how to get baby off to sleep without BF?

[nieveandarlo]

Hi all,

My DS is 9 months now and has been EBF. I'd like to stop now and have got down to 1 proper feed a day. He completely refuses a bottle or dummy (think i left it too late to get him into that!) so my doc advised me to replace feeds with yogurts, petit suisse and mixing formula into foods. That's been going great as he LOVES eating.

My problem now is: I've/he's always used BF to get off to sleep (another mistake?) and now i'm finding it difficult to get him to sleep for naps and at night without the breast (not to actually feed but as a comfort thing)...
He's only just started sleeping through the night and i'm completely knackered - i think it's a bit like when you go on holiday and you're suddenly ill... now i'm finally getting some sleep and not feeding so much, my body seems to have given up on me! So i don't feel like i have the strength at the moment to rock him to sleep - he's a big boy!

Although my DD (now 5) was a rubbish sleeper as a baby, i didn't have this problem as she took a bottle when i gave up breastfeeding, even though she was a year old... also she was smaller so i could rock her to sleep...

I really don't want to leave him crying in his bed to go off to sleep, does anyone have ideas or a similar story? What did you do?

Thanks in advance!

Cuddle him to sleep at first, then, in a few weeks, cuddle then lie down together, then a further few weeks down the line try cuddle then you sit, maybe holding his hand, until he falls asleep. Above all take your cues from him: you don't want him to feel that not only is bf over, but also mummy does not like him anymore...

We did the above with DS, who fed to sleep until Christmas and by March/April a cuddle and then hand-holding were what we did most nights. But things change all the time: two nights ago we fell asleep cuddling... Also, he is 2.5, your DS is much younger so you may want to take it more gently...

The No Cry Sleep Solution book has a good section on this. My Ds is 16 months and always fed to sleep, he now goes off quite happily with Daddy. We've taken it really slowly though.

Good luck, it's a hard association to break. They obviously just love the whole sleepy feeding, sucking and snuggling thing.