9 month old - trying to break the co-sleeping habit gently

[whyker]

I have always breastfed / rocked dd to sleep and then put her down in her cot. She used to sleep through then started waking more when she was about 5 months - I would feed her to sleep and then put her back in cot and she'd be fine til morning / next waking. Since new year she will wake immediately she touches the cot sheets! Sometimes this results in me being up for about 2 hours per waking trying to get her back to sleep in cot. So, she's beenin bed with me so I can feed her when she wakes and we both get some sleep. Dp is in spare room which he says he doesn't mind, but I feel it's time he was back in his own bed! Last few evenings, dd has hardly slept in cot and I've ended up going to bed with her.

My question is, could anyone give me advice in how to make a peaceful and gentle transition back to cot sleeping. I love having her in with me, and would still bring her into bed in the morning and for some naps etc but I think we both need to get some better sleep as neither of us sleep well at the moment. I don't want to do cc (I have on occasion left her crying for a short time but I know it's not in me to do it!)...I keep meaning to religiously move her back to the cot after feeding her lying down during the night but I don't because it's the middle of the night and I can't face another 2 hours of trying to get her to sleep if she wakes!

Feeling like a bit of a failure at the moment!

Any ideas please?

[babyphat]

i don't know the answer but do sympathise and will watch thread with interest - we had exactly the same problem - took 2 hours to get her back down after each feed...and she was feeding every 3 hours, so i'd just have got back to sleep when it started all over again. co-sleeping was a lifesaver. we have a big bed though so just all in there together and it suits dp fine

[babyphat]

(had a wobble the other week as thought we were waking her up and would have to stop - but think it was teeth. planning to carry on till she's at least one as long as it still works for us but always good to have tricks up the sleeve in case...)

[mummy2rachel]

Sounds exactly like my dd (9 months old too)! If you find any miracle solutions, please let me know.
Just like you, I keep meaning to move her back to her cot after feeding, but at 3am in the morning and the prospect of another long day at work looming closely, I give in. Sometimes I could almost swear that she knows how to climb out of her cot and into our bed. I wake up and find her beside me, even though I vividly remember placing her in her cot!
I am almost tempted to try cc, but don't have the heart to do it. I comfort myself by thinking that she should (hopefully!) learn to sleep by herself by the time she is 18! Oh, just another 17+ years to go...

[snowgum]

This is just like my dd too .... also 9mo, and it was also around the new year that the cot no longer worked.
I have got a suggestion for a first stage of moving out .... I've put a mattress on the floor now where I can lie down with her to put her to sleep, so she's at least getting used to sleeping on her own.
At the moment she comes into our bed in the night anyway, because I don't want to keep moving ... I'm getting quite sick of it but not quite sure what to do next.