Weaning

So let the weaning process begin!

Our little girl is almost 4 months old now and the "fourth trimester" of trying to help Anna "make a peaceful transition from womb to world" is coming to an end. As successful as following advice on the fourth trimester has been to us, it is time to let the little lady start to live in our world the way we do. She is growing up (tear)!

The 5 things, from the fourth trimester, we eventually need to wean her of.

1. Sucking
Anna was never found of pacifiers (it appears that she likes her two fingers much better) so weaning her of her pacifier is done. As for weaning her off the boob, that will come sometime before she is one year old- we are still undecided on when.

2. Swinging
Anna loves the swing. It will be a sad day when she out grows it. Her feet are already beginning to go off the end of the swing, so the weaning will begin when she is too big. I am going to begin placing her in her pack and play instead of the swing for her afternoon naps.
I think vibrations fall in this category and this is where I think we are going to have the most trouble. She loves her vibrating pack and play (it puts her to sleep on her own) and I get to be the mean one who will begin to take it away during nap time...... I hope she is weaned of this by the time I start subbing in Mid-Feb. I predict this will be the most challenging wean for us!

3. Side or stomach position
WEANED! Daddy used to hold her on her side to calm her down- that ended long ago because she was just TOO big!

4. Swaddling
Anna still LOVES the swaddle! She is still being swaddled in two blankets- one light one and one heavy one- to keep her warm in the winter. Once she is weaned of this, she will move into a sleep sack.
I started the weaning process last night. I swaddled everything but her left arm. She did GREAT! So, this morning I swaddled everything but BOTH arms and she has been asleep nearly an hour! IS this going to be easier than expected???? This is another thing I hope she is weaned from by Mid-Feb.




5. Shushing sounds
We started this weaning about a month ago when we decreased the volume of the "rain storm" or SoundSpa, as Bed Bath and Beyond likes to call it, in our bedroom. We are going to continue to decrease the sound each night. I can't imagine a quiet bedroom again! We hope she is weaned of this on by Mid-Feb as well.

So.... happy weaning to Rob and me!

Much Love,
Jenny