Thursday, January 24, 2008

Mrs. Whiny Pants

My son has stopped sleeping at night.

I mean, he sleeps but he wants to sleep on me. And nurse on demand.

He's big (23.2 lbs., 30 inches) and makes me ache from holding him in a chair. All. Night. Long.

His pediatrician wanted me to wean a month or so ago but I didn't. Now, kinda wishing that I had 'cause this nursing every hour or two stuff is KILLING me. The nurse told me last week at the well visit that he wouldn't sleep through the night until he was weaned.

So, few readers, I need advice. Got any? Should I wean? I'm not opposed to it just dreading the actual doing it 'cause this boy? Yeah, he loves nursing. How did you get your child(ren) to sleep through the night? Or, is it a lost cause and will eventually happen when he is 6 or so?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's so tough to decide when to start weaning. I say, follow your heart. I understand you need sleep...and I must say I'm not looking forward to sleepness nights again. I weaned Zach slowly by giving him formula as his last bottle of the night. That is when he started sleeping through the night completely.

Good luck!

Jenni said...

This is a tough one for me, because I breed bad sleepers. My boys weaned themselves around 10 months, but Toots was 17 1/2 months.

Truthfully, they did begin sleeping better after weaning, but I was pregnant each time I weaned one, so I was sleeping more heavily and not responding to their every whimper.

Have you tried the Ferber method? I know a lot of people who have used this while continuing to nurse.

With this baby I am trying the Eat, Awake, Sleep routine. Instead of nursing to sleep, I nurse, then play, then put him to sleep. He is not used to nursing to sleep, so soothes himself instead. So far, he is the best sleeper I've had. But it's only been 5 months.

Hope you find a good system for you.

Janet said...

That's a tough one. My son kind of weaned himself, at eight months, when I went back to work.

I forget everything about the middle child (stereotypically and predictably).

I nursed the baby the longest (~ 14 months) because we thought she was allergic to milk. And she didn't really sleep well until recently (she's two in a few weeks).

Good luck! That's exhausting.

MamaGeek @ Works For Us said...

I feel your pain. Do you have any frozen? Every hour or two? Oh my, I REALLY feel for you. Could it be teething? I always blame the teething.

I started weaning at 12 months and stopped at 14 months. It actually was painless and easier than I feared.

Good luck T!