The nightweaning is a success!

[houseof3boys]

Some of you may remember me posting about wanting to quit the night feeding since Ryan was approaching his one year mark and I was crazy tired of the night wakings. Well, I did the modified (since we don't cosleep) Jay Gordon method of nightweaning and it worked! It took 11 days for the wakings to stop and we have only had 3 or 4 nights of waking/talking/fussy crying that lasted no more than 15 minutes.

I thank you guys that recommended this (Rachel and Kim) since I felt much better about letting him CIO a bit knowing it was a loving and gradual transition. I didn't do the 3 night method, but did a 6 night method and really did my best to reduce the amount of the nursing session in the first 6 days. I actually reduced it by 2 minutes every night (he nurses for about 15 minutes at night) so by the last night of Phase I, he was freaked out that it was so short and cried for about 5 minutes but I left the room with a kiss on the forehead and a "night night Ryan". DH did great when it was his shift for Phase II and despite it being a pain for him when he needs to get up and go to work in the morning, he happily and sleepily suffered for the cause since we were eager for the end result to be a success. The longest night was him being in there for about 30 minutes trying to soothe Ryan. Phase III would have been no picking up Ryan when he cried, but Ryan gave up the night feedings the night that DH was going to try it.

I am glad that we waited to do this until Ryan was 11 months old and I'm happy that he was obviously ready for this since there weren't that many excrutiating nights. DISCLAIMER: I am not a fan of CIO and am a huge breastfeeding fan so I don't advocate this method for young babes!

http://www.drjaygordon.com/ap/sleep.htm

LOL, I now need a plan for me to sleep through the night since I am still up like clockwork at 3:00 and 4:30 every night! :)

[ohiomom]

Thanks for posting. I'm getting to the point where my exhausted brain needs to start getting more straight sleep at night to function better at work. I'm almost to the point of trying this technique.

Nicole's Mom 07/30/03

[pritchettzoo]

YAY! :) What a big boy!

Anna
Mama to Gracie (9/16/03)

[kaitlinsmommy]

Congratulations Debbi!

I'm glad you are all sleeping better. I know, I love bf too but isn't it a relief to move past this all night stage? I am so happy you found his advice helpful. It really helped me too.

Good luck with your sleeping now!

[jd11365]

You're such a good mama. Great job searching for a plan that worked for you and following it to best meet the needs of your family! I gotta say, I absolutely LOVED breastfeeding, but I was never a fan of the 2 & 4 am nursing sessions. I'm sure this post will help others...as they usually do! :)

Enjoy your sleep! :)

Jamie
Mommy to Kayla
5-1-03

[slknight]

So glad to hear this worked for you. I'm pretty sure we're going to be doing something similar after next week. DH is done teaching school for the year so I won't feel so bad about getting him up. :) Alex is almost 14 months and is still nursing about twice a night. It's beginning to make me nuts.

[sntm]

yay, debbie! and yay ryan too.
fwiw, i don't consider the jay gordon plan to be a CIO. you still comfort the baby, and that IMO is MUCH MUCH different than leaving them alone to cry. If I ever decide to nightwean, that's what I am going to use. Now that we cosleep, it's not as big of an issue and since I work, that's our major time to nurse rather than pump :P
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
shannon
not-even-pregnant-yet-overachiever
trying-to-conceive :)
PREGNANT! EDD 6/9/03
mama to Jack 6/6/03

[houseof3boys]

Let me know if you have any other questions. DH is very excited that Mr. Big boy is sleeping through the night since he is the one that gets up with him at 5:45 - 6:00 when Ryan is up for the day. He passes him off to me when he is leaving for work so that I can get a little more shut eye! :)

Ryan nurses for almost 30 minutes when he gets up in the morning now and eats a bigger breakfast than he used to!

[jec2]

Debbi,

I'm glad you acheived success! We, however, had to do a CIO, so I hope that you know that even though you're not a CIO person, I am awed by your stamina to co-sleep and bf for such a long time :) DH and I were on the verge of window jumping :0 We are now semi-co-sleepers and I am up in the night too, but I know how wonderful it must feel to be better rested. Give yourself a couple of days, and I bet you'll start sleeping through the night too!

[Rachels]

I agree with Shannon. Crying and CIO aren't the same thing. I'm opposed to CIO where the baby is left alone and not comforted, but that's not the case here. Glad you are getting some sleep!

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

http://www.planetsmilies.com/smilies...haracter39.gif

"We have a secret in our culture...it's not that birth is painful, it's that women are strong!!" - Laura Stavoe Harm