Is February your favorite month too? I’m not counting down the days until it ends, I promise. I have to stay positive about February, because it is Keats’ birthday month. I am supposed to make him a cake version of these cookies. It’s a good thing his birthday comes before Ash Wednesday, because they are not exactly Lenten fare. (Speaking of Lent, let’s talk about it next week? I’m not quite ready yet, though I am hosting a lovely Lenten inspired giveaway tomorrow.)
I don’t know that I will eat any of Keats’ birthday cake, Lent or not, because I think peanut butter triggers migraines for me. I was kind of worried that coffee might be part of the problem as well, and that was some of my motivation for giving it up for about three weeks. Yes, I’m drinking it again, though what I drink might not be recognized by many as being coffee. Half and half with coffee, no sugar. That’s how I take it, and usually just one cup a day, two on co-op day. The conclusion I’ve reached is that coffee probably isn’t my problem.
As far as all that being tired goes, sometimes the culprit is the most obvious one: sleep deprivation. Job has been seriously limiting my sleep for many months. He is not a peaceful nighttime nurser at all, nor is he a good co-sleeper. (He scratches me, kicks off the covers, and generally thrashes about.) I find that there comes a time with each baby when I can no longer sleep at night while he or she nurses, but it takes me a little while to brace myself to do the actual night weaning. Right now we are one week or so into the process this time around and I am feeling extra tired, even with the return of my cup of coffee. I find that frustrating, the initial tiredness that comes with sleeping more! A friend suggested that my body should adjust in a week or two, so we’ll see. I’ve done this before, actually a lot of times, so you’d think I might remember, but I don’t.
I was asked for night weaning advice, and I’ve been trying to think of some. Do I even have any? I am not the best with helpful tips! The process can look different based on many things, and for us, our small house is a factor. Anything that results in a baby crying in the night we tend to avoid, because so many people can end up being woken up and it can turn into a really unpleasant middle of the night party pretty quickly. We haven’t figured out a way to night wean without some tears, and I feel like those who are looking for advice are hoping to learn the magic formula for no-cry night weaning. Who wouldn’t be?
I think the first bit of advice that I would give is to let yourself off the hook. It’s okay to night wean to begin with, so don’t feel guilty. It’s really important to balance both baby’s needs and mama’s! My babies who have insisted on nursing all night are also the ones who have been most upset over the end of nighttime nursing (obviously) and I know how hard that is. I hate it when my babies cry! Our typical solution is for me to spend a few nights sleeping in another room while Jonny handles the nighttime waking. Job has been a little more difficult than some of our others. He is very persistent. He was initially pretty angry over the whole situation, and the first time I night weaned him (before we all got sick and all plans were thrown out the window) he was still crying a lot four or five nights in, despite the fact that Jonny was holding him. It was really upsetting and frustrating. This second time, things have gotten better a little bit faster.
We’re getting closer to our goal of having Job sleep in his crib next to our bed all night, but we’re not there yet. I’ve moved through this phase with five other children though, and I know we’ll get there. Our first two boys were still sleeping with us at ages five and three, right up until Larkspur was born. They are fourteen and almost twelve now, and they never wake us in the night anymore, and they certainly don’t try to sleep with us. These days with little ones, they pass. If you’re ready to night wean, wean all together, or to move your little one out of your bed, then go ahead and do it, as gently as possible, and without guilt. Trust your instincts. If you aren’t ready, or if you don’t feel like your child is ready, then that is okay too. Nurse for as long as you feel is best for the both of you. My best advice is not to worry, because things will probably turn out allright.
Surely it isn’t the night weaning that has led Job to start eating butter straight off the wrapper. Is that a coping mechanism? Whatever he’s got to do to get by. We’re going to make it through this, I just know it.
p.s. Completely unrelated, but here is the saddest dog who ever did roll in something nasty and have to get a bath:
Emily D. says
Baby eating the Kerrygold? This is my kind of child. Seriously. If I had kids, I would want a kid just like that. 😉
Erin says
I agreee, in the end when/how you wean really doesn’t matter (except to your sleep deprived body). My mum always says to me, “By the time they are walking down the aisle on their wedding day, will this really matter?” puts alot of things into perspective
Amy says
I loved those photos. Specially of you sleeping on the couch with children sitting on you. I have been there and still have moments like those. I know it sounds like a cliché’ but This too shall pass. My youngest just turned three. I had to stop nursing because I found a lump in my breast and because I am at risk for breast cancer I had to stop nursing and get it checked out. Glad I did because they found calcium deposits which can turn into cancer. So I had surgery for that and now I have a permanent marker in there. Even though I was hesitant on stopping nursing. This saved me. I do miss the time of him looking up at me and smiling every now again. I pray and wish for more children. Some say I am crazy, I see them as blessings most days…. Hang in, you are so not alone with the sleepless nights. I still have three children who wake up ay night. One to come back into our bed, one to change his diaper and the other just to make sure we are still here. He has anxieties.
Melissa McIntyre says
As a mom who has nursed and weaned six littles so far with number 7 on the way, I say that your advise is *perfect* 😉
tamara says
Wow, as awful as this sounds it always feel good when you read of someone else suffering from lack of sleep. I myself have never been a good sleeper and ever since our second son was born (we have just the two) I have been deprived. He was a very difficult baby and didn’t sleep through the night until he was about two. He would wake every 40 mins to 1.5 hours, no kidding. It was awful and I was starting to lose it, I admit. I stopped nursing around a year because he just wasn’t interested any longer and that was okay. But he still didn’t sleep much.
Now, at age 8 and 10 they are great sleepers. Me, not so much. I am a night person so I cannot go to sleep easily when they do, and then I like to wake early to get my own time – yoga, journal, tea – before they wake.
But all in all, I try to embrace the tiredness, especially now that it’s all my doing and not the boys. The yoga helps as does the quiet morning hours to myself to prepare for the day, be grateful and mindful.
Wonderful post, love the doggie (poor fella!). xx
Nahuatl Vargas says
I miss very much writing in my blog and reading blogs, and yours is one of my favourites. I’m glad that I read this post, after a long time of reading none, because it was enlighting.
I don’t have a baby to wean, but I was starting to wonder if I was ill or something, because whenever I get to sleep more, after many night of sleeping very little, I start to sleep too much, even 11 hours per night and I’m still very tired after a few days of sleeping that much, so I thought that it was something bad on my health, but this effect that you describe make sense to me.
Thank you for sharing, you are so generous.
Laura says
Thank you so much for posting about this! I had asked a question on a previous post about tips for night weaning, so I totally appreciate you helping out all us mamas who are trying to night wean! I feel so silly even asking as I am getting close to night weaning number five….you’d think I’d have this down by now. But, maybe it is like you said and I am hoping for the perfect no-cry solution 🙂 We too try to avoid as much crying at night as possible so as not to wake the other kids in the house. Sadly, I can’t really remember how I night weaned my other kids except my first….she was so easy and I now realize how easy she was. She took a pacifier and I would just pop it in her mouth when she would fuss. She night weaned super early (probably too early – the things we learn as we have more kids. Maybe this is partly why she weaned easier and quicker. Sometimes I think it is easier to wean earlier) compared to my last three….who wanted to night nurse forever. My last little guy seems to be improving – or was until about ten days ago when he got sick. Now he’s been awful….but not just night nursing, he’s also just waking up and crying and crying. Anyway, I think once he’s completely better we may have to try me sleeping in another room. My husband has helped wean the others, but not completely on his own….mostly because I have such a hard time staying out of the room when the baby is crying so much! Like Job, almost ALL of my babies have been very persistent. VERY persistent. It has taken a long time with each one of them and they don’t give up easily (three days – I wish! I think this is another reason I dread it). I don’t think this little guy is going to be any different. 🙂 Anyway, thank you so much for the encouragement and support – I could certainly use it! Oh and I love the butter picture….my kids eat butter too and it grosses my husband out 🙂
Emily says
Night-weaning is so hard!! What finally worked for me was to wear something to bed that made nursing access impossible. That way, my little one couldn’t get started before I was awake enough to know what was going on. When protests erupted, I could use the old “they’re nighnights; time for sleeping” line, and then we could have a good (milk-free) snuggle. Eventually, we would all get back to sleep together. We would work on the crib transition later. That way, it wasn’t as if the whole order of the world at nighttime was changing–just the nursing. It is exhausting, though! Praying for rest for you.
Kendra @ A Sonoma Garden says
When I scrolled to the photo of you on the couch my immediate thought was, ‘oh you poor thing.’ Then I saw the photo with your kids on top of you and the photo of Job with the butter in his mouth at the same time and I burst out laughing. Yes, I’d be face down on the couch too.
I hope the night weaning goes smoothly. My babies were terrible at sleeping, so I know just how you feel.
Keeping my fingers crossed that you can get some rest this weekend!
Heidi says
I cracked up seeing the photo of Job with the butter! What goes on in their little minds is a mystery! BTW…..I love Kerrygold butter……it’s the only kind I’ll use! Good luck to you & all the other sweet mamas on the night weaning!
Naomi says
Ugh, I know so well that feeling of knowing you need to do something but avoiding it because it’s going to be hard. I told myself so many times I was going to night wean the twins, and then I’d try, and then they’d both be crying in the night, and I’d be so tired I’d give in.
They still don’t sleep that well, even though they are in another room. They haven’t woken up yet tonight, but of course dd2 is puking. There is always something.
My birthday is always in Lent – I don’t intend on making a lenten birthday cake 🙂
The coffee sounds delicious, just my style. And I call butter brain food – babies need all that saturated fat for their brain growth (or it’s just an easy snack I don’t have to think about…)
I hope February goes well for you!
Tania says
I will be thinking of you and Job, Ginny, and hoping it brings you a little bit of the comfort you gave to me earlier this year. I’m still managing to do a bit of breast feeding alongside the bottles and am feeling a lot less sad that we weren’t able to exclusively nurse. Love to you.
Lana says
Our children are 23 to 35 now and they all weaned themselves, some way to early. Only one of ours wanted to night nurse. I am not sure why. Our youngest granddaughter recently weaned herself at 6 months and that was not good but she flat out refused to nurse anymore.
Peanuts have been a migraine trigger for me in the past. Something to consider that I found out by going to a very expensive specialized allergist is that your real problem could be yeast. Once I quit eating yeast, cheese, peanuts, raw carrots and fermented foods I was a new person. B vitamins and the vitamins that constitute ‘enriched’ foods can be a problem for some, too. I have been healed of those allergies in the last few years but I did not eat them for about 20 years. The smallest transgression sent me into a tailspin in a very short time. It is worth a try because it is kind of a hidden food allergy that most overlook. BTW-I have known for years that caffeine makes me tired and drink it anyway.
Dee Bryant says
Spotting the Kerrygold gave me a flutter – Its what we had in Ireland growing up – it reminded me of piles of warm toast with thick butter that we had as kids – I had no idea you could get that in America, you certainly can’t get it here in Australia!
Katherine says
Well I just wanted to add that the pics of you flat out on the sofa (is it called that in the US..) and the Butter Baby made me smile!! Thankyou! I’ve been (am) ill and had a complicated molar extracted today and that was me on the sofa this eve. Face down!! :-p My husband was ‘doing dinner’ as a special nod to my rough nights and day but to be frank it’d have been easier if I’d done it all. We too have a butter fiend here.
After reading this it occurred to me also that the night weaning topic and the butter eating topic could be combined into the solution to easy night weaning: give them butter? :-)) lol
But good luck and strength with your nights- many mamas acrossthe globe are feeding/awake/pacing with babes as you might. X
Jenny says
We are going through a similar thing here! Judah is 21 months and was sleeping in a crib in our room. His older brother (almost 10!) has been asking if his little brother could move into his room. I wasn’t sure if his room was big enough as the bedrooms are tiny but he really wanted him to share a room with him. The first night I nursed him and then put him to sleep into “The Boys’ Room”. He didn’t make it through the whole night but it was a start. It was so much better for both of us that he couldn’t see me! The last three nights he has slept ALL NIGHT long and longer than he’s ever slept before (11-12 hours – that has NEVER happened!). And yet, I am more tired than before! I think my body has just realized what it was missing out on…hoping a few more nights of uninterrupted sleep will set me right. 🙂 Now if he would go to sleep at 9pm instead of 11pm I could get 10 or 11 hours of sleep myself…haha! Wishful thinking…
Jenny says
Oh, and by sleeping in a crib in our room, I mean he started in the crib and wound up in our bed for half the night or more!
Klara says
I suffered from terrible sleep deprivation in autumn. My son (now 11m) woke up five or more times to breastfeed. In mod-December we were moving to a new bedroom where was finally space for his own bed. I suggested he weans while at the same time getting used to the new space and his own bed (he slept in ours till then). The rule (that works well so far) is to put him to bed around 8 pm (he needs to be well fed, tired and happy) and not take him out before 5 am. No milk, no drinks, no snuggles. The good thing is that he really sleeps all those hours (he cried only first few days), the bad thing is that I wake up with at 5 am ever since. At 5 I take him to the living room and breastfeed him with light on (so that he can distinguish night and day). It works perfectly. I still breastfeed him a lot by day but sleep well by night. Bedtime has also become much easier. Only the early hours in the morning make it sometimes pretty tough.
Willow4 says
Hang in there.
Someday when you are well rested, you will see some other poor mother struggling with the same issues and thank your lucky stars that everyone survived in your household.
This his how wise old grandmas are made!
Hugz 😉
Grace says
but I love February! It’s March I can’t stand. Although I gather that at my elevation, March is for me what February is for people at sea level, and April is for me what March is for the rest of you.
Also I have never night weaned a child! My husband wouldn’t be able to help at all, so it just wouldn’t be practical. I just wait till they outgrow it on their own, which they all have. 🙂
Barbara says
I agree about March. We have two February birthdays, so February is a happier month. March, to me, just drags and drags.
Grace says
We also have two February birthdays, which really helps. We have a March birthday as well, but it’s early enough in the month that it doesn’t break up March enough for me.
Yvonne says
In regards to headaches. Take magnesium that helps prevent a lot of them. I have suffered from headaches/migraines all my live and recently went to a neurologist and she suggested I take magnesium. It helps. My headache triggers are hormonal (that time of month) and I get them from preservatives/any food no labeled as All Natural.
Kate says
Sheesh! I can’t even remember how weaning went with the kids since my youngest is eight. I nursed my seven kids round the clock until they were two (although the youngest hung in there until 3; probably sentimentality on my part too) and night nursing was the last to go. As they got older, they were so busy during the day that day nursing dropped off, but they usually wanted to nurse at least to get to sleep (and it was easier for me). We got rid of our crib after #1 since the little time it was used didn’t warrant the space it was talking up. I kept a crib mattress under the bed and pulled it out for times we didn’t want the baby in bed with us. When I started night weaning, after the baby had dozed off I (actually it was usually my husband since I had fallen asleep also) slipped the baby onto his mattress. He/she would have to climb back into our bed to nurse in the night. Sometimes if they started to fuss, it was enough if I just leaned over the bed and patted them back to sleep. By two I knew they were just nursing for comfort, so I tried to think of other comforting night habits for them. My two youngest were very close to my oldest daughter who was a teenager when they were born, so climbing into bed with her was a comfort when Mommy was being “mean.” When I really wanted to get serious about weaning, my husband took over the bedtime routine so the toddler would forget that sleep = nursing. I have a foggy memory of it not being easy as it sounds and of afternoon mommy naps being necessary to the breastfeeding years.
Regarding your migraines, could it be hormonal? The only time I had migraines in my life were during my first and second pregnancies at the end of the first trimester. I had two weeks of migraines with each and then they disappeared. I did not have migraines with any of my other pregnancies and (don’t hate me) rarely get headaches (which I attribute to regular chiropractic visits). I always know when my period is going to start though, because I’ll get a slight headache the day before – since I’m premenopausal and my cycles are so irregular, it’s kind of a relief to have some heads-up.
Lynn says
… also meant to say the beginning of your post reminded me of friends up north (where I grew up and lived 1/2 my life) call this month Forevuary (lasts forever!).
Lynn, in cold-today Houston
Lynn says
Ginny, thinking of you and remembering waaay back to weaning (26 years ago now) my last/third child. Hope you find your rhythm and it starts to work.
… and the butter? my oldest ate a whole stick of butter (on a plate on the counter), slowly over the course of an afternoon by the fingerful,,when she was 2. A funny memory, but who knows why they do these things. We all still talk about it. She is also the one who *insisted* in tasting a clove of garlic once, and she loves it today! but she also pushed up through a crowd (holding my hand) to a display at the NY State Fair where some miracle goop that cleaned grease off of pots and pans was doing a demo and also ‘wanted a taste’! All memories moms hold in their heart.
hugs across the miles from TX
Lynn
Rachel Marie says
February is the worst month. For sure. And February 1 marked a historic blizzard where we live. Now we’re in a deep freeze and trying to find bright spots in this most dreary of months! We have plans to go to a cute little bakery with my mother in law on Fat Tuesday to get their delicious pazckis. That’s something to look forward to. And we have projects around the house to get some of the kids moved into different rooms before baby comes in March. I’m not dealing with night weaning. But with the time of year, pregnancy, and I think, the fact that we’re deep into the school year but still have a ways to go I can relate to the deep bone fatigue! Maybe we all just need to eat some butter 🙂 Looks like Job has found a great way to cope with the February blahs 🙂
Barbara says
Poor dog. Who DO they do that (roll in smelly stuff)? Ugh.
Do you eat almond butter, Ginny? Because when I was trying to figure out my migraine trigger, almonds was on almost every list. (It ends up mine is not food at all but but bright light — like glares off water and car glass).
I hope you’re sleeping all night soon. I remember those days. Usually mine were sleeping through the night (thank goodness) before I weaned them.
Sarah says
Oh Ginny, I am so glad you have written about night weaning. I think this is the weekend that we will(?!)wean our almost twenty month old. You would think with him being number six I would feel confident- but I don’t. So reading your words (as I sit here nursing him before his nap) is a spirit- nudge! Do it! I have not slept thru the night yet since he was born and I am really feeling it. Last night again he was in my bed nursing all. Night. Long. And I have another bleb! Painful! So it is beyond time- but I keep getting cold feet. Partly bc I don’t want to face the extra tiredness and tears before it all gets better. Got to gear up for that one!
Sarah
Eva says
We dreaded and therefore put off the night weaning for too long (small house where other people had do sleep too!), until it was becoming completely unbearable and I just wanted to finally get some uninterrupted sleep again! Baby was 19 months old then. Our solution was for me to temporarily move out of our bedroom, and have dad take over. We braced ourselves for the worst, but night three after me moving out, and everybody was sleeping through the night! Reading your experience I realize how lucky we were. So, sorry, not advice from me. Good luck! Hang in there!
Ginny says
That sounds like our other babies, three nights is more the norm. Job is a stubborn little guy!
Renee Anne says
Perhaps it’s because I formula-feed Stormageddon (5 months old, as I did with Little Man, who is now 4 years old), but that boy sleeps through the night, in his crib, in his own room, no issues. He doesn’t sleep well in our room. Honestly, the only time he slept well in our room was during a stint of about 3 weeks when he would only sleep on me…and then he started being a crab about it and he was put into his crib and he was much happier. But that’s what worked for us.
So, I know squat about any kind of weaning other than taking the bottle/binky away cold-turkey.
I actually laughed a bit when I saw that Job was eating butter.
Siné says
Ginny, your night weaning advice couldn’t have come at a better time. My 13 monthold thinks I am an all night buffet, and I have stopped being able to sleep through all the night nursing. I have turned into a zombie so I am starting to consider night weaning. I know there will be tears, and my heart is breaking at the thought of it; your encouragement was so needed. Thank you.
lori says
Love the dog in the tub, made me laugh. I will have to look at that one again.
Spalva says
Ginny, I honestly cannot express how much I wish you had been around the last time I weaned a baby. I spent too much time on Mothering.com where even five seconds of crying was considered child abuse. I so, so wish I had had wiser mamas around me. Hopefully, I’ll be a wise grandma.
Bianca says
P.S. Our second daughter liked to gnaw on butter also! 🙂
Bianca says
Well, here is what happened in our house. I got pregnant with our second when our first was about fourteen months old and nursing strong day and night. My LaLeche League leader who had four children said she thought that I would have a hard time nursing both children at night SO I decided that I would only nurse the older one during the day when the second baby came. So she was almost two when we did this. I would nurse her a long time bed and then, I think, I told her when the some comes up it’s time to nurse again. It went pretty well. Then I nursed them both for a year and a half when the older daughter stopped nursing (with a little encouragement) at three and a half and the younger one went on until she was just four. Phew…six years in a row of nursing. I have to say, though, I was one of those people who loved in, mostly. Good luck, everyone!!
Denise T. says
The sofa pictures were priceless!!!! And the butter snatcher picture had my son guffawing. Thanks for a funny lift on a gray February day.
Denise T. says
The sofa pictures are priceless!! And the butter picture just had me guffawing. What a great face!! Thanks for a February lift to my day.
erin says
We did not do a family bed because I needed that time and space for myself. But when we took our babies out of our room (which you probably won’t want to do, and which is totally okay), they pretty naturally stopped night feeding. But they were younger, so… I do think that when they smell mommy’s milk, it wakes them up and reminds them of what they are missing. I don’t think we did any weaning of the nighttime variety (mostly waking up and wanting to sleep in mom’s bed) without some tears, but the tears only lasted three days, diminishing each day.
Elizabeth says
Keep at it! Yes, a little one does tire a Mother out. OH dear about peanut butter causing problems :(((( Are you staying hydrated enough? that can add to headache possibilities etc. Yay for coffee NOT being a problem for you! 🙂
Angela says
We night weaned several months ago, and while it wasn’t tear free it was as gentle as I can imagine it. We loosely followed dr. Jack Newman’s night weaning method. He recommends that you don’t night wean until at least a year and a half, I believe. I wanted to night wean without having to stop co-sleeping (my toddler has a floor bed in our bedroom, but he sometimes comes into our bed).
I’ll explain our version of Dr. Jack Newman’s method here:
Choose a seven hour block where you won’t nurse baby. For us, this is 10pm-5am. Before 10 and after 5, nurse to sleep as usual. At end of this process, the 7 hour block will become nursing-free, and hopefully wake-free as well. For about 5 nights, when baby wakes nurse the baby, but don’t nurse until he falls asleep. You can sing, snuggle, rock etc until he falls asleep. He doesn’t get to nurse again until he falls asleep and re-wakes. Repeat at each waking. After 5 days of this, when baby wakes during the 7 hour period, there’s no nursing. But, we snuggled, rocked, sang, etc to sleep. It took about a week for the wakings to decrease significantly. The crying decreased right away. Now he sleeps through at least the 7 hour block. If he does wake, sometimes he’ll climb into bed with us, but doesn’t ask for milk and goes right back to sleep.
I loved that this method allowed me to comfort him, instead of leaving him to cry himself to sleep, and it allows us to continue to room share or bed share without him asking for milk all night. We’re both so well rested and happy at night!
Ashley says
I am crying reading this because we are planning to night wean my 18 month old next week (we have a trip this wkend and have been saying for months we would do it when we return.) I know it’s the right thing to do. I haven’t slept more than 3 hours in a row since he was born. And we want to have another one which just can’t happen if I’m not sleeping at all. But still I feel incredibly guilty, which I know will only increase once I hear his tears. I just need to hear more mommas say “it’s ok” so I can make it through. I’m so sad to come to the end of this part of his babyhood but I also just am barely functioning anymore so I know it’s time. Sigh.
Ginny says
Ashley, I remember thinking that the day after an intense night weaning night full of tears, that my baby would seem different. Upset? Scarred for life? I don’t know what I was looking for, but what I have found is that my babies never showed any signs of this being a damaging process, but in fact were more cheerful as they began to get more sleep themselves. It’s still so hard, and yes–saying goodbye to each phase of parenting is hard for me too. You’ll be in my thoughts and prayers next week!
Ashley says
Thank you Ginny. That means so much to hear from an experienced momma. You and your crew will be in my thoughts and prayers as well 🙂
Cassandra Elaine says
I felt just like Betsy M. Did you write this for me? I am night weaning #3 and so so tired. I think the prolactin hangover from losing all that night nursing has put me in a hormonal tailspin which has never happened before. We’ll get there though.
Ginny says
**Hormonal tailspin** Yes! Me too!
erin says
That picture of Job with the pound of butter made me laugh out loud! I have a picture of my now 16 year old back when he was toddler doing the same thing – teeth right into that block of butter! Ha!
Brooke says
Haha! I am enjoying this post. I have always night weaned when I got pregnant but since that will not be the case this time I am unsure how this will play out. With my second night weaning I fed a two year old meat as a bedtime snack. It worked, kind of.
Marcia Mattern says
((Ginny)) we just night weaned our sixth child too. And it’s all sorts of fun, kind of. I found that offering a cup of water in the middle of the night, encouraging deep breathing with me, offering to snuggle or bounce instead of giving in to milk, and reminding that we will nurse as “soon as the sun comes up” were some of the things that helped it happen. He’s currently 29 months, but I suspect it took us the last three months to get this habit of making it all night without the “milkies”. I do offer some higher calorie snacks before bed in hopes that he’s not really hungry in the night…just waking with a need for comfort. Comfort I can do, but night nursing needed a break. Elizabeth Pantley’s book The no-cry sleep solution has helpful hints too.
Beth says
Ginny, I love your blog! My little ones are now grown and have little ones of their own and I’m always encouraging them to read your blog. Small Things is more than a blog, it’s a ministry. Thank you for showing me again and again how one can live with simple devotion and great joy.
Mallory says
Oh boy. I have a 5 month old. I am not trying to night wean him, but definitely get him to learn how to sleep in his own crib! It isn’t going very well because I always have this overwhelming sense that I have no idea what I’m doing (I don’t!) so I second guess myself all the time. I usually give in and bring him to bed with us. I guess even vetran mamas struggle! I will say a prayer for your efforts 🙂
Olivia says
Oh, night weaning! Sigh. We usually start a little earlier with night weaning because it tends to be easier and go faster but there is still crying involved. Our 10 month old still wakes 2-3 times a night but at least she is not in our bed anymore, which means the sleep I do get is better than the half awake sleep of co-sleeping with a non infant. It’s rough, but as you said, it does end!!
Ginny says
Olivia, you are so right that it is better to start earlier! I swore I was going to this time around! SIGH!!!!
Jenna says
As a first time momma to a now 6mos old – who didn’t know I was a co-sleeper advocate until baby came 😉 and who is learning much about baby’s nursing needs and momma’s sleeping needs – when you say “earlier” what age time frame are you suggesting?
Kris says
Here’s to a smooth transition for you and Job – lots of sleep for you both! Maybe you should also start eating kerrygold out of the wrapper! My youngest does the same, and also takes handfuls out of the butter at the table. We’ve started just giving him a slice to prevent him mauling the butter in the dish… I do wish there was kerrygold to buy where we live.
Betsy M says
Ginny, did you write this post just for me? It sounds like it. Thanks. We are in a new house and the night weaning is not going good. The bigger kids keep waking up and then crying because the baby is crying and Mom must be CRAZY because she is not picking up the baby! Ugh. Have a good weekend!