Feeding to sleep - wwyd?

[Skillbo]

DS is almost four months old and is ebf. I wondered when people stopped feeding their DC to sleep and tried to encourage them to go back to sleep without milk...?

DS seems to be genuinely hungry and I don't think I am going to try this until we've started weaning but he does wake a lot - roughly every three hours which is an improvement on every 2 hours which is how it had been since he was born!

I will be going back to work full time when is just over 6 months and the thought of still doing 3/4 night time wakings is a bit of a worry.. DH is great with him and is the SAHP so am thinking perhaps once we've hit 6 months and he's having some foods and is in his own room, would be worth just sending DH in to comfort him as I think the smell of milk on me is also sending him a bit loopy (still struggle with engorgement and leaking boobs because he just eats sooooo much so if he does go longer, my supply goes mad!)

I knew we were lucky with DD as she seemed to sort it out a lot earlier (or could just be baby brain messing with me and she was just as bad but as PFB it all washed over me??) and DS is lovely but never having more than 2/3 hours straight is slowly wearing me down!

Thanks!

My DD is 21 weeks old and her night time wakings are erratic. Sometimes it's every 2/3/4 hours and then the night before last she did her first sleep through ever from 8-7! Alas, last night, she was up A LOT to compensate for it!

When she has woken I have always fed her as she too seems to be genuinely hungry. The only exception to this is if I have just fed her and she wakes again, then I send DH to comfort her.

I don't think I would not feed at this point in time.

I agree he's too small to stop feeding - and its not that bad as he does just eat and go back to sleep so shouldn't moan too much... well, until the explosions at about 5am, but that's a whole nother thread

I have always fed to sleep until they have out grown it - I miss it when their 'off switch' stops working .

They have had feeds in the night as long as they have asked for it (after I night weaned DD1 and regretted it even though she was 12m and it was easy - didn't feel right in hindsight).

DD3 has just nursed (though not had a feed as I am 2nd trimester and have no milk) as her eczema woke her up. She is 2.6y and pretty much never asks for 'Bah' in the night but when she does I know she needs it.

At 4m there is a sleep regression - try googling 'the wonder weeks' for full explanation!

Is a tricky one and I remember going through the same with both my DDs. I was advised to make sure they had a really good feed each time and if they dropped off to sleep on the boob even to wake them to keep them going. That was easier said than done especially if I fell asleep at the same time (I would bring mine back to my bed to feed). DD1 was particularly hungry and fed a lot, at her hungriest every hour at night. I weaned her at around 5 months and she gradually needed less milk at night. Sorry to not be of much help but I would say keep doing what you're doing, have faith in yourself and your judgement, make sure he is getting a full feed each time and consider weaning a little earlier - what is the advice re weaning nowadays?

6m or when the baby is developmentally ready (able to sit up in a highchair without slumping, able to pick up a piece of food and swallow it without pushing it back out).

Same as Truth - waited for DS not to need it, though I did have a go at rocking him back to sleep instead of feeding at 7 months and 10 months. It worked at 7 (he only really wanted 1 night feed then); didn't work at 10 months (would go back to sleep eventually but kept waking).

He stopped feeding to sleep some time after 18 months. I was very as it made my life much harder work. He still feeds to sleep for naptime at 2.3 y.o. (phew).

You can read about the 4 month sleep regression here.

another one who let my kids grow out of it, interspersed with times when i would pat/shush/cuddle etc, i coudl tell quickly if that was going to work tho and if it wasnt i fed them, at this age i woudnt even have thought about not feeding htem to sleep, it worked!

they do grow out of it gradually on their own, i just encouraged them along the way, never left them to cry tho. always comfort and reassurance and they got their eventually!

DS is 10mo and I still feed him whenever he ask for it despite lectures from everyone about rods, backs etc I am absolutely certain that, for now, I don't want him to cry to sleep. In my view, he has enough horrid lessons to learn in the future, he doesn't need to 'learn' one now. Although I do accept that my views on this could change depending on my own reaction to low levels of sleep. I also am not working and have no other DCs so have the luxury of napping during the day.

Interestingly, over the last month or so, more often than not he has ended the feed himself then rolled over to go to sleep. He still wakes up lots and needs me there to settle but maybe, just maybe, this is the beginning of him learning to self settle

Thank you all ladies - it's nice to see so many of you just going with it as I think that's what I'd like to do. Even though DD is only coming up on 3, I can't honestly remember what I did - blaming sleep deprivation - but I do know I don't want DS to be too unsettled at night. Right now, milk is doing the trick so milk will be what he gets!

I had a read about the 4 month sleep regression thang last night - and sounded soooo familiar so think we could be embarking on this but hoping it doesn't last too long. Am just a bit nervous as go back to work in a couple of months but will hopefully have started to wean at least a bit which might help??

Anyways, bring on those rods - would rather he felt safe and secure! Plus, I get my snuggly cuddles in and you can't replace those once they're gone (sad memories of DD self weaning before I was ready!!)

I think feeding to sleep is often seen as a 'bad' thing because (a) bf is viewed as a necessary evil which you do for as short a time as possible, so you want to remove it from bedtime asap and (b) we have an obsession with forcing our children to be independent whether they're ready or not.

We found that weaning made night waking far worse (we started at 6 months) as (I think) DS's digestion wasn't quite ready for some solids and he got terrible wind at night which would wake him loads. I know others whose babies stopped sleeping through when they started solids. But then there are plenty of others who do sleep better at that age, so I think it just depends on the child.

Co-sleeping is what works for us - until about 12 months, I used to sleep through half the night feeds. Now I stay awake through them but they're only short. But even if you have to be awake for a while, I find it way less tiring than having to get out of bed.