I wish I had some great advice to give you, but alas, I still experience the same problems with my 13 mth old! I just wanted to give you some reassurance that this seems to be pretty normal sleeping behaviour for a baby of her age. I too co-sleep/nurse back to sleep and have wondered MANY times if this is the right thing to do. I have tried leaving my DS to sleep alone after nursing/comforting him back to sleep, and have found that he still wakes up as often (if not more often) as he does when I am with him. Having to stay awake while getting him back to sleep made me even more exhausted than when I just stay with him and fall back to sleep as he nurses. On a brighter note, my son has started sleeping for longer stretches at night, although I don't know exactly how long since there is no clock in his room, but his night wakings have started to decrease slowly over the last few mths. I know you've probably heard it many times before, but try to hang in there, the sleep will happen eventually, and when it does, you'll be able to enjoy those long uninterrupted sleeps without any guilt (at least this is what I tell myself!)

Also, 3-4 hours of sleep during the day seems like quite a bit to me!! My DS has ever only slept a maximum of 1-2 hours a day.

Thank you for the response! I know things will get better with the sleep, it helps to hear from other mommas! Thank you again.

All I can offer is reassurance andx support, as well as empathy. My daughter co-sleeps etc etc and was waking every two-three hrs, with only 3 hr sleep at beginning of the night (sometimes, luxury of all luxury she wld sleep 4 hrs) up until recently and she is 19 1/2 mnths. I made a very hard decision to night wean at 18 in abit mnths. Just cldn't do it anymore and it was really effecting me. She now sleeps about 6-7-8 hrs in a row. I usually feed about 1-2 times a night now, usually only for 5-10 mins and no long sessions and falling asleep at the boob. She falls back to sleep when I put her down. We kind of came to an unsaid agreement of booby after 6 hrs. So... she sometimes sleeps more which is amazing but night weaning had some very very tough moments. But she is fine and it is a relief. But, this is not recommended for everyone and also not recommended until much older.

I know it is sooo hard and sometimes you feel like you are going nuts.

Things that helped me:

sleeping as much as poss during the day

going to sleep as soon or soon after she sleeps

spending time with friends

mani/pedis

watching a movie I love

get time away if poss for YOU - I had v little of this, but more lately and really helps: coffee shops, baths, reading, talking on the phone to good friends. day dreaming... you name it

Hope this helpsXXX and good Luck

thank you!

thank you so much for the post, it really does help to hear from other mommas going through the same thing.

i know my dd is to little to understand no nummies at night, so i am waiting for awhile before i try night weaning, however i do think she will sleep longer once i can do this.

it does help to have some "breaks" during the day, my mom helps with this and it is such a blessing. my lo is so active that i think she would rather be on the go exploring than sleeping! during the day she really does not even want to be held, she just wants to be on the ground going constantly! i am trying desperately to get my house baby proofed so she has more space to be free!

take care,
hsmith

Dear Reggie 22, I am wondering if you have any tips on how you night weaned successfully. I would like to begin night weaning my son, although I am willing to have it take as long as necessary to avoid a lot of tears, and would love to have some advice from someone who's BTDT. Thanks!