymore. I wanted DD to go from 11 PM to 5 AM without nursing.  She didn't really fuss the first night when I said "no" to nursing, she just went peacefully back to sleep.  I thought I was in the clear.  Boy, was I wrong!  The second night she must've figured out I was serious.  She had a tantrum that lasted about 45 min.  I just rocked her the whole time and patted her back.  She woke two more times that night and tatrummed for about 15 min each time.  She continued to fuss every night when she wanted to nurse, but it gradually got less and less.  I think about two weeks into it, she gave up the tantrums and fussing.  She still woke 2-3 times a night, but was easily soothed back to sleep with patting and shushing. </p>
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<p>DD is now 3 and still co-sleeps with us part-time.  She starts the night in her own bed, but usually comes to our bed upon her first night-waking between 1 AM and 3 AM.  So, she's still not a fabulous sleeper, but it is a lot better than it used to be!</p>
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<p>I hope that helps!  That is what night-weaning looked like for us.  DD went on to nurse until she was 26 mo.  She self-weaned just before I got pregnant with her brother.</p>

 

[buckeyedoc]

<p>I recall with DS#1 that I took some pointers from The No-Cry Sleep Solution. He was waking up every hour or two to nurse, even when he was about 1 year old. I started cutting the nursing sessions shorter by one minute at a time over a couple of weeks until they were only about 5 minutes long each time he woke. I also did a dream feed before I went to bed at 10:30 (he went to bed at 7:30-8:00). That seemed to do the trick, as he gradually went down to one nursing session per night and then started sleeping through the night at about 15 months.</p>

 

[simple life]

<p>Thank you all, and thanks for the link.  I also found some info on Kellymom and Dr.Sears webpage.  I'm trying now to make sure she eats a ton during the day, nursing her every chance I can get.  Once I see if that helps I will decide where to go from there.  The first night, she slept for like 5 hours, last night only 3.  So we'll see how tonight goes.  I'm hesitant to let her cry, (with me comforting her of course!) because we only have one room, so she'd totally wake up my son and husband.  I could go in the living room, but that would be so disruptive, and I don't know if it would be helpful for not, also, she does not ever calm down in the middle of the night with other measures, she just gets more and more and more mad, sometimes into just a pure fit of rage.  So maybe that's my sign that she's not ready?  I don't know.  My cycle is back to, and that night/morning that I posted was the low point of extreme pms (Ihave it horribly and it last the whole two weeks from ovulation until cycle starting!)  So I think I was totally at my breaking point, and now, I feel like I have some tools to help with this. </p>
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<p>What do you all think about a pacifier at night?  I have never ever used one, but I wonder if that would help her??</p>