Night weaning
Nov. 29th, 2009 05:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fruitkakechevyOver the past year I've thought and thought and thought about nightweaning, but being pregnant has really brought matters to a head. In this last week, with Josh in his Big Boy Bed (BBB) for part of the night, my sleep gets really disturbed, not when he crawls in with us, but when he then nurses for EVER and then wakes up more often to nurse than he did pre-BBB. I think that sleeping in two places makes him a more restless sleeper, but he's been taking longer naps in the past little while, so it all evens out.
I was worried that Josh would cry for hours, and that he wouldn't get the idea for weeks. I was worried that I'd have to stop cosleeping, or stop nursing to sleep, two things that I enjoy and work well for us all. I was worried that I'd have to do it over again if I started before he had all his teeth.
I talked to a bunch of people that have successfully nightweaned, and they all agreed that it was great, and relatively easy after two nights. Two of them still nurse to sleep and cosleep, and the others have older kids. Everyone started earlier than I did with Josh, though not earlier than 18 or 20 months. During nightweaning they held their toddlers, sang, and were there for them them as they cried, and everyone got terrible sleep but it was only for a few days before things settled out.
I was prepared for that. What I wasn't really prepared for was, after spending the day reminding him every so often what was happening, for him to basically just accept it the first night, roll over, and go back to sleep. No crying. No stress. I told him, "'Nei-neis' are sleeping, you can have 'nei-nei' when the sun comes up or when Turtle Light" (on a timer) "comes on." He woke up a few times that first night, and a few times last night, and I expect it will be a few times tonight, but it really wasn't a big deal.
It might have been easy because I'm pregnant, and there hasn't been much there for him anyway, or maybe because I nursed him (almost) whenever he wanted for 2.5 years so now he's willing to move on. Or maybe he's just an easygoing guy. Whatever the reason, I'm pretty happy with the results!
I was worried that Josh would cry for hours, and that he wouldn't get the idea for weeks. I was worried that I'd have to stop cosleeping, or stop nursing to sleep, two things that I enjoy and work well for us all. I was worried that I'd have to do it over again if I started before he had all his teeth.
I talked to a bunch of people that have successfully nightweaned, and they all agreed that it was great, and relatively easy after two nights. Two of them still nurse to sleep and cosleep, and the others have older kids. Everyone started earlier than I did with Josh, though not earlier than 18 or 20 months. During nightweaning they held their toddlers, sang, and were there for them them as they cried, and everyone got terrible sleep but it was only for a few days before things settled out.
I was prepared for that. What I wasn't really prepared for was, after spending the day reminding him every so often what was happening, for him to basically just accept it the first night, roll over, and go back to sleep. No crying. No stress. I told him, "'Nei-neis' are sleeping, you can have 'nei-nei' when the sun comes up or when Turtle Light" (on a timer) "comes on." He woke up a few times that first night, and a few times last night, and I expect it will be a few times tonight, but it really wasn't a big deal.
It might have been easy because I'm pregnant, and there hasn't been much there for him anyway, or maybe because I nursed him (almost) whenever he wanted for 2.5 years so now he's willing to move on. Or maybe he's just an easygoing guy. Whatever the reason, I'm pretty happy with the results!
