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Original poster

7 mo DD only falls asleep on boob - need to remedy this HOW???

80 replies

lovefamily · 09/05/2007 18:23

Ive been here before and 'know' some of you lovely ladies already. Its been a while and theres so many long threads its impossible to read through them all. Basically I co-sleep with dd of 7 months and always have - she is bf to sleep and also for day naps.

I have decided its time to get it sorted once and for all but cant decide how. Hate the idea of CC but dont know how else to get it sorted and if i did do CC what are the finer details (ie do you go in every few minutes, pick them up - how does it work?). I have the NCSS book and have heard of other methods. I am wanting to move dd into her cot in her own room but know this is quite a change to what shes used to. Any advice would be great or simply hearing what has worked for you - would love to hear from ladies on the 'Sleep is for the Weak' thread as I was an active 'poster' a few months ago

cruisemum - you had the same situation as me - hows it going?

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crayon · 21/05/2007 14:02

Good luck Lilysma. You may be pleasantly surprised . GW seems just to irritate some children, I know my DS1 used to get really wound up when we stayed in the room. Be strong .

cruisemum1 · 21/05/2007 14:44

i agree with crayon. to me it seemed like taunting

Original poster
lovefamily · 22/05/2007 21:02

here goes......

this is my first night (oh heck). we got her ready for bed as usual - bath etc and feed and then I put her down awake and said goodnight. this was at 8.05pm. i am now still going in every 5 minutes as she is crying and screaming. this is horrible and im having worries - will she hate me?, be grumpy all day?, will this work? am i doing the right thing? arrrrrrrgggghhh i hate this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

nearly an hour has gone by - i have had to take her sleeping bag off as she has gotten her self sooo hot crying, I keep finding her sitting at the bottom of her cot - at least shes got the cot mobile for comfort (she keeps putting it on) and lots of teddies

when she sees me she gets ready to settle herself down only to reaslise im going again. I so dont know if this is right now and my heart is beating sooo fast! and whats worse im gonna have to do this for naps tomorrow

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Original poster
lovefamily · 22/05/2007 21:29

shes now asleep - it took just over an hour. she is laying on her side just like she does when she would cuddle up to me in bed slight problem in that she has no sleeping bag on and is not at the bottom of the cot either

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crayon · 22/05/2007 22:11

Oh Lovefamily - it is horrible isn't it.

You sound like me - DS slept through last night and today I was feeling sad that I'll never do another night feed as he is our last baby!!

Well done for sticking it out.

Original poster
lovefamily · 22/05/2007 22:17

crayon - its soooooooo hard! after only 45 minutes shes woken up so doing it all over again. i hate that she looks so relieved to see me then angrily cries when i go away. I just wanna give her a big long cuddle - Im just hoping and praying that my bright, cheerful and smiley little girl wont disappear

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SoMuchToBits · 22/05/2007 22:40

Lovefamily - I think the waking up after 45 minutes thing is fairly normal,i.e. you get them to go to sleep themselves, they do so and sleep for about 45 minutes, then get to the shallow part of their sleep cycle.

Then - guess what? They wake up! And because getting themselvelves to sleep is a new concept, they start to cry again. After a few times,this will probably resolve itself. But it is hard the first few times. However, once they have got the idea of getting themselves to sleep, you never look back. We did it with our ds, and he is now a really good sleeper, and loves his bed. We found doing the CC thing was hard ata the time but really worth it. Hope it goes OK for you.

Original poster
lovefamily · 22/05/2007 22:53

there is positive in this somewhere - in that i am having time to get things done now in the evening so tomorrow I will take her to the library and be able to spend time with her more - so hopefully - its better for everyone.

i think it was nearly half an hour this time but im hoping at some point she will get into deep sleep and eventually we'll go to bed too so we wont be making any noise that wakes her and hopefully this is the start of something good - a happier family - tomorrow is the next hurdle as i have never put her down for a nap - she usually falls asleep in the car on the way home from the school run in the morning and then other naps during the day can be all over the place so a bit worried - plus she still bf's in the day so anxious not to get that muddled and musnt let her fall asleep on boob. fingers crossed

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SoMuchToBits · 22/05/2007 23:01

If it's any help, when we did CC with ds, we sorted the evening/night sleeping first, and got that stable before sorting out the daytime naps, which took slightly longer.

But in the end we managed both,and ds (now aged 6) has been a brilliant sleeper ever since, and still loves his bed! Tonight he couldn't wait to snuggle down with his teddy and his "snuzzle socks" (his little comforters).

Original poster
lovefamily · 23/05/2007 09:37

somuchtobits - how long did you wait to sort the day naps - im having trouble right now. she fell asleep in the car on the way back from the school run this morning - which is usual but she woke entering the house so i put her down in her cot as she normally sleeps this time. she is still crying - i still keep visiting her but am hating this as she calms when i am there and screams angrily when i leave. im wondering whether i did the right thing putting her in the cot to sleep but i knew she was tired. saying that she quite often gets tired then has a second adn thrid wind iyswim.

she was however her smiley happy self this morning when she woke up - i heard her 'calling' for me and she was fine when i got there

and to update on last night - after her first awakening at 10pm she didnt wake until 2 so i decided to feed her and she went down awake with only a slight grumble. she then also woke at 4.30 and i couldnt decide what to do so i fed her a little more (i figured if shes been used to sucking all night long id better give her some - i can get drinks sorted once going down is sorted) she took 30-45 minutes to sleep with crying and we all got up around 7.15 this morning

am still worrying and feel like i have no idea what im doing. i really hope this works now

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Original poster
lovefamily · 23/05/2007 10:00

She is now asleep for her first nap (in her cot) after about 45 minutes of crying. i went up the last time and leaned in and rested my head on her chest giving her a cuddle and i really couldnt help it but i stayed there for a minute or two - she was calm and i noticed her eyes closing so i stayed there and voila. i hope i havent mucked things up but she wasnt bf to sleep and she was in her cot and tired and it was on a visit. arrrrggggh the insecurity and doubt!

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cruisemum1 · 23/05/2007 10:05

lovefamiltyu - you are doing great. more later - ds wrigglin g like crazy....

cruisemum1 · 23/05/2007 10:57

just fyi - i did not tackle naps in the cot until i was convinced ds knew how to fall asleep at night in there. This was afger around 2 weeks i guess. he had NEVER napped in there but he now does -EVERY DAY (unless we are out ). it is so liberating. goodluck

Original poster
lovefamily · 23/05/2007 12:56

the nap didnt last long but she seemed fine on waking. it makes sense what you are saying re: naps in day but not sure how it would work if i didnt do naps in day in cot - saying that she has fallen asleep on the way back from being out so thats that one sorted for now. this may seem silly - but should i make sure we're out and about and she falls asleep in car for daytime naps - otherwise not sure how to do it as she usually falls asleep feeding on me in daytime too.

i am seeing what you mean by liberating - im so not used to having baby free time even though i have many many things to do when she is asleep i end up not knowing what to do first - its so strange for me. Things are actually starting to get done though (and thats only based on a bit of sleep last night and a small nap she had this morning so looking forward to when things properly settle.

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cruisemum1 · 23/05/2007 13:56

ds will fall asleep in buggy, car seat or cot now . once our lo gets used to napping, hopefully she wlkl be able to do it anywhere!

crayon · 23/05/2007 14:28

Lovefamily - I still feed to sleep in the daytime. It hadn't occured to me not to, to be honest. I don't think it has impacted on night settling though & there is no way I am giving up feeding to sleep in the day.

Original poster
lovefamily · 23/05/2007 14:31

oh thats interesting... i guess i thought it was all or nothing. off to school run in a sec so will post more later

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crayon · 23/05/2007 16:26

I may be wrong - don't take my word for it. I'm sure others can advise too ...

SoMuchToBits · 23/05/2007 18:01

Sorry, bit late replying, but we waited until we had had a few nights of successful sleeping and then tried daytime naps. Sounds like you are doing really well so far.

cruisemum1 · 23/05/2007 19:27

somuchtobits - i did the same (I'm crossedwires btw). worked like a dream!

Original poster
lovefamily · 23/05/2007 20:29

Night 2 - nearly 45 minutes and still have a crying and very hot baby

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dueat44 · 23/05/2007 20:55

hang in there! it is wonderful to have a good sleeper. and better for them.

Original poster
lovefamily · 23/05/2007 22:01

not sure its gonna work - she woke after about half hour and cried again for a while. no improvement yet on day 2 - so thinking I had my hopes too high

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cruisemum1 · 24/05/2007 06:47

day 2 is early....

Original poster
lovefamily · 24/05/2007 08:32

there is progress - after a small handful of wakings (and crying) throughout the evening - dd slept right through to the morning 7.15 ish with no feed in the night at all! its the longest shes ever slept - so feeling hopeful but praying she starts to go down a bit more settled - it still took an hour of crying last night and crying at wakings

lilysma - have you done it yet? if so howd it go?

no idea what to do with day naps - will take it as it comes

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