Night weaning/Stopping co-sleeping

I<3HelloKitty · #1 November 14th, 2011, 10:58 AM

So we finally have a baby monitor (which we probably don't really need cause our house is small and this girl is loud

) and I'd like to start moving Ellie into her own room. We'd like to TTC again in July and I'm going to want to cosleep with the new baby because it makes nursing so much easier. But I'd really like some time where the bed is just ours for a while first, and I don't want Ellie to be jealous if she's moving out of our bed at the same time the new baby is moving in. Ellie still nurses a few times a day, though she understands if she asks for it and I'm not around and someone tells her "Mama's not here right now." She also nurses several times at night. Right now her crib is side carred to our bed so it's still easy for her to nurse. I really do think that she'd sleep better on her own because she wakes up whenever DH or I roll over in bed and then she wants to nurse back to sleep. I know she can self soothe and put herself to sleep because she does it at daycare or with my mom or MIL when she spends the night once in a while. I'm just afraid she's not going to go to sleep for me without nursing and I really want to avoid CIO if I can because it just breaks my heart. Anyone have any tips for me?

noworries · #2 November 14th, 2011, 11:01 AM

How does she nap? Does she nap in her own room without needing to be right next to you? Do you always nurse her to sleep?

I<3HelloKitty · #3 November 14th, 2011, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by noworries

How does she nap? Does she nap in her own room without needing to be right next to you? Do you always nurse her to sleep?

She will nap on her own when she's home with me on the weekends, or at MIL's or the babysitters. When she is home with me, I do nurse her to sleep for naps usually, and I nurse her to sleep at night. The babysitter just lays her down and MIL rocks her to sleep. My mom usually lays down with her. I don't want to have to totally wean her, but I'm guessing I may have to cut off nursing at bed/naptime so she gets the idea. I also think maybe this is going to be harder on me than it is on her, but I'm nervous she's going to hate me!

noworries · #4 November 14th, 2011, 01:10 PM

I'd start with trying to get her back to sleep without nursing when she wakes up in the middle of the night. That's what I did with Isaac. I would just rub or pat his back....sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't but eventually it was working almost 100% of the time. Then, eventually, he didn't even need that anymore, he just started putting himself back to sleep. It took a couple of weeks to get to this point. After that, I would work on getting her to sleep in her own room.
I recommend checking out "The No Cry Sleep Solution" by Elizabeth Pantley. Amazon.com: The No-Cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night (9780071381390): Elizabeth Pantley, William Sears: Books

laisydaisymama · #5 November 14th, 2011, 02:32 PM

great book recommendation.....first thing I'd do is UN sidecar the crib, but leave it in your room. Then I'd add a white noise machine to your room to get her used to NOT hearing you roll over. Nurse her to sleep as usual, but always put her back in her bed.

I<3HelloKitty · #6 November 17th, 2011, 07:09 PM

So just a little update, we started a bedtime routine this week. I'm horrible with routines and so previously I've mostly just been going to bed to watch tv when Ellie goes to bed. This week we've been lowering the lights and winding down before bed and really sticking to a routine. I think it's helping her realize when it's bedtime and she's sleeping on her own until we come to bed. The only problem now is that I don't know what to do with my time once she's asleep!