Recently, I have been thinking about the end of this first year of my son's life and how that will mark the end of breastfeeding. I'm sure weaning will go okay - Little B is a champion eater of all foods - but bedtime is another matter. I am ashamed to say it, but I have been feeding my son to sleep for the last few months. (cringe) Sound asleep, dead-to-the-world, la-la-land ... asleep. Which is fine for now, but at the end of this first year it would pose a MAJOR problem.
So, last night when my son's feeding was interrupted a bit, I decided to switch things up. After he finished eating, he was still awake; ordinarily this would have meant he got the other side and would have fallen asleep that way. Instead, I burped him, sat him on my lap, and "read" him a couple stories from memory (since I didn't have any on hand). Then I told him I loved him, that it was night-night time, and that he needed to get to sleep. And I set him in bed totally awake. He responded, in turn, by sobbing. I handed him Mr. Bear (thanks, Jocelyn!) and laid him back down when he sat up, told him I loved him, and left the room. He cried pretty hard for about two or three minutes, then he quieted down and went to sleep.
What? What? What?!
Yup, asleep. All ... on ... his ... own!! I can't even tell you how proud I was of him. Even better, he slept all night long - 'til 10:30 a.m.!! (Yes, all these exclamation points are necessary. This is how I talk.)
So tonight, we did a variation of the same thing - tried a little something different with the lighting (we'll still need to tweak that a bit ... our lamp isn't set up just right for this routine) - but he responded the same way; cried pretty hard for two or three minutes then quieted down to sleep.
I am anxious even writing about this for fear of jinxing myself and my son, so I will not say that we have things worked out. I am knocking on wood as I type this. But I am hopeful. And, of course, I'll keep you updated.
Have a wonderful night!
3 comments:
YAY! So glad that he is falling asleep on his own! I hope he keeps it up.
You know that you can keep nursing past 12 months right. ;-) There is no law saying you have to stop on his first birthday. I nursed Jack for 14 months and will probably nurse Nick longer. :D
But, obviously you have to decide what is right for you and your family. :D
Yes, I know I can keep nursing for over a year, but sadly my little buddy has been biting me more than I'd like already. I'd hate to think what that would feel like with more teeth, so I think we'll be stopping at a year. Plus, he is a big, curious boy and isn't really into sitting around to have a drink unless he is super tired. I'm pretty sure he'll be ready to move on at a year.
Oh! Biting is NO good! No good at all!
Post a Comment