Nighttime Nursing

I created The Boob Monster.

I want your boobs, Momma!!!

We all know Lulu likes to eat.  And I, especially, know she likes to eat at night. 

Lucy has never slept through the night; at best, she's only woken once a night, and that only lasted for a few months.  All things went to hell when I returned to work (when I actually needed to sleep).  First I blamed reverse cycling.  Lucy wouldn't eat all day long, while she was with my dad, and then she'd literally nurse for hours when I got home from work.  Fast forward to the 4-5 month wakeful period, Lucy's night wakings moved upward of four times each night.  And that's when it happened, that's when I created The Boob Monster.

I have always nursed on demand and comfort nursed - my mom likes to call me the human pacifier.  There is nothing wrong with doing either of those, but there can be consequences...  Hunger is one of the strongest cues for the human body, and I essentially trained Lucy's little body to eat at these set times each night.  D'oh!

I once read on a breastfeeding forum that some mother's were eliminating nighttime feedings or scaling back their nighttime feedings by choice and/or by their pediatrician's recommendation, and I thought, "Well that's kind of mean.  Why would they do that?"  Now I get it!  (Does that make me judgey?)

I still nurse Lucy to sleep every night, with no intention of stopping anytime soon.  But now, when she wakes at 9 pm, 12 am, 1 am, and 2 am, I soothe her back to sleep without the breast.  By doing this, I've eliminated the hunger cues that caused her to wake previously.  It took us almost one week to reteach Lucy how to go back to sleep without nursing (and Holy God was that a long week!), but after only two days we saw a decrease in night wakings.  Now we're back to waking once a night!  YAY! 

So if you're a breastfeeding momma that also comfort nurses, keep doing what you're doing!  Just be sure to alternate your methods of soothing, especially for nighttime wakings.  Yet another lesson learned!!!


How did you handle nighttime wakings?  Or are you one of the lucky parents whose kiddos slept through the night at an early age?

I hate CIO, I hate CIO, I HATE CIO

I caved.  I decided to try the Cry-It-Out Method for Lucy's first nap this morning, and whaddya know, I was right. 

Cry-It-Out just isn't for us.  I've known this for years, since I heard my brother and sister in-law using it with my niece.  I'm the mom that cries when her baby cries.  I'm the mom that drops everything and RUNS to my baby when she needs me.  Why I ever thought that I could go through with this method is beyond me.

Oh ya, I was stupid and I was selfish.  That's why.

We had a terrible night last night.  Lucy went down later than she should have and she was up all night.  Finally, around 4:30 AM, we threw in the towel and put her in the car seat.  We drove around town for 30 minutes, got home, and she actually stayed asleep in her car seat for two hours.  Lucy is almost 6 months old...we should NOT have to resort to the car seat trick.  I told myself, "Tonight she sleeps in her crib."

So, tired and frustrated, I tried putting Lucy down in her crib this morning.  For my first attempt, I tried nursing her in the glider; when she fell asleep, I waited for "limp-limb" sleep and tried to transfer her....she woke up instantly.  Rinse and repeat.  Attempt #3, Casey rocked her.  And, attempt #4, CIO.  I read the Ferber Progressive Waiting Chart on this blog and away we went.

The first interval was three minutes.  Lucy didn't cry for the first two minutes, but once she started, she didn't stop.  I went in for two minutes, patted her belly, held her hand, and stroked her face - which made her cry harder.

The second interval was five minutes.  After three minutes I was sobbing.  Casey went in for the second "visit" and just as I was about to throw the baby monitor through the window, he and Lucy came marching into the kitchen.

He said, "She pooped....  And we're never doing that again."

And then we both started laughing, which made Lucy laugh.  But as soon as he set her down to change her, she started screaming again.  I think she so overtired and afraid that we'd leave her again...  After much soothing and nursing, she finally went to sleep in our bed.  Where she belongs.

Call me a wuss, call me an idiot, I don't care...  I'm not judging mothers that use the Cry-It-Out Method, not at all, its just not for our family.