Night weaning plan for 18 month old.

[TheABC]

I'm done. The shenigans of DD over the past three nights have officially broken me. She has always been a crap sleeper and I have co-slept/fed in an effort to get more sleep. It's mostly worked, but she is now waking up hourly from 10pm and running around at 2pm in the morning, waking the rest of the house.

So it's time to put my big girl pants on and night wean/enforce the sleep routine. Please tell me what worked for you. I am currently sleeping with her on a double mattress on the floor (next to her toddler bed - that is the next battle). Ideally I want to be back in my bed, with her sleeping through the night in her room.

Do you have a partner?

Could you leave the double mattress for her to sleep in or is that your bed?

Yes, I have a partner. The mattress is on the floor in her room and there is a gorgeous big super king bed in the main bedroom that DH has had up to now (lucky bugger). The problem is that:
A) She is quite capable of simply walking around each room to work out where I am
And
B) She kicks DH whenever they cosleep. As I am cuddly and he is not.
So it's up to me to enforce the no boobs rule.

Lucky DH! I would suggest that for now at least, I’d make the double mattress her bed and use DH when needed.

I did it with DD from about 16mo and it kind of went like this:
16mo - fed to sleep in her single bed in her room. I’d escape and then co-sleep from any wake ups.
About 17mo- fed to sleep in her bed then I’d feed back to sleep if it was before 10 or after 5. If it was between 10 and 5, I sent DH in to cosleep until she was asleep and then he’d escape. Kind of the Jay Gordon idea but I’m not really sure about feeding sometime and not feeding other. However, it worked and although she didn’t like it at first, she accepted it.
About 18mo- fed to sleep in her bed but DH went in for any wake up. She started sleeping through at this point.
21mo - DS was born so no more feeding to sleep. DH just lay with her until she was asleep. He started just leaving her to go to sleep on her own at some point.

I’ve always used a video monitor so at the slightest sign she was waking up, we’d be poised to intervene so she didn’t get into the habit of getting out of bed.

I think it must be really hard to night wean if you don’t use the other person to step in. It’s tough whatever way but it’s really hard to say no milk when they know it’s right there!

Thanks - that is helpful. I am going to start patting down after 11pm tonight a'la Jay Gordon and enlist DH at the weekend.

TheABC this is my current exact situation except DS is 16 months. I sleep with him on a double mattress on the floor in his room an DH sleeps in our king size in our room. I want to night wean to TTC in the new year. DS wakes probably hourly at night and only feeding will resettle him. I work 1-2 long days a week an DH works 5 normal days a week. DH is reluctant to do the him settling at night method as he doesn't think DS will settle for him as he never has before an thinks they will just be up all night an that DS will just get very upset. Also he has a bad back from the bed DS sleeps in so doesn't really want to co sleep. I have also had back trouble since DS was born from a back to back delivery so am keen to get back into my own bed too. I've found a method online when googling gentle night weaning. It involves helping DS build up sleep associations with things other than feeding, so I'm playing a certain music in his room, ive bought him a comforter and going to use an essential oil. The method says to use these three things for every sleep an change nothing else for four weeks an then hopefully eventually he will learn to fall back to sleep without needing my assistance. I'm not too hopeful it's going to work but at least it's gentle!

Just checked an the method is by Sarah ockwell-smith

Totes following this - same but 20month old !

Violet I definitely think a comforter is a must have. My DD became very attached to hers during night weaning and since. She’d had it from about 10mo.