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Monday, July 20, 2009

Night Weaning

I am so excited! Layla has been sleeping so much better the past few nights. She had been sleeping fairly well, but then decided that it was a good idea to wake up and try to nurse every couple hours. Naas....Naas

Well, that was getting to be a bit annoying since she is now 21 mos. old and doesn't need the calories during the night. I finally got over feeling bad about it and decided to cut her off for the night nursings.

I nurse her right before bed at about 9:00, the husband and I go to sleep around 11, and she doesn't touch my naas until its at least light outside. Its working pretty well so far.

It took me a couple nights to cut her off completely. After giving in only a time or 2 the past week, she finally realized that she can't bother me all night long. If I let her nurse early in the morning, she will usually go back to sleep until at least 8:30. Let's just say that we are all much happier with this arrangement.

Our next big hurdles are potty training and taking away the pacifier. At this point she won't sleep at all without it clipped onto her shirt. Since I've had so much trouble with her sleeping from day 1, I guess that I'm willing to put up with the pacifier for a little bit longer.

She is also talking up a storm. She has lots of 2 and even 3 word sentences that she uses now. I cracked up yesterday when she patted the couch and said "Mama, sit down!". She will also say "Layla do it."

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yaay for you! I know, it gets super annoying after 21 MONTHS of being woken up several times EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. I'm hoping to be able to sleep for a few hours straight someday. My 28 1/2 month old still wakes up at night, she rarely sleeps the whole night through without waking up - so I have to either go into her room and make her lay back down so she doesn't cry (which takes 5-10 minutes) or, if I'm too tired (I normally am) - I just bring her to my bed so I can go back to sleep right away.
She hasn't starting using the potty yet, she'll sit on it and thinks it's fun but won't do anything in it yet. :(

Candice said...

How cute about the words and phrases!

My daughter turned 2 and I had these problems too with weaning. Now she needs her bottle and I'm trying to cut her off from that because she will wake up once during the night for a refill. I guess it's a comfort for her, but it needs to go...

About being a collections agent, I do not have the personality for that at all, but it is a bit of a learned thing. I am more direct overall now in life and not as shy to confront people. But it's not something that is me. I can do it, but it's not the job that suits me best. I think it's an OK job though. You get insulted once in a while but eventually you get used to it.

I didn't only do collections though, I verified employment for new clients, and I'd get all nervous if someone there had an attitude with me! lol. You should try if you fall on a good opportunity!

Gabby Hijabi said...

Mashallah.. be grateful you have been able to nurse 21 months.. my son is just 4 mths and my milk supply has gone down i am desperate to get it back up before ramadan comes or i know i wont have enough.. i feel so very sad i wanted to nurse a good year if not 2.. do you have any tips or advice.. please..?

Stacy K. said...

@Gabby Hijabi-Welcome to my blog! I would love to help you keep nursing your son as long as possible. My first question would be whether you are supplementing with formula at all. If you are, you need to stop in order to increase your supply. Your supply will increase in relation to how much you are nursing him. If you have a breast pump, you can pump after each feeding to increase the time that each of your breasts is being nursed at.
The other thing is that you might have to decrease the time between feedings if he doesn't nurse that often. Layla would never go more than 2 hrs without nursing until she started solids at 6 mo. Most women are capable of making about the same amount of milk. However, women can vary greatly in the amount of milk that their breasts actually store. That means women whose breasts hold less (like mine) need to have them emptied more often, otherwise the supply will go down.
Please email me at subculturistic@yahoo.com if you have any more questions. I would also recommend contacting your local La Leche League group.

Stacy K. said...

@Candice-Congratulations on your conversion btw. I'll let you know if I end up being a collections agent someday, you never know.
I love staying home with Layla, but sometimes I get a little bored too. We probably just need to get involved in more activities for her.

Stacy K. said...

@Aynur-It seems like our daughters are really similar in that aspect. Its so nice not having her pulling at my shirt every few hrs now. She knows that I won't let her touch it until its at least light out, then I still expect her to sleep a little more after that. I really hope I get one of those less demanding babies the next time around, but I suppose God knows best.

Kris said...

I just found you through another blog... and am glad I did because we share some of the same interests apparently.

Anyways, my daughter is 22 months and we still haven't night weaned - so good for you! Hope it continues to go well... Kalila usually only nurses once a night and usually goes for her water cup before that on her own, so I'm hoping she does soon. We have started (early days of) potty training. I need to post on that soon lol because I found an interesting method for it that has worked for us so far. Gotta love this age, is so much fun!

Yasemin said...

I weaned Youssef far too late at 30 months (!) And I loved every minute of being with him and miss it a little.

You are doing a great job sweetie, this is exactly what I did about two months before closing shop.

I also added LOTS of cows milk to his daily menu, and he seemed fine when I completely stopped, didn't even try to get back on.

For me, I let my son dictate when he had had enough, but I understand wanting to go out to 2 years only per Islam.

Awe...she sounds so incredibly cute, I just love her! Thank you for adding me if you know what I mean and LOVE you dearly!

Stacy K. said...

@Mama Kalila, I had to finally night wean. She was getting annoying with wanting to nurse all night long. It was hard to get any sleep with her kicking me all night.

Stacy K. said...

@Yasemin,
I don't think 30 mos. is too long. It just depends on the kid. Layla must have a high sucking need because she uses a pacifier too. I don't mind nursing her, I just felt like she was taking advantage of the situation.