Is she ever going to sleep through the night?

[mommyoftwo]

Linnea is still waking up at least once a night and I'm getting really tired of it. I figured by 18 months that we would have this sleep thing down. She will almost always fall back asleep on her own if she wakes up before 4am but every morning she wakes up sometime between 4 and 6 and nurses for a good half hour. Unfortunately, I can't sleep through it so I end up being awake the whole time. Then she goes back to bed and sleeps for another 1-2 hours, sometimes a little more. It's her longest nursing session by far and she will not let me cut it short. I've tried (out of desperation) to let her cry it out in the morning to no avail. Is there anything I can do? I'm afraid that this is the last nursing session she's going to give up and since she shows absolutely no signs of being ready to wean, I fear dealing with this for at least another year. Help!

[chlobo]

No real advice, just hugs. Our DD still doesn't sleep through the night consistently. A few days on, a few days off. Really annoying.

At one point we decided to night wean and the only way it worked was to have my DH go in when she cried. No mom, no nummies and she just had to go back to sleep.

Good luck.

[pampamz]

Sorry to hear it -- my DC is 19mos and still doesn't sleep 100% through the night. She is no longer nursing but LOVES her soother so we have issues with that in the night, frantic digging around for them etc.

Hang in there!

[gatorsmom]

This time slot was my son's favorite nursing session too. He would get soooo hungry at that time of the morning. I'm not nursing him anymore (he's now 20 months) so he drinks from a bottle or sippy cup. I KNOW this is not the best thing to do, but I put a bottle of milk/water in his crib and I hear him at 5am looking for it! I'm slowly weaning him from the milk to the water so it won't be so hard on his teeth when he's in the crib.

Sounds like your DD is obviously hungriest at this time. You could try to let her cry it out for like an hour and then feed her and dress her and not let her go back to sleep. Slowly try to change that feeding time to the morning feeding time. For example, if she's waking at 4am, let her cry it out til 5 then after you feed her put clothes on and feed her breakfast or whatever your first steps of the day are. Do that for a few days then feed her at 5:15am. A couple days later feed her at 5:30am. And make sure she's eating really well throughout the day. my DS#2 always wakes up the mornings after a day when he didn't eat well. I hear him in his crib saying, " I hungry, I hungry...." My ped made a good point when she said that these little munchkins require a certain amount of calories during the day and if they don't get them, they'll wake up at night- especially if they've been fed at night before.

Does that make any sense? I'm tired and not sure any of this is clear. sorry. HTH. big (((huggs))). Just remember, it won't last forever.

Lisa
Mom to Gator July 2003
And Cha-Cha July 2005

[gatorsmom]

This time slot was my son's favorite nursing session too. He would get soooo hungry at that time of the morning. I'm not nursing him anymore (he's now 20 months) so he drinks from a bottle or sippy cup. I KNOW this is not the best thing to do, but I put a bottle of milk/water in his crib and I hear him at 5am looking for it! I'm slowly weaning him from the milk to the water so it won't be so hard on his teeth when he's in the crib.

Sounds like your DD is obviously hungriest at this time. You could try to let her cry it out for like an hour and then feed her and dress her and not let her go back to sleep. Slowly try to change that feeding time to the morning feeding time. For example, if she's waking at 4am, let her cry it out til 5 then after you feed her put clothes on and feed her breakfast or whatever your first steps of the day are. Do that for a few days then feed her at 5:15am. A couple days later feed her at 5:30am. And make sure she's eating really well throughout the day. my DS#2 always wakes up the mornings after a day when he didn't eat well. I hear him in his crib saying, " I hungry, I hungry...." My ped made a good point when she said that these little munchkins require a certain amount of calories during the day and if they don't get them, they'll wake up at night- especially if they've been fed at night before.

Does that make any sense? I'm tired and not sure any of this is clear. sorry. HTH. big (((huggs))). Just remember, it won't last forever.

Lisa
Mom to Gator July 2003
And Cha-Cha July 2005

[ribbit1019]

I am so sorry Jess. I have no answer for you. But lots and lots of Hugs!!

Maddy and Jarred sleep in our bed, well some nights. Most of the time J and I are on the air mattress and Maddy and Rich are in our bed. It is awful not getting to sleep in my own bed. :(

Christy
Wife to Richard
My Waterbabies
http://lilypie.com/pic/070228/Yrlv.jpg http://b3.lilypie.com/H-lkm5.png
http://lilypie.com/pic/070228/sSDo.jpg http://bf.lilypie.com/tkq-m5.png
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/steitzsmith/Other/jump.gif

[ribbit1019]

I am so sorry Jess. I have no answer for you. But lots and lots of Hugs!!

Maddy and Jarred sleep in our bed, well some nights. Most of the time J and I are on the air mattress and Maddy and Rich are in our bed. It is awful not getting to sleep in my own bed. :(

Christy
Wife to Richard
My Waterbabies
http://lilypie.com/pic/070228/Yrlv.jpg http://b3.lilypie.com/H-lkm5.png
http://lilypie.com/pic/070228/sSDo.jpg http://bf.lilypie.com/tkq-m5.png
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/steitzsmith/Other/jump.gif

[KrisM]

Well, DS is nearly 3 and still only sleeeps through 1-2 nights a week.

But, for the nursing session, what I did when I got DS to stop nursing at night was to decrease the number of minutes each night by 1 minute. Now, he was 10 or 11 months, so that might make a big difference, but it seemed to work. I timed it for a few nights and then would pop him off 1 minute earlier every night. By the time he got to 2 minutes, he woke up, but didn't look to nurse.

What if you woke her to feed at 11pm or whenever, before you go to bed? Would that get her through to 6 or 7?

Also, I don't know if you have a family bed, but some of these tips might apply to you: http://www.drjaygordon.com/development/ap/sleep.asp. It talks about picking the most valuable 7 hours for you and how to get the baby not to nurse during those hours. It is only for older babies and has some good ideas.

Good luck!!