I’ve blogged about my decision to night wean and what “method” I planned to use for night weaning, but I never shared what ended up working for us. Kolt has successfully been night weaned for about 5 months. Was it easy? No. It was down right tiring and challenging. But, was it the best choice for Kolt and I? Absolutely, yes.

I really wanted to use Dr. Gordon’s method for night weaning. But after trying if for a few nights, I realized it just wasn’t going to work for my munchkin. More than anything, it just confused him. Since he really has no sense of time, he didn’t understand why he could nurse when he woke up one time, but not the next. I guess you could say, I kind of modified Gordon’s method. I quickly learned that is was easier for Kolt to understand that he was able to nurse when it was light out. He understood when I told him it was nighttime out and we could nurse in the morning. Did he go along with it at first? No freakin way!

He cried. He screamed. He kicked. He objected this change of routine with pretty much everything inside of him. Most of the time not even fully awake. I’ve always been against letting Kolt cry it out. But had to keep reminding myself that I wasn’t letting him alone in a room to cry until pure exhaustion. I was with him every step of the way. Holding him. Rocking him. Rubbing his back. Giving him something else to “love on” during the night. Telling him it was okay. Reminding him that he could have milk in the morning. Reassuring him that I knew it was hard, but I was there for him.

And eventually…it got better. At first, his protests lasted 30-45 minutes and he needed rocked to go back to sleep. Eventually, it was just 5 minutes and a simple pat on the back. It was a difficult process, but well worth it for both of it in the end. He sleeps better and so do I!