My daughter is officially weaned at 13 months old.
I've got mixed emotions about it - which surprises me a little. I breastfed because I really wanted to do that for my baby... but I don't think I ever had the overwhelming feeling of bonding while nursing Anna. Yet now that she's weaned, I'm a teensy bit sad that she's not my little wee baby anymore.
Anyway - some updated stats for you all. And some more questions. Mama still needs much help from other Mamas out there.
Stats:
Age: 13 months.
Milestone: No longer getting the booby milk.
Sleep: Still a horrible sleeper. This is where I need help. She's only waking once or twice at night... but she's still REALLY upset unless we stay in her room until she drifts off to sleep at night and during naps. (This is actually new-ish. She used to go to sleep on her own).
I've heard that you should try pushing baby's bed time to a little bit later to help them sleep well - but it doesn't seem to matter what time Anna goes to bed, she wakes between 6 and 7am on the dot. (It's even been earlier lately). So I don't think that really accomplishes anything for us.
I've also heard it's about time to drop a nap. But Anna's SO tired in the mornings. She loves her morning nap. How do you get them to drop a nap that they seem to so desperately need (especially when they're not sleeping well at night?) I don't have the schedule of daycare to help me do this. What do I do?
Teeth: Only 2 little chompers still. I was sure she was teething last week and we were going to see another one pop through by the end of the week... but nothing. I hate teething! Your poor baby (and you!) get put through hell for nothing. It's not like her teeth came in and now we're through with it. She was miserable and showing all the signs for... nothing! Sigh.
So... onward and upward for my little non-nursing baby. *Sob*.
Next thing I know she'll be going to university. (Hopefully she's done with teething by then.)
I love reading your blog and totally agree with your philosophy of "not the only mama." We need each other! Your daughter is beautiful (and thanks for your compliments to my munchkin on my blog, by the way ;-)
ReplyDeleteI weaned at 13 months, too, as it just seemed right at the time. As far as sleep, I've followed the mantra that sleep makes more sleep. I'd hold onto that AM nap as long as possible. We dropped the AM nap at about 14 months (she's now almost 16 months), but only when I felt like I had to because she was napping shorter in the AM then not at all in the afternoons. That nap time is sacred! I will say that once she eased into the single nap, it was nice (took about 2 weeks) because she's now sleeping about 3 hours and my morning is more open as I'm not tied to the house for that AM nap.
I found that the "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby" by Weissbluth really worked for us. I called it "the book" and read it like it had the secret to life (and since she started sleeping well, I suppose it did ;-) but have also had friends say they've tried every approach to no avail. If you look at the "sleep" tag on my blog, it semi-chronicles my obsession with getting her to sleep, and will probably more comical than helpful.
Thank you so much! I love reading your blog, too. :) I took your advice on the napping and Anna took her morning nap today - even though it was at 11am (kind of late!). I'm VERY glad I'm not the only Mom out there obsessing about getting their child to sleep!! (I seriously feel like it's all I talk about sometimes). I must go and read all your blogs on that immediately. :)
ReplyDeleteIt's not true that if you push their bedtime up they'll sleep later. I have a child that has usually been pretty good at sleeping in. My mom says I trained him that way, but I think it's partly just him, and a different baby may not necessarily be the same. The only thing I did was tried not to put him to bed too early - waited till at least 8pm, tried to co-ordinate his nap so that he could stay up later without getting overtired - as when they are overtired they sleep much MUCH worse and wake even earlier than normal. And when he woke in the night I didn't talk to him or play with him, kept his room dark, etc... Then in the morning if he woke too early (earlier than 8) it would be expected he go back to sleep (in our room, in a playpen next to our bed). it usually worked.
ReplyDeleteDon't drop the nap unless you are having a hard time getting her to nap in the afternoon or are having problems with her sleep at night. You should know when it's time to drop the nap as it will be easier to keep her up later and harder to get her to sleep again. Mine dropped his nap at 1 yr on the dot, but a lot of friends kids kept 2 naps till 18 months.