This really should be called "Night Weaning 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0" because I'm going to recap our three different attempts. :)
Back in June, we started to try the process of night-weaning. It went really well.
Night One: He woke up as usual, cried for "milmies," I told him "Milmies are nigh-night, and it's time for Burkley to go nigh-night." That worked for about fifteen minutes until he woke up again crying hysterically. I gladly nursed him to sleep, not wanting this to be a traumatizing experience for him. I nursed him to sleep and he slept the rest of the way through the night, which was amazing!
Night Two: He woke up as usual for milmies around midnight. I did the same as the night before, telling him they were nigh-night, and let him hold one (he likes to do that!) and he fell asleep. He slept through the night after that!
Night Three: Slept through the whole night! He has only done this a small handful of times in his 21 months.
Day Four: He got a terrible fever which lasted for nine days. I obviously nursed him on demand during this time.
After the nine days, I temporarily forgot about night-weaning, we went on vacation, and then it occurred to me to start trying again.
Attempt two was really just off and on for a couple weeks as I'd remember and/or have the energy. It was not really successful because I really just decided that I preferred a good night's sleep to a night of fighting my toddler.
We just started the process again this week. It has not gone as smoothly as it did the first time around.
Night One: Lots of "milmies are nigh-night," etc., until he gets so mad that I just nurse him for the sake of sleep. However, taking some new steps: only letting him nurse for a couple minutes (saying, "Just a little milmies!") which does work out fine. After a few minutes, I unlatch him and he rolls over and falls asleep. I've also, when I'm coherent enough, been making the effort to put him back in his side-carred crib rather then let him snooze right next to me.
Night Two: Same.
Night Three: Same.
So...we are not making progress as quickly as we did before, but we are making steps toward our end goal. And the funniest, cutest thing is that when he wakes up in the morning, he always says, "I want BIG milmies!" since all night I had been telling him, "little milmies!" Of course he usually latches on for only a minute or two and then is eager to roll over, find Daddy, and get his day going.
And, just as an interesting aside, here we are on day four of this round of night-weaning, and Burkley has a little cold. Nothing major, just a nonstop drippy nose and watery eyes. Last time on day four he got sick as well. I wonder if his immune system is not ready for night-weaning? He nurses more in the night than he does in the day (in the day, it's just before his nap, and sometimes once during his nap, but that's it).
It's taken me awhile to blog about this because I kind of find it a boring topic to blog about, but I've also appreciated some of the other blogs I've read about other parents' experiences with this topic, so I figure I'll add my writing to that pool of info. Plus, I do want to be sure to document various stages of Burkley's life here.
Do you have any night-weaning tips or stories to share? Have you blogged about it? If so, share your links in the comments!
Back in June, we started to try the process of night-weaning. It went really well.
Night One: He woke up as usual, cried for "milmies," I told him "Milmies are nigh-night, and it's time for Burkley to go nigh-night." That worked for about fifteen minutes until he woke up again crying hysterically. I gladly nursed him to sleep, not wanting this to be a traumatizing experience for him. I nursed him to sleep and he slept the rest of the way through the night, which was amazing!
Night Two: He woke up as usual for milmies around midnight. I did the same as the night before, telling him they were nigh-night, and let him hold one (he likes to do that!) and he fell asleep. He slept through the night after that!
Night Three: Slept through the whole night! He has only done this a small handful of times in his 21 months.
Day Four: He got a terrible fever which lasted for nine days. I obviously nursed him on demand during this time.
After the nine days, I temporarily forgot about night-weaning, we went on vacation, and then it occurred to me to start trying again.
Attempt two was really just off and on for a couple weeks as I'd remember and/or have the energy. It was not really successful because I really just decided that I preferred a good night's sleep to a night of fighting my toddler.
We just started the process again this week. It has not gone as smoothly as it did the first time around.
Night One: Lots of "milmies are nigh-night," etc., until he gets so mad that I just nurse him for the sake of sleep. However, taking some new steps: only letting him nurse for a couple minutes (saying, "Just a little milmies!") which does work out fine. After a few minutes, I unlatch him and he rolls over and falls asleep. I've also, when I'm coherent enough, been making the effort to put him back in his side-carred crib rather then let him snooze right next to me.
Night Two: Same.
Night Three: Same.
So...we are not making progress as quickly as we did before, but we are making steps toward our end goal. And the funniest, cutest thing is that when he wakes up in the morning, he always says, "I want BIG milmies!" since all night I had been telling him, "little milmies!" Of course he usually latches on for only a minute or two and then is eager to roll over, find Daddy, and get his day going.
 |
| Burkley doesn't exactly stay in his side-carred crib very well! :) |
It's taken me awhile to blog about this because I kind of find it a boring topic to blog about, but I've also appreciated some of the other blogs I've read about other parents' experiences with this topic, so I figure I'll add my writing to that pool of info. Plus, I do want to be sure to document various stages of Burkley's life here.
Do you have any night-weaning tips or stories to share? Have you blogged about it? If so, share your links in the comments!
I know you've read this, but in case it helps others: Night Weaning - Week 1 of 3.
ReplyDeleteI'd be very interested to hear how his health continues from here. I've never heard of that happening as far as there being any sort of correlation.
I can totally empathize with the desire to sleep, whether that requires night nursing or not. Sleep is so important! I detailed our night weaning saga here: http://vibrantwanderings.com/2011/12/gently-night-weaning-a-toddler.html
ReplyDeleteLately, when I don't want to nurse my two year old but he really wants it, we do a ten count. It's working remarkably well for the most part! He asks and instead of saying no, I say "Can we do 10?" We count to ten and then he unlatches. Sometimes he will happily unlatch at 3 or 6 - I think that just knowing he can have a taste is enough for him to feel secure. It might be a good way to get into night weaning. My kid has naturally gone down to one or two feedings at night and I'm thrilled. He nurses when I get into bed a few hours after him and then will usually go until morning. You'll get there! I swear, it seemed to just happen overnight.
ReplyDelete