Our Journey Into Night Weaning: One Month Update - Sleep Is Fantastic

If you haven't already, you can read about our decision to night wean 19 month old Mackynzie, with Dr. Jay Gordon's method of changing sleep patterns in the family bed,  and how night 1, night 2, night 3, night 4,  night 5, night 6 and night 7 went.

It has been a month since we started this night weaning journey. So what's the verdict? Are we resembling people auditioning for the walking dead, or are we wide eyed and bushy tailed? We actually feel really fantastic. It turns out that night weaning was a really good idea for our family. It really feels so normal, i almost forgot about this update post to be honest!

Things have been really good. I was a little unsure if it would last, but we just went with the flow and didn't think too much about it. To sum it all up, Mackynzie is now sleeping anywhere from 9 1/2 to 12 hours.

 As mentioned in previous posts, our bedtime routine is super important to the success of our nights. We got a chance to test that theory very recently. Our evenings have gotten quite busy with outings, play dates, music class,   etc and since we have a limited time to see Cody each night. He went through a really busy period at work, so that when he came home he would shower and go to bed. When things settled down with his work days, we had a lot of usual evening activities to catch up on. Bottom line: we were busy and tired and started slacking a bit. A couple of nights, we would skip a small part or two of our bed time routine, and I would just put Mackynzie to bed. We had a few days in a row, where she was waking up at 4am hungry and mad. Even though our wake up goal time had been 6am when we originally started this, my instincts told me to feed my baby, so I did. I quickly became tired again, since I couldn't go back to bed after, so paired with not going to bed until about 11pm, 4am wake ups were making one tired mama. After a quick chat together a few nights ago, about what could be causing the sudden change, we realized our whole evening schedule was off. We went back to our normal routine the next night, and have not had any more 4 am wake up calls. We also noticed that Mackynzie's lack of interest at dinner time, and skipping her almond or coconut milk during story time were major contributing factors.

 Something we did decide to change after continuing with the process, was our morning nursing time. We had decided that 6am would work for us, for her first morning nursing session. That would allow us our 7 hour no nursing time from 11pm to 6am. Into our second week, Mackynzie started waking at 5:30 am every morning. At first, I tried to lull her back to sleep by rubbing her back/feet and singing her lullabies, but she just wasn't having it. I even tried going back in the steps and laying her on my chest/Cody's chest. Wasn't going to happen. After a couple days of this, and her and I sitting wide awake in bed staring at each other and waiting for the clock to hit 6, we decided that it was silly to wait, when her body was obviously telling her that she was hungry at 5:30 am. Once we let the specific time go, things went back to normal. She now goes to bed at 8pm (though sometimes she asks for closer to 7:30.), wakes to nurse at 5:30am, goes back to sleep, and wakes anywhere between 7am and 9am.

Our solid (now) well worked routine goes roughly like this (times are approximate. not that we are doing X from this time- this time.):

4:30-5:30pm- Make dinner and all that goes along with that.

5-6pm- eat dinner. We find that what we feed Mackynzie makes a huge difference with how her night will go.

6-7:15pm- Have family time/clean up dinner/take dogs for their walks/anything else we may have to do. (some nights, like music class, we don't get home until 7:15, but our flexible schedule makes things run smoothly still.)

7:15-7:45- bath time

7:30-8pm- Story time with a cup of almond milk.

7:30-8pm- Bed time 

 Our schedule works really well for us and the flexibility of the times is very important for us, because (like many of you can relate, i'm sure) our life is busy and sometimes we have to be somewhere at unusual times. 

 I feel so much better now that I get to sleep at night.When Mackynzie does have a bit of a rough night, due to a nightmare or she just needs us for whatever reason, we are able to be much more present and awake for her. I have been able to handle any wakings in a much better mind set, with much more patience. 

There have been some changes I have noticed since we decided to night wean:

• I get hugs and kisses from Mackynzie randomly throughout the day. She is expressing her love for us in little bursts and it's really amazing to experience. She will come up to me and rub my back, or kiss my cheek, smile and then continue on after a pat from her little hand
• She is taking better naps during the day. Before night weaning, she was taking a 30-45 minute nap. Now, her nap can be up to 2 1/2 hours.
• When she wakes up, she is happy and ready to go. She has a lot more energy and is just generally in a better mood. She is also more willing to eat breakfast.
• She is eating better in general. Something I find surprising to be affected by sleep, but it makes sense. 
• I am no longer a jumbled, foggy mess. I am thinking more clearly, my mood is extremely improved, and I am much more productive with more energy.
• We do more fun stuff together, both mackynzie and I and as a family.
• My legs are smooth much more often. seriously. I get to shower more and even shave more. It's fantastic. I am also putting more into my self and outfits, rather than just throwing on a pair of yoga pants or comfy jeans and a shirt. (Okay, so I am still wearing the comfy jeans, but at least I dress them up a bit more.)
• I am being an overall better person and parent. Probably because I have more patience to deal with daily situations.
• Cody and I started having a weekly date night. We keep our dates at home, but we are able to put creativity and fun into them and it's a really great thing for both of us.

 Mackynzie's nursing sessions are longer and more serious now, making each session much more enjoyable for both of us.  I was starting to feel a yucky feeling when we nursed, but now it's completely gone. We are connected again during each session, and my back aches are gone! I feel comfortable and happy about nursing for a while longer now.

 We are all just feeling much, much better. Night weaning went really well for us, and I am super happy Mackynzie agrees that sleeping through the night is a pretty great thing. I am happy that we get to do more things now. We go out a lot more, we meet with friends more often, I am not dreading things like camping this summer anymore, and we are just generally more full of energy and able to be 'fun' parents. Cody and I have also been able to spend a lot more quality time together, as apposed to us laying in a tired heap or cranking at each other. I never realized how much the lack of sleep was affecting our lives. Turns out the whole sleep thing is really freaking fantastic.