A 10-month-old baby can certainly make it through the night without eating. Especially when the baby is as chubby and well-fed as my boy. My little guy used to be a good sleeper. But then he started waking up, and the easiest, no fastest, way to put him down was to nurse him. Now, I have created a habit. He’s not even hungry, he just plays hungry; he falls asleep almost immediately after latching on.
I know if I spent a few nights getting him to sleep without nursing, he’d sleep through the night. We’d just need to endure some crying. Right now I just shove my boob in his mouth and shut him up so he doesn’t wake his sister. Cuz if she wakes up when I’m occupied – watch out!
Our two-and-a-half year old princess, loves me, adores me, prefers me. (Who can blame her?) Most of the time she spends with me is shared with her brother, so when Papa is home she wants me all to her self. It’s pretty extreme. And it is heartbreaking to see how much it hurts him.
She screams for Papa to take the baby from me so I can hold her. If he tries to pick her up, she flips out. She wants me to give her a bath, me to read her books, me to put her to bed. When he goes to her during the night if she wakes up, she sounds like he’s got a chainsaw and a hockey mask. Honestly, it sounds like she’s in a horror film.
Apparently, this is totally normal part of development. She’s testing boundaries. It’s more about getting what she wants than anything else. She knows that she has a strong bond with her father and these fits won’t break that. Thus it is a safe relationship to try these social experiments on. Friends wouldn’t stand for it, but Papa will always want to hug and kiss her even when she doesn’t want to.
It just such a mean and cruel experiment, particularly coming from a two-year-old.
I think I have the perfect solution for these two problems. A daddy and daughter’s weekend getaway. It will give them the chance to bond. Papa can get positive attention from her, since he won’t have to compete with me. And I can deny the nighttime breast to baby boy, without worrying that his cries will wake princess.
Hopefully, it doesn’t back fire. I can just see us both on Sunday night – defeated. Little Miss cried bloody murder all weekend, and Baby Tank screamed and starved.
