In the trenches...

Thats where I am right now- L has been cutting his first molars and it's rough.

We also decided to attempt night weaning because he was waking up 3-5 times a night to nurse and sleep in our bed.  As much as I believe in the benefits of co-sleeping and love having L close- I don't enjoy it very much because I don't sleep well and end up in very uncomfortable positions.  Plus in 1 month L fell off our bed twice.  He had never fallen off the bed in 13 months, then bam, TWICE.  And the last time was bad!  Poor guy had a fat lip.  So we decided to loosely follow Jay Gordon's night weaning plan.  Our goal was to not nurse or bring L into our bed between the hours of 11pm and 6am.  Before of after that he could nurse and cuddle in our bed.   But between those hours we would walk him or rock him back to sleep and place him in his crib.

Of course right when we start this L starts cutting molars.  So we have caved in a few nights and nursed/co-slept- because honestly it was a night where nothing worked (actually even nursing and our bed didn't help till the tylenol started working).  Last night was one of those nights...

L went to bed around 7:30, but awoke at 9, then at 10, then again at 10:30.  Fortunately all those times were easy to put him back down.  Then he woke up at 12 and D went in to put him back down and L was inconsolable.  It's so frustrating when this happens- it's supposed to be a time when D steps in and I get to stay asleep.  But then I just lay in bed extremely stressed and upset because I hear L screaming his head off- so no sleep for me.  Last night I was not having it and even screamed out some overly dramatic statement about ending my life because this was absolute torture.  It really does begin to feel like torture when awoken so many times a night to a screaming child.  So I helped D give L Tylenol and we tried the oragel (but L hate it so I doubt we got it on his gums).  Then we brought out the big stops- a cup of water.  When nothing else works L instantly clams down when he can put a hand in a cup of water- he should have been born in the water.  D was able to walk him down after all that.

We are just exhausted over here.  I have never been a great sleeper (yes, I'm sure L gets it from me), D lays his head on the pillow and falls asleep instantly.  Even as a small child I appeared to be an insomniac.  It takes me a while to settle in at night, quiet my mind, calm my body, and actually fall asleep.   So if I am waking up several times, I am also having to re-acclimate myself to falling sleep each time.  It's a frustrating process and I hope that once these molars come in our night weaning plan will bring us some benefits.