How to stop co-sleeping???

[Hardrockhallelujah]

I have ended up co-sleeping for months with my 7 month old DD. She feeds a lot through the night. I am still breast feeding, although she is a good eater. She doesn't much like bottles either and I would really like to drop down to maybe only 1 or 2 feeds per day & night...

She has a lovely cot and her own room which she won't sleep in. When she wakes up in her room she screams the house down. She cannot self settle.

I need to get my life back a bit.

Any advice please on how to tackle this mammoth task? I have a DS 4 and a DP so would rather not keep them awake all night and I don't much like the CC/CIO methods...

My DD used to sleep in our bed until she decided not to and she was about 8 by then, it seems some children do and some don't, not a big issue

Ok thanks but I am looking for some advice on how to get my baby to sleep in her cot.

Would she sleep in the cot if it were in your room. Or if you stayed with her in her room for a bit.

We used gradual withdrawal with dd. Slowly went from rocking to sleep in glider to popping her in bed and telling her we'll be back up in a minute to check. In between we slowly moved the chair further from her cot. Minimal crying involved.

Would she sleep in the cot if it were in your room. Or if you stayed with her in her room for a bit.

We used gradual withdrawal with dd. Slowly went from rocking to sleep in glider to popping her in bed and telling her we'll be back up in a minute to check. In between we slowly moved the chair further from her cot. Minimal crying involved.

I'd try getting them to love their bed/bedroom first by spending lots of time playing there, having favourite toys that are only played with in the cot. If you can get them happy playing on their own in the cot, it will mean they should be more receptive to sleeping in there.

I used to cuddle my DD to sleep then transfer to cot at 7 months, but later on used a mild form of CC and she learnt to self settle in about 3 nights (although she still uses her dummy at 2).

One key thing I read was to remember it is bed time, not sleep time so if they take a while to fall asleep and sing/chat... it is fine. Obviously screaming in distress is very different. That is why I'd focus on trying to get her to love her cot first.

Good luck!

Just feed her then pop her in her cot. Hold her hand/stroke her hair until she falls asleep our pick get up and cuddle/feed her again. It will take a lot of time at first.

And at that age most nutrition is from milk. If she drops to 1-2 bfs you need to get her to drink a substantial volume of formula. Have you tried milk from a sippy cup? Ds started having ebm from one at that age having never accepted a bottle.

This is what I have just done with my DS

Knocked his last daytime nap out (took a few days with him being miserable) and then put him down to sleep in his cot when he was very, very tired. It did take a little bit of working at but he started to go to sleep for two to four hours at first. Then when he woke, for the first few nights I brought him back to my bed. I felt this was important as I didn't want him to establish any kind of distressed feelings towards the cot.

Then gradually left him in there longer. He now sleeps in his cot 8pm - 8am. He does have a dream feed at 11pm. And one in the middle of the night. It took about two weeks. You just have to make sure they are very tired to start with. I've done this with all 4 of my DC.

The only point I would make about the above is that Ds is one year old and I've stopped bf. I do think it gets easier to stop co sleeping when they are a bit older. No harm in trying though?

Good luck x

We co slept until dd was 15 weeks old as bf. We put the cot right next to the bed so dd could still see me and she has been fine with it. She does move so she is closest to the side where I am sleeping. You could try this if you have the space then once she is comfortable with her cot move it into her own room.