What are your tactics?
About Me
- MammaMaria
- I have lived in the Pacific Northwest for most of my life. I have always enjoyed playing outside, as well as curling up with a good book in front of a nice fire. I am the fifth of five children; the aunt of nine; and the mother of two. I believe in raising my child on love and sunshine.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Monday, May 9, 2011
Bed time routine
So I had great ideas about weaning Jr. once we returned from our international travels. The day happened to be exactly one week prior to his 14th month birthday. I talked big about cutting him off cold turkey the second we hit American soil again.
Believe it or not, my plan worked almost to a tee.
The moment we hit American soil needs to be adapted to read "Seattle soil". Then allow for the exception once we hit my parents place and we were all so exhausted from the previous 72 hours I completely forgot my plan. You have to understand... I mean let me throw a few numbers at you:
72 hours...
6 meals out...
5 cab rides...
4 legs of air travel...
1 night in a bad hotel...
2 cots for sleeping at the airport in a hallway that made the hotel seem like a five star resort...
1 dingy ride to mark the begin of our return home...
So, I forgot. So sue me!
But finally we made it back to our home! Unfortunately some of the stress of air travel had allowed Jr and I to increase our daily feedings to a short snack before bed, to when ever he felt like it. So my milk supply was sky high.
I didn't care though. I had set a goal, and I am one to stick to a plan. So I did it. I decided we were home and we were done. That night I bagged up all of my courage and went to put Jr. to sleep with no breast milk. Armed with just books and a few off-key songs in my head i headed towards his room hardened for one of the worst battles I could imagine.
Five minutes later after some serious squirming and resistance, he was asleep.
He never seemed to miss it. Apparently it was not just in my game plan, but Jr.'s as well! Having set up a pre nursing routine definitely helped. We were able to wind down with the books and songs just like we always had. I also think, in our case, not having dad step in to take over the night time routine (as I had imagined would happen) eased the transition because nothing was new with our routine, expect that I kept my shirt on!
A few days later, one of my breasts was so engorged I was afraid I would end up with an impacted milk duct. I have seen abscesses. That was not what I wanted on my breast. I couldn't imagine anything much more painful than just the engorgement. So I offered- with so much hesitation that I was forever going to regret it- Jr to breast feed again. He gladly threw down his toy car and cruised over to me. He nursed for less than five minutes. Just enough to relieve the pressure then he got distracted by something across the room and went for it. That was it!
More on engorgement from breastfeeding.com
Now, about three weeks into it I find myself in a bit of a bind as to how awake Jr should be when we finish our books and songs. I want him to learn to sooth himself down. And he does. He sleeps through the night too, so what is so bad about having him be asleep as I lay him down. Some times he awakes a bit and cries for a couple of minutes before he falls back asleep. Is that enough self soothing? Any more and he has a screaming fit that I can not ignore.
Here is a quick video on some sleep tips that I generally followed throughout Jr's life:
Baby Center Sleep Video
If anyone out there has a comment- the things that worked, or the things that didn't work for you, I would love to know!
Believe it or not, my plan worked almost to a tee.
The moment we hit American soil needs to be adapted to read "Seattle soil". Then allow for the exception once we hit my parents place and we were all so exhausted from the previous 72 hours I completely forgot my plan. You have to understand... I mean let me throw a few numbers at you:
72 hours...
6 meals out...
5 cab rides...
4 legs of air travel...
1 night in a bad hotel...
2 cots for sleeping at the airport in a hallway that made the hotel seem like a five star resort...
1 dingy ride to mark the begin of our return home...
So, I forgot. So sue me!
But finally we made it back to our home! Unfortunately some of the stress of air travel had allowed Jr and I to increase our daily feedings to a short snack before bed, to when ever he felt like it. So my milk supply was sky high.
I didn't care though. I had set a goal, and I am one to stick to a plan. So I did it. I decided we were home and we were done. That night I bagged up all of my courage and went to put Jr. to sleep with no breast milk. Armed with just books and a few off-key songs in my head i headed towards his room hardened for one of the worst battles I could imagine.
Five minutes later after some serious squirming and resistance, he was asleep.
He never seemed to miss it. Apparently it was not just in my game plan, but Jr.'s as well! Having set up a pre nursing routine definitely helped. We were able to wind down with the books and songs just like we always had. I also think, in our case, not having dad step in to take over the night time routine (as I had imagined would happen) eased the transition because nothing was new with our routine, expect that I kept my shirt on!
A few days later, one of my breasts was so engorged I was afraid I would end up with an impacted milk duct. I have seen abscesses. That was not what I wanted on my breast. I couldn't imagine anything much more painful than just the engorgement. So I offered- with so much hesitation that I was forever going to regret it- Jr to breast feed again. He gladly threw down his toy car and cruised over to me. He nursed for less than five minutes. Just enough to relieve the pressure then he got distracted by something across the room and went for it. That was it!
More on engorgement from breastfeeding.com
Now, about three weeks into it I find myself in a bit of a bind as to how awake Jr should be when we finish our books and songs. I want him to learn to sooth himself down. And he does. He sleeps through the night too, so what is so bad about having him be asleep as I lay him down. Some times he awakes a bit and cries for a couple of minutes before he falls back asleep. Is that enough self soothing? Any more and he has a screaming fit that I can not ignore.
Here is a quick video on some sleep tips that I generally followed throughout Jr's life:
Baby Center Sleep Video
If anyone out there has a comment- the things that worked, or the things that didn't work for you, I would love to know!
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