Thursday, May 9, 2013

The long road to weaning

We are on day four of 'no milk at nap time.' We have tried it a few times on the weekends, but I would either leave the house or hide 15 minutes before nap time and Jenn would put them down. While it worked, this method wasn't sustainable.

I have been feeling ready to cut that nursing session out of our schedule for several weeks now. I wanted the prep leading up to nap time to be quick and easy. While nursing them wasn't difficult, it really wasn't necessary. After eating a big lunch, they're usually in their beds within 20 minutes. Interestingly, they were still drinking quite a lot because I have been uncomfortable by late afternoon for the last few days.  Hopefully my body adjusts soon.

Day one was rough. "Muh, muh!" They both asked for milk, holding onto me tightly. I told them that there was 'no more milk.' Quinn wailed. Teagan was okay at first. I sat between their cribs, rubbing their heads through the bars, while they cried. I wanted to give in. I hate hearing them cry. I stayed strong. Days two and three were really rough on Teagan. Fortunately for me, my mom arrived on day two right at naptime. She was able to settle T easily. Yesterday, day three, Teagan didn't nap at all. I tried to settle her without nursing or rocking her. I was in and out of there for close to an hour. I finally gave her a kiss and left the room, to let her cry. I hoped that she would fall asleep quickly. No dice. She became hysterical. Not wanting her to wake Q, I took her out of the room.

Day four. Today. I changed diapers, put them in their sleep sacks and into their respective cribs. They asked for milk and I, once again, told them, 'all done.'  I rubbed their heads for about one minute and left the room. They chatted. Teagan let out of a few little cries. Both settled within 10 minutes. I hope that we have reached a turning point.

As for morning and night nursing, I will continue to follow their lead for now.

4 comments:

  1. Well yippee-ki-yay :)
    Glad things were relatively easy on the naptime weaning front.

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  2. Sounds like you've done great! I weaned that out suddenly when I returned to work (unexpectedly as I had to get a new job and didn't have much notice.) After daycare Jackson would want to nurse and then we cut that out. Bedtime was the hardest ane he was 3.5 years old when we stopped. Longer than I expected but it ended up being a natural time for him to be done with it.

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  3. It is never easy, but sounds like you are doing a superb job! Hope they have turned the corner on the no milk at nap.

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  4. I hope that things continue to go well! Three days really isn't so bad though I know it's absolutely heartbreaking to listen to them cry.

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