Waiting it out (WIO)

I recently joined a group on Facebook called "Wait it Out" Method Support and am so liberated and encouraged by all the mummies on this group. WIO is pretty simple, you "wait it out" with your baby/toddler until they are ready to wean, sleep independently, etc without rushing them into it with "traditional" methods like CIO or controlled crying or "no-cry" sleep solutions. It's for mummies who are content to give the baby whatever they want (or need) at any time of day (or night), until baby decides they no longer need it (or want it). For example, nursing at night.

For me, after a whole day of watching Em, I simply don't have the energy to shush and pat and coo in the middle of the night anymore in a bid to try and get her back to sleep. It's so much easier (and gentler in my opinion) to just pop out the boob and let her suckle for 5-10 mins then roll off back to sleep. Sometimes I do think she's old enough to understand she doesn't need the boob and get frustrated when it happens 5-6 times a night (like last night...) but then I try to remember a "mantra" in the group - "She's not giving me a hard time, she IS having a hard time". When I think this way, all I want to do is to be there for her and comfort her in whatever way she needs. 

Which is why I posted the following in the group the other day, also partly I serve as a reminder to me as to why I am happy to just WIO.

"I may need to cradle and comfort you to sleep, but I don't see anything wrong with that... It's the only time of day you are peaceful and still in my arms. It's the only time of day I get to snuggle you and smell your hair without you trying to wriggle away to play.

Why rush you into adulthood when you are just a baby? I'm going to treat you like a baby while you don't know any better. I'm going to hold you and comfort you as long as you let me . Because one day, you'll want to do everything on your own and when you are ready to, that's when I'll let you."