I think I know what I need to do, but it makes me sad - Page 2

DarkAngel · 02-22-2010, 07:00 AM

Ahhh, okay. That makes total sense. Alexander is a rather strong willed child as well. I wish I had some advice for you.

shellibean · 03-05-2010, 10:35 PM

My only suggestion is that instead of DIScouraging night-feedings, you can ENcourage him soothing himself to sleep and then eventually, he can do it himself. Teaching them to go to sleep on their own does not always= CIO. The only way he knows how to fall back asleep is with you & breastfeeding. What if you still breastfed him @ night but don't feed him to sleep if that makes sense. Feed him & then let him fall asleep afterwards. But, now I'm confused...are you nightfeeding b/c he's hungry or to get him to go back to sleep??

PixieCurl · 03-06-2010, 07:17 AM

Nightnursing to get him back to sleep. At 2 1/2 he definitely doesn't need to nightnurse out of hunger. Usually if I unlatch him before he's asleep he'll fuss and cry until I let him nurse again, but actually last night we had a small bit of luck. He woke up when DH, Abram, and I came in to bed so I nursed him, but I unlatched him still awake and DH pulled him over to him on the bed. Solomon yelped for a second then went to sleep with DH, so that was a small victory. During the night I'm usually on my side facing Abram, with my back to Sol, so he'll sort of lay over me sideways to nurse from the top breast, so he is unlatching when he's done, to sleep beside me.... so at least he's okay with not sleeping latched on all night like he used to want to do.

geeky · 03-10-2010, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PixieCurl

It's too early to tell, but I keep hoping that Abram will be a better sleeper down the road so that I'm not dealing with the same thing a few years from now with Abram and another new baby (and who knows? maybe Solomon will still be nursing).

I think a big part of it is natural personality, but a big part of it is taught too. I know with Solly you always nursed him at night whenever he made the smallest peep and nursed him until he was in a dead sleep. So of course he does not know how to fall asleep any other way. If that is important to you as a principle, cool, but be aware that if you do the same with Abram you will likely get similar results.
Not CIO but you can certainly wait a minute when Abram makes a noise to see if he really needs you or if he will go back to sleep on his own. And you can try unlatching him when he is mostly asleep but not totally and try other ways of soothing him like patting and rubbing if he protests a little. If he starts to get upset you can always latch him back on and try again in a few minutes. I don't think it's too early to start and while it may be more of a hassle now it's really work up front that will pay off when he is older.,

PixieCurl · 03-11-2010, 05:50 AM

I definitely think you have a point geeky. And knock on wood, but Abram seems to be a bit of a better sleeper than Sol so far. I do wait a minute when I hear him to see if he settles down or fully wakes up and starts crying. It's hard though since we all sleep together I do try to get him back to sleep before he makes too much noise, so he doesn't wake Solly. I usually am able to unlatch him a little sooner though and he sleeps for longer stretches than Sol as well. Of course, Abram doesn't do well sleeping away from me, and Sol was fine with that at this age (for naps, we still coslept at night) so it's give and take. I'm working on putting Abram down for naps instead of wearing him the whole time every time and some times are more successful than others.