Baby Rant-- Middle-of-the-night Temper Tantrums/BFing for Life?

So it’s 7am and instead of trying to catch a few more Zz’s before the baby wakes up, I decided to come in here and rant about my night last night… why? Because that’s what I do. I drink coffee and force myself to stay awake just to get a few minutes of time to myself before I have to kick Mommy-mode into full gear. 

My daughter (almost 10 months old) started having middle-of-the-night temper tantrums a couple months ago. My guess is separation anxiety? I really don’t know. They talked about it in my “What to Expect the First Year” book but it doesn’t help one bit when it is actually happening. They tell you when you’re trying to train a baby to sleep through the night “don’t pick up the baby. whatever you do. don’t pick her up.” but then at 3am when she has been crying for over an hour and you go in, pat her on the back and tell her “it’s okay.” (even though she can’t hear you because she’s screaming at the top of her lungs “Mamamamamaaaa”) then walk out again and repeat 20 minutes later…. “AIN’T NOBODY GOT TIME FO’ DAT!!” So I end up going in, picking her up (instantly shutting the brat up), nursing her, and putting her back down. Most of the time this works… there have been times where as I’m putting her back into her crib she awakes and it starts all over again.

This has been a nightmare for me. How will I ever wean this child from breastfeeding if it is the only thing that settles her down in the middle of the night? 

I am proud of myself for breastfeeding this long, but I’m so ready to be done with it. When she turns one year I’ll be ready to hand her a sippy cup of whole milk and tell her to have at it, Mommy’s kitchen is CLOSED! Unfortunately, last night has really made me think that this may be more difficult than planned. 

That’s a whole different rant, though. I thought this “MOTN Tantrum” phase had subsided, so I told my mom on the phone yesterday “Hayden has been doing so great! She stopped waking up having temper tantrums!”…..so as my dumb luck would have it, last night happened. When will I learn to keep my mouth shut? Sheesh.

« This picture may look pitiful but I couldn’t resist taking it. This was from one day she woke up from her nap, and I went in to get her and as I walked to turn on her light I guess she thought I was walking back out of the room and started BALLING! lol

Okay, SO. Today I am starting a new plan. If I want this baby to be completely weaned from me by the time she is one year I have got to end this “walking set of boobs” view she has of me. No more whipping them out whenever she crawls to me whining. And as for the MOTN Tantrums…. well hopefully last night was the end of that. If not, we might have to put her crib in a room non-adjacent to ours… for the sake of mine & my husband’s sanity.

I’ll let you know how this all goes.

Until next time,

xoxo, 
Sleepless in Los Angeles