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| Shaving cream break! |
After story time, we went and met up with some of the girls and babies from our old story time. Then we ran our errands for the week.
One of those errands was the post office where we picked up these:
Books really helped things click as far as using the potty is concerned so we are hoping these books can help prepare him enough to make night weaning as gentle as possible. We read them for the first time tonight and they are perfect. Ayden was listening very seriously and closely and asked to read them again once we were finished. He definitely understood what they were talking about and even heaved a big sigh in the middle of one of them. Here is our game plan: I am going to read them to him a few times tomorrow and before bed. Then we will start saying "Nurse when the sunshines" when he asks for it in the night. If that reminder doesn't help we will keep the books next to the bed and use a book light to read one of them to help calm and remind him that way. If that doesn't work David is prepared to let him "cry it out in dad's arms" though I hope it doesn't come to that because it will break my heart. I have always been an available constant in Ayden's life and I don't want to feel like I am letting him down. David and I both plan to stay strong on the outside. Even if Ayden is crying, our confidence and calm will reassure him through the transition. I have heard that it only takes two or three nights to make a big change like this. We still plan to continue co-sleeping but since Ayden starts out in his crib every night and doesn't come into our bed until he wakes up. Perhaps he'll transition to longer stretches, and therefore stay in his crib, once he is not dependent on nursing to get back to sleep anymore. We all still enjoy a full, warm family bed so we are in no hurry to make a change there.
This is a bittersweet milestone but all good things must come to an end. I know we will all benefit from more uninterrupted sleep. Wish us luck!
Were you able to gently night wean your child? Did they sleep better once you did? Please share your success stories to pump us up!
~Sarah
Flashback! Here's what we were up to one year ago today:"Our Crumby Day"
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My mom nursed me till i was 3 years old. I know, emberessing huh? She said it was so hard to wean me and she didnt really care to try. Nursing has nutritional benefits, but i may or may not feel comfortable nursing over age 18 months as it can become awkward as child gets more mature. Weaning can be hard as my mom agrees.
ReplyDeleteNot embarrasing at all! My mom nursed us for a long time and I plan to let Ayden lead the way as far as daytime nursing goes (he still nurses 2-4 times a day). So far it has never been awkward. A LLL leader told me once that "as long as it is mutually enjoyable it is the right thing to do" If one decides it is time to stop then it is. That advice felt very right to me so I have let it lead the way.
DeleteI am really interested to hear how the night weaning goes, good luck!
ReplyDeleteThank you! We actually decided to delay it (I will explain in tomorrow's post) but it is still in the works for sure and I'll write all about it in hopes to help someone else who may be going through the same thing!
DeleteLooking forward to hearing how it goes for you! I like the book idea and will keep that in mind when we decide it is time to night wean our son. He also starts the night out in his crib and joins us when he wakes up.
ReplyDeleteI hope our journey can help someone! I mentioned my reply to the comment above, we have decided to postpone it to another weekend when we don't have anything going on. I'll explain more about it in tomorrow's post but it is still in the works for sure!
DeleteI think you have a perfect game plan!
ReplyDeleteGood luck :)
Thank you. I hope so! I really wanted to let him lead the way with all weaning but almost 2 years of waking every 3 hours has been long enough for us and there doesn't seem to be any change in sight. We want this to be a gentle process so we are hoping the books help a lot.
DeleteI forgot to mention that my daughter wakes up alot at night and constantly wants to nurse more then day time when she sees me and hears me. My mom told me that night nursing offers more then feedings but is a comfort thing. She says babies can feel lonely and isolated in their cribs and just want that added security blanket feeling that comes with nursing. Some babies crave security more then others but as mentioned above post, that was me. My mom said nursing just stopped naturally to me without her weaning me, plus she is still an advocate of nursing milk being so good for u and preventing a lot of sickness that she just wanted to keep on nursing. Its hard to nurse at ight i know, i do it a lot at night, but my girl really loves the comfort. Just follow your heart on it. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteAyden definitely enjoys the comfort of it. He will still be in our bed at night (his crib is side carred so he's in our room even when he is in there) so we just want to shift that comfort to cuddles so that either of us can offer it if/when needed and we can work towards getting more uninterrupted sleep. I always wanted to wait until he was old enough to understand and we feel he is to that point now. I also think that I will nurse him at night if he gets sick. The extra fluids and antibodies will be worth a couple of steps back. We want it all to be as gentle as possible.
DeleteThis post is coming at just the right time for me. We are wanting to gently night wean our 16 month old son. It's not a huge deal because he only wakes up twice a night, but I think he's ready. I love the idea of the books! We have talked about resorting to letting him cry while my husband holds him. Thanks for sharing your journey! I know it will help me.
ReplyDelete