Pep talk!

So finally at 3:30AM last night, after having MAYBE 45 minutes of undisturbed sleep in my own bed, I put the boy in his crib.  He was totally asleep, so he didn't even notice.  And magically, he slept till 7AM when Dave got up and went downstairs. 

So.  I've decided I just pushed him in to the big boy bed too soon.  My plan is to nurse him in the rocking chair tonight and put him in his crib once he falls asleep in my arms.  Tomorrow night I'll plop him in there slightly awake.  Which means I need to set limits.  I'm not even going to go down the "thirsty! different blankie! one more kiss!" path this time. 

Here are my rules (I'm just posting them here so I stick to them):
1) He can nurse till the milk runs out.  Then I'm cutting him off.  No more of this 30 minute my-nipple-as-pacifier crap.  It hurts.
2) After nursing, he gets a kiss and a hug and is placed in the crib.
3) Then I go downstairs.  Period.  I won't come back up no matter how long he cries.  (This is the hardest rule!)
4) If he wakes up in the middle of the night during our first week at this, I'll rock him in the rocking chair for a few minutes and then put him back in the crib.  No boob until morning.
5) After the first week, I'm going to let him cry it out if he wakes up in the middle of the night.

This all sounds so mean, even to me, but toddlers his age CAN and SHOULD sleep through the night.  I feel like I've become a total wimp lately and perhaps giving in to him at night is to blame for him being such a boobie whiner during the day.  I just need to remind myself that being firm, but kind is best for BOTH of us.  He needs his uninterrupted sleep just as much as I need mine.  And he needs limits.  I've been too slack lately about pretty much everything and I can see the change in his behavior.  It hasn't been for the better. 

And?  I'm TIRED, y'all.  The first sign that I'm not getting enough sleep is that my feet and legs begin to ache.  And these dogs are BARKIN'.  I also DRASTICALLY begin to lose patience, which doesn't help me keep my disciplinarian hat on.  When you're tired, you pick your battles, but you end up picking fewer and fewer of them until you're just a pansy.  And I will not be a pansy.

We'll see how it goes.

Comments

[Sheela]

As we have discussed (and "disgust"!) several times, you and I are in the same nursing boat. If we don't do something soon, our kids may still be nursing when they are married.

One thing - when Nadia was 6 months old and the PNP told us that she should be able to put herself to sleep, I stopped nursing her in her room or last thing before she goes to bed. She still got (and still gets) an evening nursing, but it is way before she goes to bed and in a different room. I DID NOT want her to think of it as a going to bed activity.

[K]

Your plan doesn't sound mean at all. And it sounds like it'll work.

When ours decided to start a "wake in the middle of the night" habit, we eventually just had to go in and tell him, "It's bedtime, you have to lay down, Mommy and Daddy are going to sleep now."

And eventually, it worked.

Good luck to you.

[Lissy]

Not mean at all, it's all part of them learning.

I hope it's going well. I know the first 24 hours are always the most difficult for us, as he learns his new boundries and I learn how he's going to react to them. Once that is over he is usually pretty easy to deal with.

Hoping for a smooth transition!

[jenB]

i am thinking about you as well. i hope things are going ok.

xo