ebf 9 month baby - feeding all night still!

[ehmumbo]

I Bfed DS1 (now 3) to 18 months.
DS2 (9 months) ends up back in my bed every night (as I am too tired to keep getting u and putting him back !) He then feeds at least 3 times until 6am when they both get up.
Am so bloody tired have begun considering giving him a formula feed before bed to help fill him up... but feel really guilty about this as DS1 was EBF (i realise this is a bit riduculous but it is how i feel)

Not jugemental of any formula feeders out there, just have set myself an aim in my head re: breastfeeding to a year but this is proving really hard with a toddler to entertain all day too... sorry for the rant.

so, really any help / suggestions from wise m'netters out there most welcome....

I would suspect it's habit rather than hunger so not sure switching to formula would help tbh (and you'd have to mix it in the middle of the night - not fun!)

I think the next step is to try to settle him without feeding, using patting/shhing etc, for one of the wake ups maybe the middle one. Do you have a DP/DH as I gather it can work better if they do it (no milk smell).

Have you considered a dummy? I introduced one when I went back to work, as my DS (then 5 months) would only settle in the night when he was sucking on me, and I selfishly needed the sleep.

I could tell he wasn't hungry as he wasn't taking much, if any, milk between 11am and 6am. He was just comfort sucking with no swallowing.

He wouldn't take the dummy from me at first, only from DH, but now he will have it from either of us, and settles with it no problem.

After a few weeks of him waking frequently at night to put the dummy back in (argh!) he's now slept through two or three times.
He's now 7 months and last night he did 10.30pm to 6.30am, which was an absolute revelation!

He has a dummy and I usually feed him then put dummy in then put him down still just awake so he knows he's in his cot.

He will accept 1 - 2 patting back to sleeps earlier on in the night, but past 1 / 2ish I basically crack and just bring him into our bed. just feel like i get more sleep like that - but its obvs not helping him to feed less at night.

Ahh promised myself I wouldn't get hung up over the sleep thing this time. TBH I do quite like hearing his little suffles in the bed next to me. I also am quite sure this is the last one so maybe its fine to wait a bit longer before becoming too strict with him.

Babies eh? who'd have em?!