Project Sleep.

Adilynn has always been a great sleeper. I can count on one hand the number of times Orrin and I have been up with her at night trying to get her back to sleep. Even when we brought her home from the hospital, she would wake up every 4 hours or so to eat, then go back down with no problems. However....that has changed!!! She has recently started waking up anywhere between 2-4 times a night and can only fall back asleep if I nurse her. Last night she woke up at 10 pm (but she put herself back to sleep at that time), 1:30 am, 2:30 am and 6 am. And again, the only way she goes back to sleep is if she nurses. I can lay her down at night when she's awake, and she'll go right to sleep with no problems. But it seems she is unable to get herself back to sleep if she wakes up in the middle of the night.

I do have a theory on this though. She is still nursing, so when she is ready for her naps during the day, she'll nurse and fall asleep during the middle of it. So I think that I have started a BAD habit with her by letting her fall asleep while nursing. But it's strange because at night I lay her down awake and she'll go to sleep on her own.

So starting Monday, I'm going to have to start doing things differently. First off, I'm going to try to start weaning her from nursing. Now, let me just say that I had planned on nursing her only for her first year. (just a sidenote that she does get regular food in addition to nursing) However, this girl loves to nurse!!! She will nurse even when I know she's not hungry. I think it is just a comfort and security thing for her. I have started distracting her when she wants to nurse with apples, cucumbers, wheat thins, etc. That has seemed to help a little. I'm hoping that once she is completely weaned, then she'll start sleeping better at night.

The second thing I'm going to start Monday is laying her down for her naptime when she's awake, but sleepy. I went thru a period of time when she was around 6 months old that I would let her cry it out. She did great for awhile, but somehow over the course of time everything got all messed up. So, I think she's going to have to relearn how to fall asleep on her own.

I am not looking forward to starting all this but I can't keep getting up with her 2-4 times a night. And in all honesty, I will miss her nursing! Like Adilynn, I have immensely enjoyed the bond it has created, and I have never even minded getting up with her in the night to nurse (until recently!).

I have named this whole weaning / naptime thing "Project Sleep" so we'll see how it goes. Wish me luck!!!