4mo... getting to sleep

[yetihed]

I know this has probably been posted a thousand times before but... our 4mo will only go to sleep at night on the breast, so if he hasn't got to sleep by the end of the feed we're buggered! We have a good nighttime routine which involves bath time, quiet and darkened room, favourite musical bear, same blanket etc but it doesn't seem to get him off my lovely bosom!

In the day he'll go to sleep in a rocking pram but we don't have one of those in the bedroom! Am I REALLY going to have to leave him to cry?! He really does get so hysterical- coughing, spluttering, sweaty head etc; I'm not sure I can do that!

Any top tips? Or shall I just wait til he's on solids and hope that helps? Is it too early to worry about this? Or too late?!

[whomovedmychocolate]

LOL - DD did this till she was seven months old. You can try the pantley push off. When he is sleepy insert a finger and push him off the nipple, he will root, let him go back on and then a minute or so later, do it again, eventually he gives up and learns to go to sleep not on the nipple.

Otherwise my dear, I'm afraid you are stuck with it. But hey, it's nice to have a cuddle anyway s

[jellyrolly]

I stand next to the tumble dryer with my 4mo. Works a treat, he's asleep within minutes.

Environment, please excuse me.

[phlossie]

I opened this thread hoping to find an answer!
We have managed to get our 4mo to fall asleep on her own at bedtime. We do the bedtime routine and then feed and then I read her a story, walk around with her over my shoulder to burp her while I sing to her (poor child) then put her down. Sometimes she grumbles a bit, but usually goes to sleep - you can tell by her cry. If she does rev up, sometimes sitting next to her cot saying shhh helps.
She feeds to sleep from night wakings though and like your ds, has to be rocked in her pushchair to get her to sleep during the day.

[Pheebe]

have you considered a dummy

just a thought, and I know its frowned upon by avid bfers but if he's a 'sucky' baby it might give him enough comfort to settle to sleep without you having the sleepless nights. Perhaps use it to wean him off the 'feed to sleep' at night if thats what you want. Have you considered co-sleep? feeding him in bed with you might help you all get a better nights sleep. also imo he's way too young for controlled crying, he just won't understand it

Perhaps post on the bfeeding boards as well, sure they'll ahve LOADS of advice for you over there

[yetihed]

Thanks everyone- I'm going to try a mixture of all those things. Something's bound to kick in eventually! Always nice to know your not the only one to face these challenges.

I had a dream about the pantley push off after reading your post wmmchocolate- his head nearly fell off because I kept pushing him off and he kept trying to get back on!

I read your flaming the other day, pheebe, so I won't be giving you one here. I know how that feels!

As for you, jellyrolly, I think the environment can forgive mothers desperate for sleep!

[Pheebe]

In my defence I was premenstrual and not getting my point across at all well! I cut my losses at the point someone said IF my post was true . Actually feel quite embarassed now, ahh well, hope you find something that helps with your lo

[tori32]

I took the bull by the horns with dd at 6wks. Put her in cot for all sleeps awake with dummy until she found her thumb .
She got put to bed at regular times and after about 2 wks was completely settled into that way of doing things. Prior to that she was feeding to sleep and the minute the nipple was out she woke up crying again. I also swaddled her from about 2wks which helped. She was a sucky baby and would have latched on permanantly given the opportunity
I did GF which is not for everyone but worked for dd. She is now 2.1yo and has slept well since 12wks. She even asks for 'bo bo's' when she is tired and hovers at the foot of the stairs to go to bed.

[MrsBumblebee]

Another vote for the dummy here. I also have a 4m old bad sleeper. His dummy is the only thing that will get him to sleep (he's FF, so he doesn't nurse to sleep either). FWIW, he doesn't need his dummy to get him back to sleep when wakes in the night - I just leave him to it and he settles himself back down. And today he managed a 2 hour nap for the first time ever (before it was 40 mins max). So I don't think the dummy is stopping him from learning to sleep. I've never left him to cry. I know I'm going to have to wean him off the dummy eventually, but I want to get him in a really good sleep pattern first. HTH