Of sleep transitions and night weaning and my sweet little baby boy

Remember I talked about how during my previous pregnancy it was discovered that I don't have immunity against Rubella (or more commonly known as German Measles)? Well, Congenital Rubella Disorder is something I take very seriously and to make sure we are not at risk, I've had to get a booster shot of the MMR vaccine done before I even think about getting pregnant again. Initially I thought that after getting the vaccine, I only needed to avoid pregnancy for 1 month, but after getting it earlier this morning, my doctor said 3 months. To avoid pregnancy for 3 months. SIGH. And here I thought we would be able to start trying again soon. I know 3 months would fly by in no time, but I've got baby fever. Boo. And I'm very conscious about the age gap between our kids getting wider and wider by the day... But we all do what needs to be done right? So here I am whining a little, but I'll get over it and enjoy my baby boy for a little while longer as my only child.

Speaking of my baby boy. He was incredibly sweet this morning. At the clinic, I was getting my MMR jab with him snuggled up against me in the ring sling. So he had a close up view of what the doctor was doing. Once doctor was done, he started stroking my arm ever so gently, repeatedly. Cue: awwwwwwwwww. Even the doctor was so impressed and said he didn't realise such a small child would be capable of such empathy and seriously, how did he know what was going on and that it would have hurt? Well, granted that he himself has gone through a lot of vaccinations and jabs, but we didn't think that he could have remembered. But nevertheless, I love my sweet little child :) He's truly the bestest! :p 

In the last week, he has transitioned almost fully to just 1 nap a day. Preferably the naps should happen a little later in the afternoon and he should be sleeping at least 2 to 3 hours during that nap, but for now he's still getting used to things so it's a bit topsy turvy. We'll get there soon.

Last week we also decided to night-wean the kid. No more mum-mum at night! First night, he woke up at 1.30am demanding for mum-mum. I said no more... mum-mum only when it's morning time. He screamed at me. For 2.5 hours. Sigh. But I was determined. I gave him water, I cuddled him, I snuggled up against him. I made sure he did not feel abandoned. Lo and behold, the second night, he woke up, came to me, and when I told him no mum-mum, he snuggled up against me and went back to sleep. 3rd night, he slept all the way through to almost 5am before waking up for a feed. And it has been that way ever since. Phew! I feel a million times more well-rested now, and I don't feel bad at all because I know he was ready for that next step and we accomplished it lovingly.

At the same time, we decided to make sure that his daddy would be able to put him to bed at night. So after I feed him and if he hasn't fallen asleep yet, I would leave his room and his daddy would take over. He would lie there next to him and comfort him while he fell asleep. I thought it was going to be a good many days of screaming before he would be willing to sleep for daddy. But the first night, he was asleep in 15 minutes. Then 30 minutes the next night. And since then, all it takes is 15 minutes for him to fall asleep with daddy by his side. And he sleeps ever so peacefully for the rest of the night. Wow. We had seriously underestimated that kid! What a champ :)

Now I don't have to be stuck in his room trying to get him to sleep all evening. Which means that I get at least 3 hours to either relax, watch TV, hang out with my hubs, or study. Since semester is starting next week. And a better night's sleep means I have more energy during the day, I can do stuff during his nap times instead of napping next to him too. This is going to be so important for the next 12 weeks as I start up with uni studies again. Plus it's given me a bit more confidence that I will be able to handle pregnancy when it happens.

That's all the updates for now... be back soon!