Nursing sleep crutch

brideinsummer04

Hi, I haven't posted on here since my first son, I hope it's okay to ask for some advice. DS2 will be 9 months next week and he can't fall asleep without nursing. Just like DS1 we are going down the path that his wake ups are becoming more and more frequent some times every half hour. (DS1 I ended up doing the sleep lady shuffle and we had to retrain over and over for a year and he's 3.5 and still wakes up 1-2 times a night). We are cosleeping with DS2 which DH does not want and I'm not well rested being woke so often to nurse and side laying all night hurts my hips. I've tried the pantley thing where you unlatch and relatch but he becomes more and more awake and agitated. I also tried rocking at wake ups and he screams and cries until he makes choking noises. Any other suggestions? TIA

pixieprincss

I think that 9 months is just a hard time for waking up. If you look at the sleep studies on Kellymom.com, there seems to be a peak of night-wakings at 9-12 months for breastfed babies. This certainly was true for my older two! So, the good news is that it is totally normal. Also, I'll say that for DS1, it wasn't until 3.5 that he really ever STTN. At 4.5 he still doesn't sleep easily. In contrast, DS2 was ready for his own space and STTN more around age 2. So, know that personality plays role. Don't fear "creating" something. iI sounds like your kids are normal from an anthropological sleep/berastfeeding standpoint, not that it makes it any easier! For me, knowing it is normal helped me not worry and embrace these realities and go with the flow. That said, that might not work for you and your family dynamic so you might want to look into partial night-weaning rather than full night-weaning. Though it sounds like maybe that is what you are doing. I can't quite tell)  I think that Kellymom has some good stuff on that and local Le Leche League meetings should be a help, too. I didn't night wean until 14 months, but when we did, we introduced water at night (even a snack if needed) as well as special pats, snuggles, and lovey.