[LuluMama]

I have a little boy about to turn one. He nurses sporadically thu the day and is starting on solids. But he also co sleeps with me and nurses ALL night long. I have to hang with him in bed because every time he wakes (which is often) he screams if I (or my boob) isn't right there.

I enjoy this for the most part and my husband has tolerated it. It's just gone on a lot longer than I thought it would. I mistakenly thought the baby would decide on his own to sleep thru the night with no boob. At that point I was going to put him in his crib. Needless to say that hasn't happened yet.

My first son I was totally different with- so I have no idea what I am doing here. I don't want to take away something he finds so nice and comforting and I am enjoying every moment since I know he'll be my last baby- but am I just making it more difficult for the wean in the future? I don't know. I guess because my older boy slept on his own and through the night (after much crying) this feels so...I don't know, different. Like I said, I am enjoying it but I am afraid I'm kind of creating a dependent baby...any thoughts or support?

ps- obviously CIO is no longer an option. I feel bad about having done it with #1 and just can't do it with #2.

 

[jecombs]

Have you considered night-weaning? I night-weaned my DD at 14 m.o. because I couldn't take the all night nursing anymore! She was eating 3 meals a day, plus one snack, and nursing 4x a day, plus 3-4x at night. I used Dr. Jay Gordon's method. It was tough, but it worked. And I didn't feel like I did anything that DD wasn't ready for. Here's a link, if you're interested:

http://www.drjaygordon.com/development/ap/sleep.asp

DD is now 17 m.o. She respects the hours of non-nursing pretty well (10 PM to 4 AM) and rarely wakes up during this time. Recently, I side-carred her crib to our bed, so we could all have a little more room and she could start getting used to sleeping in her own space. So far, so good! This is the best sleep I've had since the 3rd trimester of pregnancy started!

 

[LuluMama]

Thank you so much for that link. It is really helpful- I read it through and totally don't feel ready. Haha. Hubby and I are going away with baby this weekend and I will talk with him...hopefully having the baby, er 1 year old in bed with us isn't too bad for my husband because in the end I guess I don't mind and would like to continue for a little longer...but that link is bookmarked for when I do decide it's the end.

I guess part of my issue here is that I know I won't be having any more babies, so I guess I'm kind of trying to keep this one as a baby.

 

[tammyswanson]

DS still nurses at night (and we still co sleep...I find I sleep better that way because before that I'd sleep with DH and he snores so much, I never got a good nights sleep, lol!), but I have found that he wakes up less (or not at all) if I get him to eat before he goes to sleep. Since I noticed you said you are feeding your DS some solids, this may help too. If I don't feed DS solid food before he goes to sleep, he will wake up a lot more.

 

[SMS]

LuluMama, I am in exactly the same situation. My DS will be 1 in January and I am so exhausted from all-night nursing. I have the Jay Gordon book and even though he says not to try until they are 1, I might have to try soon. I am going insane from the lack of sleep and now that DS is so much bigger, he actually HURTS me at night with his kicking and thrashing around. Good luck!

 

[Katie T]

I had this problem too he was almost 2 when he quit waking every 2 hrs to nursel I kept my breast out @ night so he would latch on & I would usually sleep it helped now he is just over 2 & sleeps threw the night with us of course. Good Luck!