Goodnight Breasts

This week, my wife and I are going to night-wean our daughter.  Actually, I'm going to night-wean her.  My wife will just wear some earplugs, close the door and take a peaceful trip to Sleepville.  I, on the other hand, will have my work cut out for me.  Although not full-on crunchy like the granola types out there, we did raise our daughter in kind of a non-traditional way.  We didn't use a crib, we didn't use formula, we didn't use binkies, and we don't mind nursing our daughter till a time when most folks would be sending her off to college.  It's an attachment mechanism and we think it creates a great bond with Mommy.  My stepdaughter is proof positive of this.

What we would like to end, though, is her dependency on night feedings.  We've yet to experience 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep in the 22 months we've had her.  We can get a good 5 hours sometimes, but, those nights are few and far between.  And even at 5 hours, we're talking a 1:00am wake up.  Sleep is sporadic from that point on till morning.  No, we usually get 2 to 3 hours and then she's crying for Mom's fabulous breasts.  So, we now feel it's time to cut her off during the night.  We want some real sleep.  No boobs for you after lights out, oh child of mine.

What does this entail?  The strategy is easy but the collateral effects are troublesome.  After she goes to bed, I'm the one that responds to her cries.  Mom can't do it anymore because our daughter will expect some nipple action.  It would be too difficult, so, it's on me.  That's going to be my job for the next [insert number] of days.  And it's going to be tough.  Our baby is "spirited" to say the least.  She loves her some boobies and she's not afraid to vocalize her desires.  She's not going to be happy being presented with the new alternative - Daddy.  So, it's going to be tough.  However, what isn't, right?  No one said having kids is easy.  Or, if they did, send them my way and let me punch them in the face.