Wednesday, Desmond woke up EVERY HOUR asking for a bottle. He drank 5 bottles that night! Needless to say, I didn't sleep much.
Thursday, I fought a cold and sleepiness. Towards late afternoon I felt like a zombie. (Okay, maybe not a zombie. I wasn't craving brains. I felt as if I might fall to the floor in a dead sleep at any moment. What is the proper simile for that?)
Thursday night I decided to take the plunge and tell Desmond he needed to sleep WITHOUT HIS BOTTLE. He was actually very calm about it. Rowan got in bed at 9pm, as usual. Lydia flitted around the house coming up with millions of reasons she couldn't sleep, as usual. Desmond calmly refused to put on his pajamas.
Every time I asked him if he was ready for his diaper and p.j.s, he said, "Bottle?" I would tell him "No." He would continue calmly playing with his toys & reply, "No jammies." Around 11:30 I asked him if he'd like to get in bed with me and he agreed. I helped him into his diaper and pajamas and he quickly fell asleep in my bed.
He only woke up once the whole night! When he cried for his bottle I told him no and said, "Shh, sh, sh...". To my great surprise, he fell right back to sleep! He didn't wake up again until 8am when Rowan came into my room talking about bunnies.
Friday night we went through almost the same routine as Thursday. The only differences were that he calmly held out until 1am (!) and he went to sleep in his own bed. He slept until around 6 when he cried for me and his bottle. Without getting out of bed I told him, "No bottle. Shhh, sh, sh...". He went right back to sleep until 8am or so.
I am so happy this has been such an easy transition. I had been dreading sleepless nights of wailing, but not having the bottle has actually made Desmond sleep better! I am really hopeful that now I will sleep better too!
