In the past I always nursed Alexa down to sleep. While that worked for the most part, it was hard to sneak away after she fell asleep. Sometimes I would have to nap with her. While it was nice for the first few months, after a while I just wanted some time back.

Eventually I started to nurse her almost to sleep, then I would lay next to her till she fell asleep. Yes, she cried some in the beginning, but eventually she “learned” to fall asleep on her own.

I am NOT a fan of sleep training. I guess we used something close to the No Cry Sleep Solution (which really isn’t “no cry” ha).

Both of her naps we done in this way, and so was the first part of nightly bedtime. Then we started putting her in her crib. Just in time actually, because she started getting far more mobile and would crawl away if she woke (not something I wanted her to be able to do if she was sleeping alone, even if the mattress was on the floor).

So now she naps in her crib and sleeps the first few hours at night in there. As it stands, she comes to be with me (I sleep on a mattress on the floor in the nursery with her) after she wakes around 1am. She will NOT be settled back down in her crib.

The last few nights I’ve been trying to night-wean. I know (well really really think) she’s ready. I mean, she’s almost 14 months old. If her father takes her at night, she will take, at most, an ounce or 2 of milk and then sleep in his arms all night. With me, she’ll nurse ALLLLLLL night long. I can’t take it anymore. My boobs hurt, and I need sleep if I’m to return to work this summer.

So, what I do is nurse her when she first wakes at night. Then I pull away when she starts to fuss. Because, she’s not hungry…she just doesn’t know how to sleep. It’s like she sleeps far better alone, but doesn’t want to be alone.

So instead of letting her cry in her crib (even if I’m standing right there) I lay next to her. Basically, the same thing I did when I was trying to get her to nap without nursing. Though, to be honest, my babe is an escalator as well, and will not calm down on her own…so it’s hard. Sometimes I wish I was more mainstream and could deal with CIO :-/ But, I cannot…so I stay and pet, stroke, humm.

Long story short, we’re starting to see some results. Last night she slept for 6 hours without me needing to intervene. Sure, she stirred…but I didn’t have to do more than pat her back. I *think* sleeping on her stomach helped a bit, which last night was the first time she’s done so.

Good god that was a long story.
Speaking of…she’s up. I swear she knows when I’m talking about her sleep patterns

I wish you the best of luck. I have no advice to give, but I appreciate what you’ve said so far because you’ve given me some ideas to try out myself!

Just know this too shall pass! Hopefully sooner rather than later!