10 month old DD, multiple issues, please advise!

[Secretlifeofme]

I have a gorgeous 10 month old DD who currently co-sleeps in our bed and wakes between 3 and 5 times in the night for milk . She will only ever feed to sleep at night and just cries and gets more and more awake if I try to rock her to sleep instead, although she will sometimes be rocked to sleep for naps. I am trying to put her down a little bit awake, but this doesn't always work.

That's one issue. The next is that she still naps in my arms. I know this is a big no-no at her age. The thing is that I can put her down, but then she only naps for 45 mins max, whereas if I hold her she will have a nap of a decent length.

Third issue is that she is allergic to dairy but will not drink hypoallergenic formula, so I have to breastfeed her or pump. She is obviously having plenty of solids right now but I don't know how to night wean her because of this.

Can anyone advise me how to transition a co-sleeping contact napper to sleep in her own cot? And how to get her not to need the breast so often at night? I'm working 10 hour days (we are lucky enough to have a lovely nanny) and I really need some sleep!! Thanks in advance...

I should add that when she wakes in the night, she doesn't usually seem hungry as such, because she just sucks for 5 minutes and falls back to sleep. She usually has one wake-up when she definitely is hungry, around 3am, but the others are just comfort I think,

How is she napping on you if you are working ? Are you WFH?

Also sounds normal to be honest. She wakes at the end of a sleep cycle and then wants her mum for some comfort. I wouldn't say 3 night wakes is too bad at her age. Yes some babies will sleep though, but some won't. Feeding to sleep really isn't an issue, it's natural.

Night weaning is hard if you are still feeding in the day. My eldest did drop middle of the night himself, but he was much older and still fed to sleep and woke early (like 5am) to have a morning feed. My youngest is still going, similar age to yours.

I kept going until 2 years with the bf then weaned and my DS doesn't drink any kind of milk just water. He didn't like any of them. He gets what he needs from food. I don't know if 1 is early to stop completely, but this is one solution if they won't take milk. It really depends how much you want your sleep back. From feeding to sleep we went to cuddling to sleep. Easier to explain at 2 year old that there no more bf than 1 years, but as long as you are sure and put aside a non- pressure weekend or few days to do it you'll be fine.

I don't think I'll feed until 2 years for my current baby. I will see how it goes and how her eating is/ if she will drink cows milk at 1 years.

I know you want more sleep but your baby may still wake even if you wean.

@togetsomeperspective thanks for your reply! Sorry, I should have said - she naps on me when I'm at home and on the nanny when she is looking after her.

Why would you think the waking is "" and the contact naps a "no no"? To me it all sounds normal and lovely- enjoy it while it lasts! (The naps on you, anyway- I know night wakings can be tough! But don't last forever either)

Yes I'd be weary of night weaning as it might not work and then you've lost an easy tool to get baby to sleep! From about 12 or 13 months I just got stricter about my husband helping at bed time, so DD had a story, a 10/15 minute feed and then cuddles with Daddy. Then husband would go in at first wake up. For other wake ups I would limit the amount of time DD fed for and gradually reduced it and cuddles to sleep after. It was slow but it worked. She had a lovely phase of sleeping through but has had several regressions and even now at 3.5 will wake in the night sometimes. I started night shifts again when she was 14 months and settled easily enough for my husband with just cuddles.

I can't offer advice on much but I've recently night weaned my DS. I waited until he was 12 months and then started offering him a sip of water when he woke in the night. I did this for a couple of weeks and then stopped the water. He still generally wakes once per night and I/DP goes in and just gives his a dummy/cuddle and he goes back to sleep in 30 seconds. Given that your DD only wants a short feed in the night, I think I would offer a bit of water or just skip straight to just a cuddle.

My ds always napped on me. No matter how much I tried, he never napped independently. He's 2 next month and has started to just fall asleep on the sofa at nap time which is easier than having to cuddle him. I just accepted it was a sign that I needed to slow down and be with him. I'm sorry I can't help much with the feeding by ime they tend to stop on their own.

I think about one years DS slept deeper for naps, so I could shift him off me and into his pushchair! Then I could get stuff done once he fell asleep feeding. I never managed to get him into his cot, too far to carry him. And if I tried to get him to sleep upstairs he would sense I was up to something and refuse his nap!

If you have a co-sleeping cot you could try putting LO in it for naps and lying next to it and feeding her to sleep. Then when she is asleep try to slowly roll out of the way so she isn't napping on you. This will probably only give you 45 minutes though as she will not transition to the next sleep cycle. I think the only way to enable this transition is sleep training so she learns to resettle herself.

My 10 month old still sleeps on me for naps unless we are out and he is in the car or pushchair. At night he was waking once at 3am for a feed but in the last week has started to wake twice. I think there is a sleep regression at around 8 to 10 months so I am going to wait a few weeks to see if his sleep improves on its own.