i think i have had enough

[popsycal]

ds2 is 15 months and has always woken at least twice in the night. most times arounf 3 or 4 times
he is breast fed.
wont touch cows milk
has begun mauling me during the day if i ever sit down
screams in the night
i have had enough

Oh god I remember that feeling of being mauled.
I stopped at 18 months...
You've done bloody brilliantly to get this far. I think you know when enough is enough

the thing is - i am not really ready to stop
ds2 certainly isnt ready

i am just sick of being tired
sorry having a cack day

Well, if you can get help from your DH/DP to stop this then that will make things easier.

If you can get away for a day or two so that DS2 hasnt got you to turn to for comfort/milk - he has to turn to his dad (which is obviously not so terrible for him).

Will you still express or just turn straight to cows milk? Maybe you could mix the two until he gets used to it?

have beedn trying to mix the two but he will only accept afew ounces of cows milk mixed with ebm

he is fine when i am not there. not really bothered about milk at all (I work 2 days a week) but when i am there he is just 'on' at me the whole time

dh is being a cock (soryr but he is) and i am not even going to go into why he wont help but he wont

up to me

Would you feel better if you could cut out the night feeds? It's really rough on you, especially if you don't really want to give up bfing. I take it that your dh won't go to ds to settle him during the night. Will he tolerate CC? Perhaps you could go cold-turkey on the first night feed, but give him the later feeds. Then, if that works, cold-turkey the next one and so on.

i have been doing shush and pat for 120 consecutive nights now.
not getting him out of the cot between 10-:30 and 5am
really really hard 10 days
i have found him in my bed a few times - put him htere in my sleep but put him straight back in his cot
nights are not getting much better

i think if the nights were sorted then i could deal with the days....ie go out during the day for a stretch of time to try to break the habit

What about distraction when he starts mauling you? Feigning excitement (Hard i know when you havent had decent sleep in months) at something inane or his favourite toy to get him to forget about wanting comfort from you.

Your DH does sound like he's being a cock but i have no advice for that ......

Oh God. I feel for you . We found that it was impossible for me to settle dd at night for the first few months after dropping night feeds. Either dh had to settle her or she had to be left to cry - because I absolutely was not going to feed her once she started to sleep through. I guess mummy smells of milk. If there's no-one else to do the shush-and-pat, then it seems to me it's either continue feeding or CC. Does it work if he's in bed with you? Can he feed without disturbing you? I hope someone comes along with alternative suggestions!

he is more restless in bed with me
it is a ctach 22

argh

will try the day time distraction thing

think i am just feeling sorry for myself....
ds1 has been having 4:45am starts to the day in the last week or so - just when i have been more knackered with ds1

It's a sleep issue popsy,not a b/feeding one.

I'm afraid that after about 9/10 months,I was pretty ruthless about not giving night b/feeds.

Could you wear one of 'daddy's tops' when you go in to settle him? You won't smell so much like mummy and milk then.

moondog - you are right - it is a sleep issue not a breast feeding one.
We have been so busy today, out in the sun, that he has hardly fed during the day and ate a really good dinner and a good feed before bed.

Ruthlessness is the key.
I find that so hard though.
and I Need to get dh on side

will aslo try to wear DH's top so i smell less like daisy the cow :)

Dad's top sounds good idea.

tinker
it is crazy isnt it
i really dont want to stop feeding
and ds2 defintiely is no where near ready but i am so desperate right now

i have gone through with 10 nights of sleep training (not full CC but proper shush and pats shenanighans) and he is nooooo better
:(

Is he now in a separate room popsy?

well he is in the same room and i am on ds1;s floor and dh is on the sofa.

makes not one jot of a differnce

Oh dear. I'm no good at this but when we get the chance I think I'll be quite ruthless about a soft cc. Really really want night time sleep back. Have you read the Millpond book on sleep? Might be worth looking at. I found it didn't quite ever cover our circumstances but it might help you. Let me know if interested since you can borrow our copy.

i am interested in the book - but will have a look on amazon

i need to summon up the courage for cc - even though i really dont want todo it.....

Me too. Have to go, just let me know if you fancy borrowing it

hmmm last night he woke abd i looked at my watch and it was 4:50

hurray i thought so gave him a feed
5 mins later and it was only 1:55 grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

half thinking i might just surrender myself to the whole thing