Hi all
I guess this could have gone in sleep but I think its more a question of DD's relationship with the breast than the bed!
DD is 10.5 months and I ebf her followed by BLW at 6 months. She refused the bottle (I tried her on expressed milk from 6 weeks and kept trying until she was 5 months... at which point I gave up!) and a spoon, hence BLW! She has always been, and continues to be, a big baby (98th centile).
I am going back to work full-time in a week (yikes!!!!) and DH is going to be a stay at home dad. Because DD won't have a bottle, we've been working on dropping day-time feeds altogether ready for my return to work. She now has a bf first thing, then normal meals and snacks, and a bf last thing before bed (7pm). If I am around without DH, I will offer a bf, very readily accepted!, at about 1.30 before her afternoon nap. If DH is around though, he puts her down and she doesn't ask for it.
DD has never been a great sleeper (she bizarrely slept through from about 2-4 months, then lost it!), but we had got to her waking (and getting a bf) at: 7pm, 10pm, 1 or 2am, 5am (at which point I normally bring her into bed) and then when she wakes, between 7 and 8am. BUT..... since dropping her day-time feeds, she now wakes about every hour and a half or 2 hours!!!! More often than not, the only way to get her back to sleep is a bf.
Is this normal as a result of the (quite early I know, but needs must..) dropping day feeds? Could it be that she realises things are a-changing and needs the comfort? Or, should I actively try to nip this in the bud...? I've never done any kind of sleep training and I just assumed she'd get there in the end (in my head, I want her sleeping through by 2 years old, so I am not that demanding really!). Not really sure what to do as it feels like a bit of a step backwards and I am really feeling it in terms of my own tiredness!
Anyone been in a similar boat?
I am pretty much the only person in rl I know still bf, so no-one else to ask! HV has been telling me that she hasn't needed night-time bf from 6 months, so thats not really helpful!