I can’t believe it’s already time for Toddler Talk! This week is going so quickly.
First of all, I want to thank the hostesses for featuring me this week! If you’re coming here for the first time as a result then Welcome! In any case, let’s get down to the talking!
Now, sleep has always been as issue with Shane. He had night terrors as an infant {different than nightmares; night terrors are solely the body freaking out, the baby is asleep during them} and was up every hour at best. Now he’s outgrown the night terrors {for now} but wakes up every 1-2 hours anyway. At least he doesn’t scream now, but I’ve caught him doing some really silly things: he’s been sitting straight up with his eyes closed, swaying back and forth; he’s been climbing up onto the big bed asking for “mamamamamama” {while I’m in the office…}; he’s even danced in his sleep. Like, full on danced.
Because of these silly things, I feel that he’s safest sleeping on the floor with me.
At first I didn’t put him in a crib because between him nursing & having night terrors, it made more sense to co-sleep. By the time I was willing to try the crib, he was terrified of it. I mean, if I got within a foot of the thing he’d try to jump from my arms while hitting me in the face. Ow. I decided to wait & try again with a toddler bed at 13 months.
We did try. We bought one off of Craigslist for $35 {Score!} and he slept in it the first night.
For two hours.
&Never again since.
Now, even though I respect other womens’ decisions to extend nursing, I didn’t want to with Shane- I wanted to be done at 12 months. Then 18 months. Now he’s 18 months & 2 weeks and even though I’ve tried vinegar and pepper, he’s not letting up quite yet. So my point is, he’s still nursing. &It’s really hard to nurse a kid who’s in a toddler bed in another room. So, I don’t. Shane & I sleep on a thick stack of blankets on the floor next to Hubby’s {previously Hubby & I’s… a long, long time ago} bed. It’s a pain, sometimes literally, but it works for us right now.
As for the toddler bed? It makes for a fantastic trampoline!
Like I said, I’d like to wean Shane from nursing &then get him into his toddler bed. If you have any tips for either part, PLEASE leave a comment! Nothing is working!
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Unfortunately I don’t have any advice (JD is still in a crib & weaned when I was preggo with Baby O), but I’ll be checking back here to see what people say about the toddler bed!
I didn’t nurse so no advice there but I will say that what I’ve found is that the 2 year mark is the ideal time to transition, too much after that and the fears seem to develop.
Haha well I planned on nursing until 12 months but had to stop at 9 months when I found out I was pregnant with baby #2!!
I’m not really sure what to tell you. Natalie did great with the transition from breast to bottle only now we can’t get her off the bottle so in a since I’m in the same boat as you!
I have a close family member who still breast feeds her 3 year old during the night. So don’t feel bad! Hey, breastfeeding for an extended amount of time has shown babies to be smarter and healthier!!
Good luck! I believe once you stop breastfeeding (esp during the night) your little one will be much more interested in sleeping in the toddler bed.
Don’t stress, I know easy to say, but by the time they get bigger, they sleep all night and happily in their own room. My first son, now 8.5 had night terrors at age 4(what the heck is that all about?) and was freaked by his crib at that age due to cosleeping. When we moved at 16 months, we just got a twin bed instead of setting up the crib. I had to lay with him to get him to sleep which helped take the place of the nursing time. Since you can’t really crawl in there (I’ve tried) you can snuggle him in your bed and then move him to his own. He’ll wake up there but eventually get used to it. Just keep putting him back in his bed shen he passes out. Baby number 2 is 17 months now, still nurses at night but I am able to get him to sleep and back to sleep the first waking by rubbing his back. Try that too. Good luck!
With the three children that I nursed I weaned cold turkey (none were going to give it up voluntarily) by putting bandaids over my nipples and showing them that they were all gone. Worked like a charm.
New follower here. My middle child use to sit straight up sleeping. Turned out he had spleep apnea and had to have his tonsils out. NOw he sleeps so much better thank goodness.
http://livingatthewhiteheadszoo.blogspot.com/
Sorry no advice, but just wanted to let you know we are going through the exact same thing. I nursed and we co-sleep and when I tried to get my son in his crib he screamed and cried like I was torturing him, I converted it to a toddler bed, but he only slept in it for a few hours and I had to nurse him back to sleep. I tried to cry it out, but could not last very long. I’m still having to nurse him to sleep for naps and at night, so he is still in bed with us. It’s just what works for now, hoping he self weans soon. My son is 14 months.
I have no advice on the weaning as we had problems and had to stop at 3 months. I could use all the advice on getting Zach to sleep in his own bed. If I try to make him sleep in his own bed, he’ll wake up every 2 hours screaming. It’s just easier to co-sleep for now.