Every hour ...

that's how often Maddy wakes up at night. The past week or so seemed to be especially hard so every time she woke, I checked the clock. My assumptions were right, she was waking up every hour, sometimes twice. My elbow is in so much pain from laying in the same position for fear of waking her should I move too fast.

I'm a slave to her, I know. But then I justify it with guilt trips. Like, maybe she's extra hungry because I'm weening her. Ohhhhh weening ...

Maddy is really smart and understands a lot. I sign with her for everything, but especially when feeding. So a couple weeks ago, every so often when she would want to nurse, I would sign and say finished. This led to a many of tantrums. Stressful days, I would nurse her, others I would be firmer. After about 2 weeks I told her that she could only nurse at night. The following days were hard but I made sure I had plenty of her favorite foods on hand like strawberries, grapes, frozen peas, and beans. When she asked to nurse, I would give her one of those TJs juice boxes that are half water. Who could resist a juice box? Monday she didn't ask to nurse, not once! Neither did she, Tues, Wed or today! And she's eating a ton! She even started drinking from a sippy cup and bottle! I think it's the apple juice. I was always offering orange...I guess she doesn't like it.

So while the nights have been hard, we're having great success with weaning!