I should probably just wait to write this when I have the energy to spin it out sufficiently.
Last night Tiny Boy woke at maybe midnight and was awake until TWO. He nursed on both sides. He drank a four ounce bottle of water. I changed his diaper. He was in and out of my bed and the crib; gave him tylenol (he can't have motrin as his surgery is scheduled in a week) and a dose of benadryl, as he's still (always) getting over a cold. Then he woke at five, we went through the same crap again, although he fell back to sleep.
I think his sleep patterns are changing, and he hasn't figured them out yet. Possible he needs less sleep overall at night, but why he'd wake in the middle of the night instead of just earlier in the morning doesn't make a lot of sense. I also think we haven't figured out this nursing part-time thing. My body has the oversupply mode and, now, apparently, in the absence of pumping during the day and skipping some feedings at night, undersupply. Which is not a NUTRITIONAL problem, given that he's 16 months. But he wants more milk than my body is producing. And when he sucks on an empty breast, it makes me want to rip my nipples off.
I'm wondering if we should just be done with it. I mean, I wouldn't mind nursing him at bedtime and first thing in the morning for a while longer...but there's just not the kind of milk that he wants. Tonight I nursed him on both sides (and we used to be a one-side-at-a-time pair) and when he still wanted more I gave him a bottle of formula, which he happily drank. (He needs to eat more FOOD but that's another story.)
Anyway, that's where we're at. Four weeks left until SUMMER (?!)
Last night Tiny Boy woke at maybe midnight and was awake until TWO. He nursed on both sides. He drank a four ounce bottle of water. I changed his diaper. He was in and out of my bed and the crib; gave him tylenol (he can't have motrin as his surgery is scheduled in a week) and a dose of benadryl, as he's still (always) getting over a cold. Then he woke at five, we went through the same crap again, although he fell back to sleep.
I think his sleep patterns are changing, and he hasn't figured them out yet. Possible he needs less sleep overall at night, but why he'd wake in the middle of the night instead of just earlier in the morning doesn't make a lot of sense. I also think we haven't figured out this nursing part-time thing. My body has the oversupply mode and, now, apparently, in the absence of pumping during the day and skipping some feedings at night, undersupply. Which is not a NUTRITIONAL problem, given that he's 16 months. But he wants more milk than my body is producing. And when he sucks on an empty breast, it makes me want to rip my nipples off.
I'm wondering if we should just be done with it. I mean, I wouldn't mind nursing him at bedtime and first thing in the morning for a while longer...but there's just not the kind of milk that he wants. Tonight I nursed him on both sides (and we used to be a one-side-at-a-time pair) and when he still wanted more I gave him a bottle of formula, which he happily drank. (He needs to eat more FOOD but that's another story.)
Anyway, that's where we're at. Four weeks left until SUMMER (?!)
Tough nut to crack, this sleep thing. He'll get it eventually, but until then, you will be anointed saint Gwinne...
ReplyDeleteI remember that after I weaned George, at 14 months, I would give him a bottle of formula before bed, he would not drink it all, but help himself to it throughout the night. I think he was around 18-20 months when we finally gave up the bottle. Incidentally, he gave it up altogether, not only the night one, all of them. And then he started not eating properly. And I had no formula to fall back on. Fun times, what can I say. Thank God for nursery, he eats there loads, he is the hungriest little caterpillar, which means that at home he is not such a stellar eater, but anyway, it is ten times better than before.
All I can say to you is in fact a repeat of the only piece of 'wisdom' I know about sleep: he will get it, the switch will flip, and within days or weeks, you will see a difference. I would guess it is soon, when the warmer time comes (it is hard sleeping with a neverending cold, as my children know), and he is a bit older, and hopefully wiser and more able to sleep. Hang on. It's rough, but you're at the end of this particularly bumpy road. And then you'll hop on another. :-)