How long does feeding to sleep work for?

[WeAreBorg]

Just wondered. DS is now one, he used to go in his cot awake from around 3 to 6 months and was an utterly terrible sleeper.

I gave up trying to "train" him and we have BF to sleep and co-slept since then and he's been okayish, and recently pretty good. It all seems nice and easy at the moment, is it all going to go terribly wrong? Will he just suddenly not be able to feed to sleep anymore? I am too lazy to bother with any sleep training BTW

Basically I would like someone to tell me that they just eventually grow out of it, with a fully developed ability to settle themselves to sleep, with no drama or hard work involved. Thanks!

I was going to say with DD3 at 9m old she just started flinging herself off me (we co-slept) after she had finished whereas previously she used to fall asleep still attached. DD2 was about 10/11m IIRC (lost in the mists of time though the exact dates!)

However as your DS is 1y that's not terribly helpful! It maybe he does the same in time and at his own pace.

DD3 then moved to feeds on my lap in a chair (DH would cuddle between sides and straight after) and I would put her in her cot. She now jumps down and runs to her bed for tucking in and a mouthful or two of water (she is 2.4y now).

Until you stop breastfeeding (in our case around 23 months). Then we moved to cuddle to sleep (in our bed) us a position similar to that used for breastfeeding...

Mine has just moved to cuddling to sleep at 10.5mo and we are still bf. She was like your LO and could self settle until 6mo. Now in the last week, she started fighting the boob when not hungry. Instead she could only fall asleep being cuddled.

Like Truthsweet's DD3, my DD1 started flinging herself off me but she was older- around 2.6 yo maybe? I can't remember exactly. In contrast, DD2 started the flinging thing as soon as she could fling herself, about 6 or 7 months. They all do it differently! I still BF both of them before it's time to sleep, but they rarely fall asleep at the breast at night time. DD2 still does at nap time, she is almost 1yo.

Don't worry, you won't be feeding a teenager to sleep It's lovely that you are taking your DS's lead.

DS2 will still feed to sleep if the opportunity presents itself. He is a couple weeks short of his 2nd birthday.

He will also go to sleep for other people, so can clearly go to sleep without nursing if he really has to.

Thanks all, seems as though they're quite variable but seem to find another way eventually! Liking the flinging . Thanks, feeling reassured.

DS started rolling away from me after night feeds (but not at bedtime or naptime) at about 13 months. He still mostly feeds to sleep at 2.1 years.

We do have phases - mostly during developmental leaps - when he doesn't feeding to sleep doesn't work. Those are miserable times (for me anyway) and he needs to be rocked completely to sleep then.

I too am hoping for the sudden ability to self-settle to become apparent.

We co-slept and at around 14 months DD stopped going back to sleep after feeds. We moved her to her own room and she still woke and fed but went straight back to sleep. DS was pretty similar. Both fed until 2.8 months and both went back to sleep after a feed for most of that time.

It worked for DD until she was about 2 and a bit. Since then I have been cuddling her to sleep after feeding her. No self settling here unfortunately! But that's probably just because of DD's personality rather than the fact that she was fed to sleep before.

Dd fed to sleep until 14 months. Towards the end she was still enthusiastic about the feed but wasn't asleep at the end of it but happy to go down and go to sleep by herself.

Ds fed to sleep until 3 years. I stopped bfing him in the end because I was fed up with it. He was absolutely fine about stopping the bfing, but had no real idea how to go to sleep in his own bed without mummy and milk. We took a very softly softly approach and he started off going to sleep with one of us nearby for cuddles. Then without cuddles but downstairs for company. Nearly a year later he now goes to sleep quite happily upstairs with his big sis. I am not sure if he has ever deliberately and happily fallen asleep alone in his own bed.