Gentle Weaning Plan

[tomato]

hello betsy... what if my baby wants to wake up and play for a long period over an hour before she calls out that she wants to be put to sleep again?  normally i just pat her and sometimes i have to hold her but these days ,does not work

[tomato]

what if she is waking every half hour to 45 min.  sitting up and half asleep?  i have to put her back down n pat her then before i know it, she is calling again.  what should i do?  certainly works if she wakes up once or twice at night but every 45m?

[Erin (redstarfalling)]

Are you going to her right away?  I found that I had to give it 5 minutes before going in - give her a chance to resettle herself.  If she's still fussing after 5 min (or if it REALLY escalates) I go in, but often, she'll quiet down in that time.  Otherwise, you run the risk of reinforcing the waking and she'll just expect you to BE there everytime she wakes.  How old is your lo?

[plamb]

I've implemented the paci removal and it actually works most of the time! Should it lead to no paci at all? I'd love to eliminate that prop- my near 5 month old still seems to have a very strong rooting and sucking need, unlike what I remember with my now 2 year old daughter. Any ideas on the crying or time line since I have a toddler in the next room- and their beds share the same wall? I have white noise, LOUD, in both rooms... but to have a baby fuss, fuss, fuss in night wakings then full-out cry, seems to take forever to get back to sleep unless I nurse her! I've repeated the steps, gone forward and backward but soothing with pats seems like it'll never happen after +2 weeks of trying. So far there have been NO improvements in the sleep or night wakenings. I'm hopeful, given the success of the paci removal, but with no more than a rare 3 hours-in-a-row sleep for me in 5 months, I'm exhausted and getting so short tempered and emotionally drained!

[mikiweiser]

Hi...
I just joined since i am reaching my wits end.
my son is 1.7yrs old.
recently we have many changes taking place. the last week of august he slept at the grandmothers homes and on sept 1 we (1) moved into a new apartment (2) started a new day care.

before these changes my son had a great bed time routine. went to bed at 8pm and woke up at 6:30am. fell asleep with pacifer, he kicks it out and puts back in as he needs it at night - alone. and he still sleeps in a crib.

today he is scared to go to sleep. he is more vocal in words and tears about me going anywhere away from him.

this is his night time routine:
(he has a great day time routine with food and naps)
6:30 dinner
7:00 bath, massage, brushing teeth
7:30 quiet play
7:45 night light, lullaby music, rocking chair and books +BOTTLE
8:00 in bed and i continue to sit by him in the dark and sing (this is due to the fact that he became hysterical when placed in bed, by sitting next to him, he just lies down, calms and falls asleep)
11:00 wake up for bottle
03:00 wake up for bottle
06:00 wake up for bottle and moved to sleep in our bed with daddy ( i go to work)

i think that i have made a habit of using the bottle to calm him. he doesn't necessarily drink from it but he NEEDS it in his hug to fall asleep - and it has to be formula, if he sees it's just water he doesn't want it.
he does not fall asleep with the bottle in his mouth.
it seems to immediately pacify him.

at first i thought - with all the changes i shouldn't break him of something that makes him feel safe. but now i feel i am creating an unhealthy crutch that may also be dangerous for his health.

i got him into the bed routine by using the cry technique - it took 2 nights and only 20 minutes. so it seemed the right approach.
i am thinking of creating diluted formula as a way of weaning him off the bottle - but i think that he's waking up to check to see that i am there - and that the bottle is just like a security blanket, without it he can't fall asleep.

i'll shut up now and wait to hear from anyone who has advice that may help. THANKS.... and sweet dreams.
Miki

[CaedensMama]

I have read thru alot of these posts - not all though - and am trying to start doing this with Caeden.
I do really good during the day not nursing to sleep, but always nursed to sleep when he woke at night. Last week I tried for 3 days or so - at the peds advice - to stop nursing during the night and just hold, replace paci or whatever till he went back to sleep. This didn't go well, I got too upset at his cries and ended up leaking milk all over :oops: And finally went back to nursing when he woke.
Well now - he often will just nurse for a few minutes - 10 minutes and then not go back to sleep, but rather fuss till I put him down with his paci and let him fuss to sleep like he does during the day. Usually 5-10 minutes.
I don't want to let him CIO, but I have found leaving him to fuss is the quickest way he settles - day or night - pat/shush, PU/PD, even holding or rocking doesn't work.
So - what should I do? Do I keep nursing when he wakes and "wean" him off with the Gentle Removal Plan? Or do I just stop nursing and do what I can to get him back to sleep without it since he isn't always wanting to nurse anyway?
Just looking for some advice - I need to do something - and be consistent with it - right now I am not being consistent AT ALL and think this is part of his struggle in going back to sleep.
Thanks for any advice!