If you EBF, don't cosleep, and LO still nurses/awakens at night

SeaSoul · November 2009

Where does the nighttime nursing take place? Still thinking of transitioning DS to his crib full-time but the idea of walking down the hall to nurse and/or soothe back to sleep several times a night makes me tired just thinking about it. On the other hand, I have a feeling we'll both sleep better without all the tossing & turning and moving around (he is forever getting in my space in bed and I have to move him), so maybe there would be fewer wakings in the long run.

risysmama · November 2009

I'm thinking of transitioning DD soon. Night time nursing would take place in her room.

How many times is your LO waking up at night?

SeaSoul · November 2009

risysmama:

How many times is your LO waking up at night?

Well, it's hard to keep track, since I am half-asleep when it happens...plus, it varies. Right now he's in a wakeful period (teething?) and the last 2 nights he was awake 5-6 times, I think! But when things are good it's more like 2-3.

MrsAmers · November 2009

With DD at that age, it would depend on how tired I was. She would start out the night in her crib. If she just woke once or twice after I had a good chunk of sleep (4-5 hours), I would nurse in the glider in her room and put her back to sleep in her bed. If she woke up after I had only had 2 hours of sleep and wasn't settling back down easily, I would bring her to our bed and let her stay the rest of the night.

So basically, during wakeful periods I nursed her in our bed and during minimal waking phases I nursed in her room and we all slept in our own bed. When the disturbances stopped, she stopped waking and we all got to sleep in our own beds!

I want to do this with DS, too. But if I put him to bed between 8 and 9, he tends to wake up within 1-2 hours of when I go to bed...which stinks. I'm hoping to get some extra sleep this weekend and then maybe I'll be rested enough to try to get him to sleep in his crib instead of my bed.

But I'm a lazy co-sleeper. I prefer not to bedshare, but I do it when I'm desperate to get back to sleep quickly.

kmgourley · November 2009

In the chair in his room is where I nursed him before we night weaned. He was waking up anywhere between 1-15 times per night during the period when he was in his own bed and still nursing at night (which, of course, spanned over many months). Yes, I was tired. But in all reality, his room is just not that far away. I would wake up fully and not sleep well in general when he was in bed with us, anyway.

Now that he doesn't nurse at night, he often wakes up still. Occassionally he'll STTN but it's normally 1-4 wakings at night still and it's not that big of a deal to go to his room. Most of the time I just lay him down and turn on his music box and he's okay.

tmp-214118062502913 · November 2009

We moved DD to her own room around 5 months because none of us were getting any sleep. We transitioned from a PNP in our room to a crib in her room and I found that once she went to her own room she woke less often. I think it's because she couldn't smell me and hear me tossing and turning etc.

That being said, I still nurse 1-4 times a night. I nurse in the rocking chair in her room. This way, she is more likely to fall asleep and easily be transitioned back into her crib.

Her room isn't terribly far away - go through our room through the office to her room in the hallway (like 30 feet from our bed). I now can do it almost in my sleep as well as I did nursing her from the PNP in the middle of the night. I have also caught myself dozing a bit in the chair.

Lotte134 · November 2009

Like most others, we nurse in a rocking chair in DS's room. It's right next door to our room so it's not a long walk. Yes, getting out of bed is a big pain, but DS will not sleep in our room - he thinks it's party time when mom and dad are around - so we don't have a choice.

lvisser · November 2009

Kai is still waking a ton (sometimes 2 times other times more like 4-5 :::sob:::) and I do 99% of his feedings in his room. When he wakes at 6am or so, I bring him into bed with us...

momofolivia · November 2009

MrsAmers:

With DD at that age, it would depend on how tired I was. She would start out the night in her crib. If she just woke once or twice after I had a good chunk of sleep (4-5 hours), I would nurse in the glider in her room and put her back to sleep in her bed. If she woke up after I had only had 2 hours of sleep and wasn't settling back down easily, I would bring her to our bed and let her stay the rest of the night.

ditto

WyoGal · November 2009

We moved M out of the bassinet in our room when he outgrew it and into the crib in the nursery. I used to bring him into our bed after his first waking. However, he sleeps terribly in our bed and has started to not be able to handle side-lying nursing well Crying So, the new rule of thumb is for the first waking I go in and nurse him in the rocking chair in the nursery. Second waking (if he has one) he comes into our bed. If he's extra fussy, teething or has a hard time going down for the night, he starts out in our bed and I move him when he's finally sleeping well and I'm not.

tlynnus · November 2009

We did bed sharing full time until DS was 6 months old. Then it got pretty cramped so we moved him to his crib which is in our room. He wakes up 2x a night. I just bring him to our bed and he nurses while I go back to sleep. I usually wake up about 30 minutes later and he is asleep. Then I carry him back to the crib.

rourkiesgirl · November 2009

we usually nurse in the glider in her room (which is right next to ours) and she gets up about 3-4 times a night. one of those times is before i go to sleep so that one's not a big deal...the other ones are sort of painful though. if i'm super sleepy then i'll make DH go get her and we'll nurse lying down in bed!

JimsBride08 · November 2009

We usually start the night with DS in his crib. When he wakes up I normally bring him to bed and nurse lying down. I try to put him back in his crib when he's done because we usually both sleep better that way. Sometimes he ends up staying in bed with me until morning. He usually only gets up once or twice if I keep putting him back in his crib, but will wake a lot more if I keep him with me. His room is across the hall so it's not a big deal to go get him, but sometimes I'm still too lazy to put him back.

charlatti · November 2009

DH goes to get her when she wakes, brings her to me to nurse in our bed, I take her back to her bed when she's finished.

DarcyLongfellow · November 2009

We just (4 days ago) transitioned DD to her crib in her room instead of the cosleeper in our room. When she was in our room, I'd pick her up and walk 10 feet into the living room to nurse her. Now, I have to walk upstairs to nurse her in her room (DH's and my room is downstairs). It's definitely not as convenient!!!

It's been a transition for all of us, but so far DD does seem to be sleeping better in her own room. DH and I were waking her up all night, poor thing.

drcolleen · November 2009

Maybe you will be pleasantly surprise if you give the crib a try. We co-slept until about 8 mo, I would just nurse her to sleep when I went to bed then roll back and forth in the night feeding when she woke however many times-- caveat being nights I wasn't home so DH would bottle feed then put her to sleep in the swing or occasionally the bassinet and she would sleep through the night for him. I was doing long hours at work and sleeping horribly w/ LO so DH convinced me to put her in the PNP next to the bed around 8mo and she did great, woke 1x/night and I would just bring her to bed with me. Then a few weeks ago DH moved the PNP into the other BR and, I hate to say it, she sleeps great and I sleep great and life is great! It's a little sad because it means she doesn't need me all the time.... but we are all well rested and happy. If she cries at night I check on her to make sure she isn't sitting up and by the time I go to the bathroom she is fast asleep again so I am not even tempted to wake her to feed her - which I know she doesn't need.

You'll never know until you give it a try .... but every LO is different and you have to do what is best for your family. GL

sweetpea7628 · November 2009

DD slept in her crib and while I was EBFing she woke up 1-3 times a night to nurse. I walked down the hall to her room and nursed in her chair and then walked back to my room and went to sleep. And I worked full time. It sucked but I learned to really appreciate my time with DD in that chair in the middle of the night. Now that she's STTN most of the time I miss our snuggles at night.

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