We are just fully weaning our almost 23month old of the boob and next is out of our bed. I was going to wait until she has settled from not having the boob anymore as at day5 she still looks for it a few times a day and gets upset when she doesnt get it. I was going to try take the side off her cot (which she basically has never slept in) and try starting her in there in our room. Alternatively I may put her in with her sister in a double bed as our almost 6year old still loves to sleep with someone and is often to be found in her 12yr old sisters bed. I have no advice really as we soon will be in the same boat.
I thought I would update this thread as things have shifted. I was actually looking for more ideas on how to transition from co sleeping...
Anyway, I have successfully weaned DS. It took about four weeks in total for him to adjust to not feeding at all. I started by not feeding him in the bedroom anymore. I now give him a sippy cup of formula which is part of the bedtime routine. DP puts DS down by laying with him and singing until he falls asleep. A few times DP has been able to leave the room before DS is asleep and DS has managed to fall asleep independently. Great! Only issue is when I put him down I fall asleep myself and end up staying in bed all night with him. Well, it's not really an issue as I'm just used to it now.
I used to bounce DS on the fitball to get him back to sleep if he stirred throughout the night, which was about 6-10 times at first. Eventually I stopped that and would lay with him after he woke, he would cry and I would say to him told him he could lay down next to me and go back to sleep when he was ready. This worked for a while until heis eczema flared up again and his contant scratching would wake him. He also became sick with the flu, and required more settling at night.
So now he wakes 2-3 times during the night. Each time I get up and make a bottle for him and this is enough for him to go back to sleep. I start the night in my queen bed (which is next to his car bed). When he first wakes I get up with him and make a milk then I go into his bed, usually around 12am. He wakes again around 4am, I get up and make him another milk and we go back to bed. In the morning my alarm goes off at 6.30am and I can usually wriggle out of bed before he wakes. He wakes about 1/2 hour later and walks out to the kitchen without being upset or anything.
So my conundrum now is to attempt to wean DS from co sleeping. I would like to sleep back with DP, our relationship is not going very well over this issue and I am ready to stop co sleeping. Having recently successfully weaned DS from breastfeeding gives me some hope that DS can adapt to sleeping on his own. SO I think my plan will be to attempt to settle him without giving him milk, as he understood in the past to lay down and sleep. Then start settling him when he wakes but staying in my bed, then eventually sleep in bed with my DP in our room and go in to settle DS and leave him in there.
Yeah I would think the way to go would be to only settle him in his bed, and try not to fall asleep with him LOL. I've been too lazy to push this myself this time around, I just don't want to get out of bed! But when the time comes to reinforce it, I will return DD to her own bed and resettle her there and hopefully crawl back into my own bed. At the moment tho, it's too easy to just feed her and roll over and get back to sleep with her next to me.
I know what you men Liz, I'm feeling resistant to changing the current set up because i'm used to it, it works for me, i get more sleep and rest (now i'm working full time again and going to the gym 6 days a week - me time!) The thought of changing it again makes me think of how horrible sleep deprivation is and how hard it feels just got to bite the bullet i guess.
Reply With Quote
just got to bite the bullet i guess.
Bookmarks