First steps

In order to begin the weaning process I realized that some steps would need to be taken that may not necessarily seem linked to weaning. Specifcally, getting Baby J to sleep without nursing.

The postpartum doula that I spoke with suggested that we start working on this with Baby J's first naps of the day, and then work our way up to nightime sleeping. So, for the past few days I've been trying to get Baby J down for her 10:00-ish am nap without nursing her to sleep. (We don't have a strict schedule, she just tends to get sleepy around 10:00.)

The first day it was pretty hard, but not all that bad. I fed Baby J in the living room sitting up on the sofa, and then we went into the guest room (where she likes to sleep) and I laid her on the bed. I put her giraffe blankie on her tummy and covered her legs in a warmer full size blanket. Then I told her that it was ok for her to sleep now and that she was safe. She smiled and played, and I think she assumed that I would now be curling up in bed with her to nurse some more.

Since it was the first time, I didn't just want to leave the room right away (and it wouldn't have worked anyway) so I lay down in bed with her. We played a new little game with the blanket (I held it up with my feet and made a little tent.) We discovered that she really likes the tassels on the end of the blanket to tickle her face. So I came up with a game that after I rub the tassels on her face three times she would get really sleepy. That didn't really work, but it did make her eyes kind of close each time.

So after a few minutes of that she curled up to me and wanted to nurse. I figured this would happen as this is what she's used to. But instead of lifting my shirt up, I just nuzzled my cheek to her cheek and rubbed her belly, bottom and back. She liked it at first and then start getting inpatient for the boob. She flailed around from side to side, as if looking for the boob on her other side, and started to fuss. But I kept putting my face close to hers and patted her body. Oh, I was also singing her favorite song, Ahrirang - a Korean folk song, and that really calmed her down.

She got really fussy and fully awake at some point so I decided to feed her again, but instead of feeding her lying down, I picked her up and fed her sitting up on the side of the bed. She fed for a few minutes and then pulled off, fully awake. Satisfied that she was not starving I put her back down in bed again and started singing to her and patting her again.

It was sad because she would get so close to sleep, and then realize she wasn't feeding and wake herself up again in a cry. At some point I moved to the other side of her to see if that was better. It wasn't really. After about 15 minutes of tossing around, with my cheek on hers, singing in her ear and patting her body, she finally went to sleep. Yay! It felt so good to have made this first step!!

The next day it took a little less time. I sang a different song, just to mix things up, and all in all spent less time patting her down. The next day something happened (I can't remember what - doctor's appt maybe?) and we didn't end up doing it. The following day I did it for all 3 of her naps!

Also, we finally got her her own futon bed in the nursery so she has a safer (in that there is less risk of her falling off and hurting herself) place to sleep. It's a 5" futon directly on the floor (we have to get a slat foundation, though to prevent mold). The day that she went down for all 3 of her naps was the first day on this bed, although I think each of her naps was shorter.

We had some house guests over the weekend, and she was not going down quite as easily so I ended up nursing her to sleep many times so that things would go a little smoother. But I'm back on target today. Actually, this morning I fed Baby J a little (very little) Earth's Best organic multi grain cereal mixed with Horizon organic cow's millk formula, followed by a nursing and decided to put her in the bouncer seat while I got some coffee and grabbed the newspaper. I turned on the vibration and back massager option, hooked up her toys, and watched her play for a little bit. She seemed happy so I left her there while I read the paper. About 15 minutes later she was asleep! This doesn't normally happen in the bouncer (actually, she's practically outgrown it and hasn't been in the bouncer in many months) but I kind of think she's learning how to put herself to sleep a little better. Or it could just be the vibrations. Either way, she fell asleep without nursing, and in a way that didn't require me to be involved. I'm thinking this would be a good way for my husband to get her to sleep in the future. We'll see how the rest of the day goes!