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Sleep training or night wean first?!

2 replies

KP1985 · 15/07/2015 19:26

Hi
I'm looking for a sleep training method for my 9 month old. He is still breastfed morning, dinner and night time and takes expressed milk to nursery.
However, for the last 7 weeks he has woken every night every two hours. He will only settle with a feed and back in our bed. He will go to sleep on us around 7 after his bath but can wake as early as half hour later. Once we go to bed at 10 he won't settle back in his cot, he only settles in bed next to me yet still wakes two hourly!
I've been back at work for 4 weeks and I'm exhausted!! We have the summer holidays approaching and I want to use this time to train him the sleep in his cot as well as wean him off breast, but I don't know which to approach first or to do both together!
Can anyone suggest anything?

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maymow · 15/07/2015 20:43

That does sound so tough. I don't have the answer I'm afraid, hoping someone will be along who does. Also have a nine month old rubbish sleeper. Up until a few weeks ago she sounded v similar to your DS. Mix of cot and co-sleeping, only settling with a feed, awake every 1-2 hours. About a month ago I decided to bite the bullet and stop feeding her every time she woke but get her back to sleep with the only other method that worked: sling and singing. She was v cross for a couple of nights and woke more often. But then started sleeping longer stretches! I also stopped feeding to sleep and started putting her in cot still awake and she amazed me by rolling around for ages but going to sleep on her own.

So now I don't feed her unless it's been at least 3 hours since last feed. I usually get at least a 4 hour stretch but still frequent if brief wakings at other times.

So I'm stuck on next step, don't know whether to cut out all the feeds...

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KP1985 · 16/07/2015 19:36

That's the predicament I've got, do I tackle the feeds in a similar way to you or tackle the sleep problems?!
I know the problem has stemmed from me letting him co sleep but it got to a point when he was younger that he was feeding so much through the night it was so much easier to put him in with us!! Now I'm stuck with it!!
It's great news you're getting a bit more sleep though!