Part 1-A good night's rest

So in the beginning everyone asks is your baby sleeping through the night like it was suppose to be the most magical thing that could happen. When I went back to work, the lil' Miss was just 3 months old.  And honestly at that age she needed to eat multiple times at night.  So bed-sharing became the easiest thing to do for us to "sleep through the night."

Well at McKenna's current age (29 months), she does not need to nurse at night for hunger.  It's more of a comfort for her.  So we embarked on the night weaning challenge, just as I had stated I would.  Here's how it has played out thus far. Again I am attempting to follow Dr. Jay Gordon's Method.

Night 1 (Tuesday, Feb. 17)
I decided to choose the 11pm-6am time frame as my seven hours of sleep goal.  M nursed to sleep as she typically does.  She ended up waking around 1am and just as the plan called for, I nursed but made sure she did not fall asleep nursing. She fussed for a moment and I began shushing. Within a couple minutes she had fallen back asleep. Fast forward a couple hours later to 3am.  She awoke again and I again nursed and made sure to have her awake when finished.  This time wasn't as easy.  She began fussing and I again tried the shushing.  My sweet child actually said "Mommy, STOP shushing."  There was fussing, whining and crying for around 10 minutes.  I finally got her to sleep with some light patting on her bottom and the shushing.  She re-awoke after 6am and asked for milk.  I reassured her that since the sun was shinning she could have milk. So I nursed and we slept till 8:30am.  I would say Night 1 was a success in terms of what needed to be accomplished.  She woke up happy and loved being with mommy!

Night 2 (Wednesday, Feb. 18)
So basically we had a repeat of night 1, but a few more nursing sessions. She still exclaimed "Mommy, NO shushing!" at one point.  But overall we made it to the 6am time and she again nursed and slept in till 8:00am!  Yay, success.  Luckily we have had snow days, so we are able to sleep in.

Night 3 (Thursday, Feb. 19)
Tonight I think was honestly the best so far.  I don't know if it had to do with my reading the book Nursies When the Sun Shines before bedtime.  She first wanted to nurse around 2:00 am and quickly dropped off as I counted down from 5 to 1, as I usually do during day sessions.  Then she wanted to nurse again around 4ish.  She fussed a little more this time, but still quickly went back to sleep.  Around 6;15ish she wanted to nurse again and we did as a normal session because that is "what the rules" allow.  She proceeded to sleep to 8:45.  Momma even snuck out of bed earlier on and made some coffee!!! Winning!!!

Nights 4 & 5 (Friday, Feb. 20 & Saturday, Feb.21)
I basically had thought I would carry on nursing and then laying to go to sleep on her own for another day, but I came up with my own turn on the method.  On both nights she did want to nurse shortly after 1:00am and so I did.   But I did my countdown from 5 to 1 so that she would not nurse forever and to allow her that time to fall asleep on her own.  Then the second or third times that she wanted to nurse, I did not allow her to do so. She did get a little mad on Saturday night when I told her "No milkies, only when the sun shines" and she literally got up and went to sit on the floor at the end of the bed and began to pout.  I went and grabbed her and brought her back to the bed.  Some shushing and patting led her back to sleep as needed.

Night 6 (Sunday, Feb. 22)
So this was the best night yet! I had decided no offering of milk tonight.  And I made sure to stick to it.  It is often easy to change your mind when sleep is on your mind and the easy way out is to offer a boob.  Literally the only time McKenna awoke to nurse was around 3ish.  I told her "No milkies.  We have to wait till the sun shines."  She was a little fussy after it, but I offered comfort through patting, shushing, and a hug.  It worked!!!! She did take a good half hour to get back to a deep state of sleep, but she never looked back!  Perseverance is on my side and we will do this!!!!

And to make today even better, my breastmilk necklace I had made arrived!  It was one of my Christmas gifts from my mom.  I feel so strongly about breastfeeding and especially the relationship I have had with McKenna.  As we are embarking on some turning events in this chapter of our relationship, I was quite happy to have received it.  It will be a reminder of some of the most precious moments we have had in her first 29 or so months of life.  The necklace and pearl charm were made by JoBriMilk Charms and the stamped "m" was made by Loving What You Make. Both items are going to help in completing this chapter in our lives.

Also on a side note, weaning overall is going well.  I have had the past total 10 days off with my darling daughter.  And she honestly has only needed to nurse at naptime, bedtime, and awaking time.  Again this is HUGE!!!