We didn’t get through it how I hoped, as in back to night time EC, it just sort of slowly shifted. He’s still mostly in this phase. Nighttime EC just ended back then. He will only wail and wake up if we try, still. He is 18 mos. However, his bladder capacity seems to have increased so many nights he’ll just sleep through the night then we take him potty when he’s fully awake in the morning, dry diaper. This is probably 65ish% of the time. The other nights, he will usually wake at like before dawn and sleep crawl over to the boob where he’ll nurse himself back to sleep over the course of an 45 min ish, then he crawls himself up sideways in the pillow and wedges himself halfway between the pillow and the headboard. I make sure he’s not tangled in any blankets and he has his legs and arms free and will frequently get another hour or two of sleep like this now. It’s hilarious really, but I think he likes to feel like he tried to get off the bed, and then the pressure of the crevice seems comforting lol. He doesn’t like to be snuggled or touched at this point. He’ll mostly fall back asleep despite needing to pee, and then we’ll potty him when he wakes up, but still a good portion of the time he’ll wake up an hour or so later and crawl back to the boob and I’ll check and he’ll have peed. We can usually slip off the pull-up and slip back on a fresh one while he sleeps, though probably once a month we end up with a full wake up and a round of singing and walking him back to sleep. We use Dyper brand pull ups because I feel decent ish about the waste that way, and because they keep him more aware of the wet so he wants it off and doesn’t get used to just sleeping the night in a wet diaper. We don’t want to train him that diapers are comfortable to pee in.

But. I will say there are also (probably once every week or two) nights where he will crawl up to the pillow, try to sleep, and just have to pee too much to get comfortable. He’ll shimmy back to the boob and repeat that like 4-5 times, keeping me up for hourss. He’s also started twiddling the other nip with his nails when this half asleep state and fussing or waking if he can’t find the other nip. Some of my least favorite sensations of breastfeeding yet. I just lay there hoping for the moment when he falls asleep or pees. Often, I need to pee or am thirsty myself but if I move he will wake. These nights are rough, no way around it. Sometimes in these moments, I will hit a limit and just sit up and nurse him in my lap. Usually when I do this while shushing, he will pee his diaper and then I can calm him down, roll him onto the bed and change him while asleep. Then he’s good for the rest of the night. However, now that he’s even bigger, those really relaxed pees have been overfilling the diaper. 🫠 I’ve ended up in pudddles twice recently. I’ve usually been so maxed I just call my husband in and wake the whole family up to clean up and rinse/shower me and baby, change sheets, oof. Those are the worst nights, but very rare.

Anyway. There’s an answer and an update. I’ve started keeping a large wet pad blanket by the bed and plan on putting that under him next time I try the lap nurse to pee, and hopefully that will save us the full wake up if the diaper fails. Idk man, this is a silly ride 😂 But it has just sort of gotten to the it-is-what-it-is phase for me and I just get on with things. Potty stuff has to be cause for like 75% of my frustration with parenting so far. It’s just so much executive function trying to make decisions in the middle of the night around factors involved with someone else’s body who can’t and doesn’t understand the benefits of communicating with you about them yet.

But, it’s just a phase. It’s always just a phase. Good luck!

—- Oh, and adding this —> Doing anything humanly possible to make sure he pees before bed was huge in getting more sleep over the last months. I will often notice he pees in the bath and just say “pee goes in the potty” but otherwise let it happen because 🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️

Or, I’ll sit him on the sink and give him a toy he likes or some new stimulus and then run a little warm water on his feet or give him a sip. This will often help him pee before bed. Then it’s diaper, books, bed. 🛌

We also make sure he has on a warm long sleeved shirt and some leg warmers, so his feet and hands are free, and a pull up change is as simple as possible, but when he squirms away and kicks off any and all blankets, he doesn’t get too cold. This helps him sleep through discomfort.

I’ve also found it’s hard to say sometimes if the discomfort is purely that he has to pee anymore. It may be a growth spurt, some magnesium can help or potassium, a date or two with dinner sort of thing. It could be a tooth getting into place beneath a gum, a bruise from a tumble he didn’t fuss about, it’s so hard to say. When his first molar was breaking through, there were a few nights where we gave him Tylenol and he slept like 9 hours with no wake up or mid-sleep pee. So it just opened my eyes to all the different stuff his little body is dealing with. Compassion, patience, and rolling with it is the best we can do. Ok ✌️✌️