What the Weaning and Sleep Struggle in Children Can Tell You

So it begins - our daughter's journey from spoiled breastfed baby to cup-toting, individualistic toddler. She's 18 months old now and has been exclusively breastfed for the entirety of her short life, and while she has certainly reaped the benefits, life circumstances are putting a stop to her addiction to the breast. She's also been moved into her own room and learning to put herself to sleep, which is something she's not entirely fond of yet. In good time she'll be excited about her own bed and bedroom, and will have only fleeting memories of breastfeeding, although it cannot come soon enough for me.

She's been a doll all her life, only occasionally being sick and hard to tolerate. She has, however, never liked drinking from a bottle. We did attempt pumping and feeding her breastmilk from a bottle when she was very small, although she never grew fond of the bottle. Try as we might, she would cry and wail until she got the breast back. And since I was not employed and we had sufficient income to be stable, there was no need to me to rush off and not be able to breastfeed her. The bonding experience and emotional ties were something I will always cherish, but as she's gotten older, it's become a struggle to have her on my lap on and off all day. She'd reached the point where the breast had become her distraction when she was bored, her comfort when she was upset. It was really becoming a bad habit, and we decided it was time to put our foot down.

Our daughter has also slept in our room since birth. At the time, it was a matter of having no bedroom of her own, as living arrangements weren't easy. Eventually we got moved into a nice little home of our own, and the thoughts of her own room began. We finally got the house in order and her crib into its happy little place in her room. She was a bit baffled seeing her bed all by itself, not butted up next to ours, but was not overly upset by it.

We knew it was going to be difficult and that she would probably spend a few nights crying for hours to put herself down, as she's just that stubborn. The first night we decided that keeping her up a little later and making sure she was 100% ready to sleep before attempting her own room would be the way to go, so we kept her occupied for a while past her normal bedtime. Eventually she started in with her nightly chants of "Bed! Bed!", so we got her jammied up and headed for bed. Gave her lots of love, put her in her bed and told her goodnight. She did start in with the wailing almost as soon as we put her down, but surprisingly it only took her 20 minutes before she was soundly asleep. She did fuss a couple of times during the night, but we just let her be and she was asleep again with a couple of minutes. The second night, it took only half the time, and with a lot less angry screaming. Her naps are all now being had in her crib as well, and her crying only went on for about 3 minutes this afternoon. It's amazing that she's adapting so well, and that she's finally on the path to being her own independent little sleeper.

The weaning and sleeping habits are also showing in her ability to be left more often with a sitter. She doesn't get nearly as upset with having to stay with someone else, and she's even excited when she sees her sitter, which is excellent. It's been almost 2 years since my husband and I have been able to spend any time as adults without the little one, and it's a joy to know she's safe and happy without us for a time, and that we can enjoy ourselves knowing she's ok.

Children are certainly much more responsibility than what a lot of people seem to give them credit for. They are bright, intelligent, caring little things and really make you, as a parent, take a step back and look at yourself and your own habits and how those habits and mannerisms affect your children and those around you. We are definitely learning what to do, and what not to do, differently with our next child, and that education is something we really didn't expect. Our daughter is a joy and most certainly a learning experience, and we have a lifetime to learn.