Is Anyone awake? I need a handhold...or a slap...or a glass of wine...or SOMETHING

[IBlameThePenguins]

Hi, I have been reading loads of the threads on here for a while now. My DD turns one on tuesday. She is still breast fed, and usually feeds to sleep. She has been waking 3/4 times a night since she was 3 months old , and feeding back to sleep/ dozing on the breast before going back to her cot (usually after 40mins- an hour). Anyway, we had a particulalrly bad weekend, sleepwise, so I have decided that tonight's the night to start sleep training. I fed her at bedtime, put her down awake, and after 20 mins of crying she was soundo....Sh woke at 11.45 and is upstairs screaming. DP is up there shhhh-ing and patting her, but it's HORRIBLE! She wants her Mummy (Or probably her beloved booby!)

Anyway, I knoe I need to stick to it. I'm back at work, and really strugling with the tirednes. Just needed to be typing, so I don't just go up and ruin it all

Sorry for long post about nothing much - I expext it's littered with typos too, I'm knackered, but needed to be doing SOMETHING!!!

x

If this is the way you're comfortable with - then just keep doing it.

She will survive, and she will learn to self settle - and millions of babies have been taught to settle this way, and they don't harbour any ill feelings nor feel neglected.

Stay strong

Thank You! She is fast asleep now. DP stayed with her and patted her and soothed her. It took 30 minutes. Poor kid, it makes me feel like a dreadful Mummy, but I could barely function this weekend, so something has to change. Thanks for your words of wisdom Drinkyourmilk!!

x

Chances are you'll have it cracked in about 3 days [fingers crossed emoticon].

It's horrid at the time, though, isn't it?

It is!! I spent all of today feeling like a mean old Mummy!..Am hoping the three day thing will be true for us!

Thanks for the encouraging words though..I was a bit of a mess when I wrote that OP last night..I used to be a tough old cow too!!

I just did the put-down-awake thing to try and break my DD of the feeding to sleep habit (overnight, anyway. naps are another matter.) 20 mins of protests on Days 1 and 2, by Day 3 she wasn't making a sound. Day 5 now and that's still true [touch wood emoticon]

I still do 1-3 feeds at night, but she now allows me to unlatch her (if she doesn't unlatch herself) and put her down, which she wasn't before. And she's waking up less and sleeping for longer stretches between wake-ups, too. It's an almost magical improvement
(I wasn't aiming for her to sleep through, just not need me to feed her back to sleep every single time she woke up).

Stick with it, she'll still love you, honest.

I hope so...It's her Birthday tomorrow!!

Having said that, she didn't fall asleep on the boob tonight, she went up to her cot awake and has just fallen asleep without a sound! Hopefully, the magic has spread to out house too...though the night is still young!

All my smpathy. So hard to do.... (just had to re-teach my 18 month about going into bed awake after a lazy summer travelling around and going to bed in cars and on bottles). Felt so bad and he didn't cry but screamed 'mumy there!' - as in I want to get out of this cot and get up. But second night in he called me twice and then went to sleep.

It doesn't get easier (if you find it hard) but it can make the nights so much better. And the mother's energy levels and mental health is pretty fundamental to a healthy family.

Well done, anyway. It is really awful doing it.