hey all. i want to try and wean aiden from the breast but i am just so unsure how to go about it. i dont want to completely stop breastfeeding i just want to get a goodnights sleep and be able to lay aiden down for a nap and clean the house. i honestly am get so frustrated with aiden at night it is so difficult to get decent night of sleep he will be on my boob all night long if i try to take my boob away he will wake up and scream at me or just grab my boob and shove it back in his mouth. he was recently sick but this whole ordeal has been going on for a very long time and it is so difficult to get anything done or get a good night sleep. so if any one has any suggestions it would help me so much. Also letting him cry it out is a no tried it once and shane was upset with me for awhile and aiden cried for an hour or so and nothing.
You know, I've been struggling with exactly the same thing! When J was a tiny baby I could just give him the boob and go back to sleep. But now, he is so much more mobile. He's very rough with me. He makes a trough with his tongue and "slurps" the nipple into his mouth, very uncomfortable. He will take a few huge gulps from one boob and then go to the next and back and forth. He grabs my boobs with both hands and mashes his face into them. He will climb right over me to get to the other boob. And he wants to nurse ALL NIGHT LONG! Seriously, he does just what your bub does and starts screaming bloody murder if I try and pull away. My quality of sleep has just tanked. It is very frustrating and I have been contemplating night weaning too but just don't know how/can't bear to do it. I've just been hanging desperately to the thought that he must be acting this way for a reason and it too will pass. I feel your pain!
My fellow turned 11 months on the 3rd, how old is your bub again? Maybe it's part of a developmental stage they go through?
my kids have done that too. imo, ime, it's just developmentel, they're learning to walk, talk, learning to use their motor skills, that's tough work, ya know. they're just using us to recharge while staying connected and close. i suggest trying harder to sleep through it, maybe changing your diet to help you feel less fatigued during the day. taking a calcium supplement at night may help you to relax more too
Maybe try a Soothie bottle. I bought those for the future when I get a job and need to wean Alexis. The pamphlet that comes with them says they have the style nipple hospitals use (If your combo feeding) to avoid nipple confusion. I don't know how well THOSE work....but they may be worth a shot, and, they're affordable.
Moon, you don't need to wean her! Youi just have to pump and have someone bottlefeed her when you're at work. You have to nurse her when you're home to keep your supply up!
Yaw, that's what I meant. Sorry for the confusion! But, I mean....when I sort-of wean her for while I'm working, not FULLY wean her from my milk....just from the breast to an extent. If that makes sense.
jayzzma aiden does the same exact thing with his tongue and just slurps my nipple in and he sometimes bites down a bit and it hurts. aiden is 18 months now. I have changed my diet i have been taking prenatal pills to help with our nutrition and to make sure we get enough of what we need. I guess whats really frustrating me is that i have no me time anymore. i used to (when aiden was a couple months old) and i would sleep that was my me time. Now i am lucky to even close my eyes and rest for an hour. I have been with aiden 24/7 since he was born and i love playing with him and teaching him and everything but i miss going out for a night or going out and playing a game or two of pool. GRRRRRRR i miss having adult conversations.
Oh, he's 18 months? I say nightwean him. I night weaned at 14 and 16 months and slept much better. For some reason I thought he was much younger. I can dig up my speil on nightweaning if you'd like. Or you can search for Dr. Jay Gordon's take on nightweaning, mine is just a modified version of that. Do you have a parenting partner? After A is nightweaned, you could put him to sleep then leave the house for awhile with someone there if he wakes. At 18 months you could leave him during the day for a couple hours with a family member. My youngest is only 5 months and I'm already doing this. It's very important for my mental health to be away from my kids at least a few hours a week. I get a bit of adult interaction through message boards but it's not intirely the same as you know. I also attend LLL twice a month and try to hang out with like minded friends with children near my kids ages. It's very important for you to ahve adult interaction. (((hugs)))
I'll let you in on a little secret. Every time I attempted to cut back on how much Jenny nursed, she would get extra clingy and want to nurse that much more than ever before. When I settled down, let go of some unrealistic expectations about getting other things done, and unrealistic expectations about what my child should be doing at any given age, and never refused to nurse her when she asked for it, never tried to put her off a little longer, and never tried to cut the session shorter, she actually cut way back on how much she nursed! I believe that part of the problem was her insecurity from all the developmental leaps and bounds she was making, combined with teething and food allergies, and all she really needed was the reassurance that she could nurse when she wanted to nurse, that reassurance was more important to her than the actual nursing itself.
thats what i am doing i am just letting aiden nurse when he wants and he is nursing alot less and isnt so clingy except at night. i try to ge out of the house but lately unable to shanes been sick and not feeling to good and he is putting together a new cumputer (building the hard drive and all) and terry (gramma) is sooo tired after work that when she gets home she goes and takes a nap. so i am pretty much cooped up in here for awhile. ho hum.
