6 month old - starting EASY with an all night nurser!

[carmenalecia]

My DD will be 6 months old next week and we need a schedule! We used EASY with our first daughter and loved it. So here we go with our second. Hoping for similar success. My concern this time is that I've done some serious accidental parenting. I have let our DD sleep in our bed for the last six months and nurse all night. I could probably count on one hand the number of times she has slept in her bed for longer than a five hour period. Yes, my bad. So now I'm looking to fix it all and change all of these bad habits.

My question is is there anything I should be doing specifically while we start to implement EASY? I'm going to stick rigorously to the schedule as we did with our first daughter but I'm wondering if there is something that I need to be thinking about since she is just so used to spending all night tucked into my armpit and nursing whenever she wants? My husband will be the one that does the nights for the first number of days (perhaps even the first two weeks) so I want him to have the greatest chance of success.

A couple more things about our DD .... She is a very happy baby and according to the quiz, is somewhere between being an angel and a textbook baby. We just started her on solids last week. I think she's in a growth spurt right now and seems to want to eat all the time. She naps okay in the day but really requires the nursing to get to sleep now. She wasn't like that in the first 3 to 4 months. But as I said I'm a really bad accidental parent now.

Any and all advice appreciated! Thanks!

[stoneybrook57]

I may be rare but i think it's fine to let them sleep with you; i feel like it causes them to grow confidence and less fear about sleep.  I know im in the minority here, but i cosleep as well and my son nurses to sleep also. 

[nevinsmama]

Hi there, welcome to BW!  Sometimes you just do what you need to do to survive! That's OK. And yes, now is a good time to start. Have a look here: Starting EASY - all you need to know and more!
Average A times- BOOKMARK ME!
Have a look, keep us posted and I would commit now to how many NFs you are willing to have and stick with that no matter what. Sample EASY Routines from 0 - 13mths+

[carmenalecia]

Thanks for the responses. Apologies for the delay. Shortly after posting my questions, we all came down with colds that have lasted weeks. And while I am slowly recovering (it would help if I could get a proper night's rest!), now our 6 month old is battling this tough cold. Our 2.5 year old brings all these terrible germs home from day care! I'm sure everyone with toddlers and preschoolers lives this same reality. Anyway, we have delayed our sleep training until I was feeling better - and hope that our DD feels better in the next couple days so that we can start EASY. She also has 2 teeth that popped through in the last week. I know that it isn't possible to find the 'perfect' time to start - but I'm getting a bit desperate for a night of sleep so here we go. I will post on our progress.  Oh, and Stoneybrook - I did enjoy cosleeping with both my LOs ... to a point. The problem is that when you are trying to break a nursing to sleep habit, I have found it next to impossible when the milk supply is within reach all night long. So for us, cosleeping is no longer preferable.

[nevinsmama]

Keep us posted! Hope everyone feels better soon.

[carmenalecia]

It has been quite awhile since my last update and much has happened in the sleeping habits of our LO (and me!). The good news is that we started EASY and within a week, our DD was sleeping through the night and having some pretty good daytime naps. Hurrah! The bad news is that I'm still nursing her to sleep every now and then (especially when I'm putting her down for the night), but I really try not to all other times. In the last couple of nights, she has been waking before 5am and though my husband tries to get her back to sleep, her cries escalate until I have to go in because I really think she is hungry. She has been eating a lot in the day (solids and BF) so I wonder if she is in a growth spurt? And she is getting a couple more teeth now. She is also terribly constipated. All reasons for the early wakings? Her naps in the last couple days have also been shorter and I often can't get her back to sleep once she awakes after 45 minutes or an hour. Regression? Keep at the PU/PD? For how long before I get her up? I read somewhere on this site that if she isn't down again within 15 to 20 minutes, I should stop the PU/PD and get her up. Is that correct?

Lots of questions but feeling good about our progress. Any suggestions?

[nevinsmama]

Sorry for the absence! HAs been a bit nuts around here.
For 5 AM waking I would feed as quickly as possible and cross your fingers for more sleep!

I would cut back or edit out constipating foods to make sure she is comfortable and go from there.

The 45 minute to 1 hour naps sound UT to me, how about an A time bump? Yes, I would go for 20 minutes at PUPD, you should be able to tell if she is going to go back out or not.  Keep up the good work. Want to post a current EASY to see if any changes need to happen?