The weaning game
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Yes this is a post about breastfeeding. And lack of sleep. Just letting you know.
I have successfully weaned Chanbe off his daytime feeds, with only his post-dinner feed remaining. Night-time feeds, however, have been a bit trickier. He's used to waking up, getting boob, then going back to sleep. It's worked for him for almost 12 months now, so why should he expect any change?
Because Mama needs more sleep, that's why.
I've been able to put him to sleep during the day a couple of times without having to resort to a feed, which I've been really happy with, but when he wakes up at night, (ie 11pm, 1am, 3am, 5am etc) it's a different story. So far, I haven't even tried dropping those feeds, as it would just mean lots of tears (mostly mine) and too much of a disruption to an already crazy routine. The theory is, there will be 3-7 rough nights, but then they learn that they don't need boob to go back to sleep, and they start to "self settle".
It's those 3-7 rough nights that we haven't been able to commit to as yet.
I just spent 15 minutes trying to settle Chanbe by rocking, singing, patting etc, but he knows what he wants, and doesn't understand why, after having it for so long, he's suddenly being cut off. Hubs came to the rescue, and I can currently hear the whistle from the Sleepy Train starting off. I'm really hoping it works, as Chanbe is getting himself into quite a state.
I'm not a fan of controlled-crying, but somehow this is supposed to be different - you're with them the whole time so you are able to comfort them, but it still breaks my heart. We have committed ourselves to the 3-7 nights once we arrive in Brisbane and have settled in for a few days. The idea is, that Hubs tends to him during the night, and when he realises there's no boob to be had, he won't wake up anymore. The reason we can't do it now, is that Hubs is coming into exams and really can't afford to lose the sleep.
So the question is, does this really work? Or, more importantly, after a year of interrupted sleep, will it work for us!!??
So difficult! I had to babysit once for a family who were doing the control-crying thing and it was torture for me!!
A friend of mine at uni works for Parentline, and she said the majority of calls are from parents whose kids won't go to sleep or stop crying. It sounded like they had some good tips/advice...or at least someone to talk to while you're sleep-deprived. :)
Good luck to Frith on his exams, and I wish you at least 6 consecutive hours of sleep this holiday season! :D
Thanks love. I'm still adamant that this isn't control-crying. But there are still tears :-) I know we'll get through it!!! Might see what parentline has to say....
Good luck to Jason too! And hope to see you guys soon x x x