So a few months ago, I stumbled across an article called, "Changing the Sleep Pattern in the Family Bed" and it caught my attention b/c it really spoke to me and sounded like our situation! Don't get me wrong, I love having Brennan sleep with us (more like me!), but I was getting tired of the 24 hour nursing buffett - it didn't keep me up, as it is really easy to roll over and "offer", but as I looked in to the future, I just knew it needed to stop. I knew that B-man didn't need to eat all night and that he was old enough for the process of self-soothing to start taking place. So I waited until we were not going to be travelling or having guests for a while, and committed to the plan.
Nights 1-3 - those were rough. He was pissed when I pulled him off before he fell asleep. It was hard for me too b/c it meant being awake much more at night.....
Nights 4-6 - yikes, not much better. He hated me walking him around and the 1st two nights of this part, it took over an hour in the middle of the night to get him back to sleep, let alone me! He was fighting being in my arms.
Nights 7+ - this is where we are now. Sat night was the best night of all - I just let him cry next to me in the middle of the night, but offered a hand for soothing, and he quickly fell asleep. Last night, not so much.....he was struggling to stay asleep.
The thing I really like about this plan is that I am not banned from nursing him - I just have committed to no nursing during a 7 hour stretch - but anytime before or after that, I am free to do what we both want/prefer. It ends up being more than 7 hours (my 7 hour stretch is 10pm-5am) and Brennan tends not to wake up before 10pm, so really it ends up being more like a 10 hour stretch for him - 7:30-5am - and he is fine.
A key for us is having a sippy cup of water next to the bed for his middle of the night wake up - he does seem thirsty and it seems to calm him down to be able to take a few sips.
Hopefully this will be a good plan overall - I am happy so far! And Brennan still wakes up and likes to love on his mommy, so the pissed off phase in the middle of the night, sure doesn't last!
NOTE - this plan is for babies who are at least OVER 12 months old!
1 comment:
I was fortunate that The Boy started doing this on his own around 14 months. I still nurse him once at night (530ish AM), but all other times, he takes "other" soothing-- primarily snuggling and/or holding my arm. Now, he finds me at night rather than me going to him (even in the same bed). We've regressed a bit the past week due to his 2 year molars becoming a problem and Kevin leaving, but I am sure once things settle back to our routine, he'll be fine. Me too. Good luck with the rest of your change. :)
Post a Comment