6mth appt -mama fail

timmyhsgirl

so really like my ped and i dont disclose our sleep situation (bedsharing)b/c i dont like to be judged.but this past week it just hasnt been working for us so i talked to the pedi about what ds has been doing. he has gone back to using the breast to comfort suck and go back to sleep. he wont take a paci without screaming bloody murder so this past couple weeks i have been indulging him so i could sleep.  now he's teething he's getting nippy and want to be on my boob all night he is keeping me up and i feel like a zombie and i am so ready to scream and cry it sucks. oh and we swaddle

so to shorten it up a bit pedi said at 6 mths he can go 6-8hrs with out eating and once a night to nurse is more than enough and we need to lose all the sleep crutches because he cant self soothe or put himself to sleep and keep himself asleep.

he recomended ferber's book I will read it with an open mind i know there was an OP who use some of the methods i just cant let LO scream i wont do it. but are there ways to end the all night buffet and bedshare. DS is constantly chasing me around the bed in a swaddle so i cant see losing the swaddle he'll end up crawling to the boobs on his own ;(  should i just try sidecarring the crib? BTW i dont think i am ready to put him in his own room yet...

any recomendations thanks Ladies mama really needs sleep or there wont be any happy anyone .

5de5

Have you looked into a Magic Sleep Suit?  It really helped us with the transition from the swaddle.  We stopped full time bed-sharing when DD was 4 m because she comfort sucked a lot and I needed to sleep. She's been sleeping in the crib in our room (away from our bed) consistently from 7pm to 4 am, I then take her out of the suit and back to our bed to nurse and sleep a bit before getting up from work.
We also use a lot of the No Cry Sleep Solution Methods. It works for us.

timmyhsgirl

ds is just too hot natured for the sleep suit. we'd have to keep it at 50 in the house to use it. I have looked into it .

i would love to get my nights back as i have been going to be with ds to keep him asleep i hate my 8-9pm bed time and would love to sit up with dh till 10 sans baby. i feel like such a bad mom admitting this.

i guess our sleep will get worse before it gets better.

5de5

You are not a bad mom to want your evenings back. I started putting DD in the crib initially just so I could get a few precious hours back from 7-10.  Also the sleep suit is not as hot as it looks, DD would get warm in even a muslin swaddle but has no problem with the suit. They have a great return policy from what I've heard if you want to try it.

 Maybe you could try laying him in the crib for just the first part of the night. Or maybe offering a paci (or thumb) instead of the boob when he wakes?

KittyKatMom

timmyhsgirl:

DS is constantly chasing me around the bed in a swaddle

I'm sorry you're having sleep issues and hope you find a solution soon, but I just had to say that the mental image of what you described above is hilarious.

LouiseB2001

I know how it must feel, I was in a similar situation when DD was 6 months: Pedi told CIO was the only way, the earlier the better and I was tired, but yet I was not going to let my baby cry. I still don't like the crying but as DD got older she seems to understand things (i.e. sleep) much better and deal with the crib on her own better too. I recently read the Sleep Lady book, which put me over the edge in terms of crying. It is very limited when using her method, and for us it was more a matter of teaching DD to fall asleep without nursing. The Sleep Lady for me was a more useful version of NCSS which simply had too many unrealistic scenarios (I know it works well for others but all babies are different). Firstly, don't feel pressured by your pediatrician. If you are okay about the all night buffet for now, that is perfectly fine. They call these 'sleep crutches', but they are also soothing tools for babies. Secondly, when you are ready and you have some weeks of relaxed time (i.e. no travels, family visits, no out of the ordinary work) you can decide to do sleep training. We decided to move DD to her crib about 2 weeks ago and it is going really well, but there were about 4-6 really difficult nights with several 1 hour wakings. You can even sleep train but still keep the crib in your bedroom. We moved her to her own room but that was for very different reasons (I found out that our bedroom was very sensitive to downstairs noise, i.e. television etc). Good luck with it and don't think of it as a  mama fail that he is still nursing so much during the night. It is a great way of bonding and you are also helping him sleep well (for now). 

Ananke

I also just can't bring myself to do any sort of CIO. When DS sleeps with me, he's also on the boob constantly.  The other night, I slept with my back to him, and he actually slept just fine.  4 hours straight (he's only been going about 1.5 hours max), and my back felt way better from not being in a weird position to allow for nursing.  Might be worth a try!