I think I'm ready to wean

[@llli*tampamama]

LO turns 1 on August 14. I am starting to feel ready to either completely wean or cut back significantly. Right now LO eats every 3-4 hours during the day, sleeps from 8-1am in her crib (after waking her for a dream feed at 10ish) and then wants to nurse on and off from 1-6am. I'm exhausted even though we cosleep the last part of the night. I've tried Jay Gordon's night weaning but we aren't getting very far. She cries long and loud and there are three other kids who need to sleep. I have no problem with cow milk and have been giving her little bits but she really doesn't like it. I'm not sure where to go from here. Ideally, I would keep nursing her first thing in the morning and last thing at night. I don't mind nursing her down for naps too. I'd like to replace daytime feeds with cow milk and I'd like to get her sleeping more of the night in her crib. I miss my hubby!! Any thoughts? I feel guilty for wanting to stop but we made it so far and I think I want my body back : )
It had occurred to me that I should try bottles in the night instead of nursing. Maybe she won't cry so loud and long for a bottle and I wouldn't give in so quick b/c I'd know if she wasn't taking a bottle then she isn't crying b/c she's hungry. I'm at a loss...

[@llli*pizanite]

I felt like you did around the time my DD was a year. However, we couldn't get her sleeping in her crib straight through until 15 months. I believe Jay Gordon's method is intended for babies over the age of 1, so maybe if you try again now or in a month or so, you will have more success. Honestly, for us, we only got DD in the crib because I was out of town for 2 nights and she didn't expect nursing and just went to sleep in there and slept all night for my DH. We were able to continue that after I returned.
Maybe lose the dream feed and see if that helps with the second waking? Any chance DH can take the nighttime waking with a bottle?
And then there's always the chance that you wean her and she wakes anyway, and then you are stuck with other means of trying to get her back to sleep. I'm like you, I always brought her in bed to nurse because I was half awake and just wanted her back to sleep again.

[@llli*tampamama]

I like the idea of dropping the dream feed. I'll try that for the next few nights. I'm in a blur right now. Just so exhausted. I'm getting anxious too b/c we are going out on a houseboat for Labor Day weekend and I don't think there is going to be a way for her to sleep with us. She needs to be ok in a pack n play for those nights. I started wondering this morning if I just need to let her CIO in her crib. I'm feeling so frustrated about all this. I didn't cosleep with my other kids nor did I nurse past 6 months and I don't remember struggling so much with sleeping. I feel like I've created a monster and now I don't know how to tame her...

[@llli*djs.mom]

How long has the 1-morning thing been going on? Because your exhaustion and being over it sounds like 1st year molars breaking to me. And they are a bear. And they usually take 4-6weeks. I would maybe drop the dream feed but still expect her to need that constant nursing at some point if that is what it is. And I would hold off on Jay Gordon until they break if it's her huge molars.

[@llli*sonogirl]

Maybe we can come up with ideas to figure out the houseboat situation? What sort of sleeping options do you have there? Either way, I wouldn't change up your normal routine just for the vacation. Kids have a funny way of adjusting under those circumstances when they otherwise might not.

And you didn't create a monster! Kids really do have very variable sleeping needs and temperaments. You may have had better sleepers in your older kids, but that doesn't mean you did anything wrong if your current baby is harder to settle. Certainly, it's not the breastfeeding. I know plenty of exclusively formula fed babies who are persistently nightwaking even at 3 and 4 years old. My 3 year old nephew sleeps worse than my almost 9 month old does! Whatever you decide with respect to nursing beyond a year, don't blame yourself for this stretch of poor sleep.

[@llli*tampamama]

Interesting thought about the molars. I almost gave her Tylenol last night because she had shoved her finger way back in her mouth and was chewing on it. I didn't think about it again. Decided to just nurse her a little longer and she finally fell asleep. Maybe I'll try Tylenol tonight?
As for the houseboat situation, it's a pretty small boat. There are two rooms. The room where my husband and I will sleep has a full-sized bed and small bathroom. The other room, separated just by a curtain, has a small kitchenette, A love seat, and bunkbeds that are full-size I think. I've been thinking that my son will sleep on one of the bunkbeds, the girls will sleep together on the other bunkbed, and my husband and I will sleep in the third full-size bed. Hence the need for the baby to be in the pack and play. I don't think she could fit in a full-size bed with me and my husband. The thought of being up all night holding her because she refuses to sleep in the pack and play makes me want to cry.
Regardless of the vacation, I'm tired. I'm wondering if I should think about nursing her when she wakes up the first time and putting her back in her crib. I'm just not sleeping very well with her in bed with me. I have a feeling she would wake up very soon thereafter though and I'm not sure what to do at that point. I'm not excited about the thought of being up and down all night nursing her and fighting with her to sleep in her crib.

[@llli*djs.mom]

I would definitely dose with Tylenol tonight. But I can't figure out WHEN to does her to get you a longer stretch? You can't really do it when you dream feed.....

[@llli*bfwmomof3]

How about at the 1 am feed? Since she's doing the frequent waking between 1 am and 6 am?

[@llli*tampamama]

She doesn't really like Tylenol so I'm not optimistic about her taking it in the middle of the night. Her wakefulness between one and six has been ever since I started trying Jake Gordons method. So I'm not sure if that has anything to do with teething necessarily. Maybe I'll try Motrin before bed tonight? It should last a little bit longer than Tylenol. I'll see if it makes a difference. Guess I see where I am after I get teething pain ruled out and go from there. Should I keep trying to night wean with Gordon's method??

[@llli*lllmeg]

What about a camping cot for your husband so you and baby can share the bed? They make regular and extra large ones. I put a thin foam pad on mine abd it's quite comfortable.

My thoughts about night weaning or any other kind of weaning techniques is if whatever you are doing is making the situation worse, (whatever that means to you) then it probably makes sense to stop doing it.