Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Stopping Breastfeeding Last Thing Before Bed

3 replies

JRsandCoffee · 23/08/2013 19:19

Briefly, I hope...... DD has always been fed last thing before sleep, mostly she is asleep or almost by the time she is put down, sometimes not and then there is occasionally 15-20 mins of chat with the odd wail before sandman gets her, often she just drifts off though. She doesnt feed to sleep before her main nap but oddly does after breakfast which im happy to do as she is calm, feeds well then but not first thing, world too interesting! Now in theory I'd like to put the last feed in before the story and start always putting her down awake BUT she tends to be so manic that its bloody hard to get her to concentrate and feed - baby wrestling at its finest until she starts to relax. I've been known to give up, let her tango round the cot until almost asleep then dreamfeed! She's just over nine months.

I'm hoping that in time she'll be calmer and it will be easy to switch to milk before story and ultimately sometime between a year and 18 months stop altogether. Developmentally lots going on at the moment including much crawling related frustration, am I likely to hit a calmer period when I could more easily make the switch or is biting the bullet the order of the day? Any words of wisdom gratefully received!

OP posts:
CityDweller · 23/08/2013 22:14

Watching with interest as currently feeding 4 mo to sleep at night, but would like to change bedtime routine to encourage self-settling...

blushingmare · 23/08/2013 22:21

DD just stopped feeding to sleep naturally at around 11 months. Just one night she was still awake, and I was like, "oh crap, how the hell do I get her go sleep now!"

I'd say just enjoy the ease of feeding to sleep while it lasts.

FWIW putting her down in her cot awake has made bugger all difference to her settling herself back again in the middle of the night, despite what the theories promise!

FreeButtonBee · 24/08/2013 21:57

My DTs are younger at 6.5 months but feeding to sleep was becoming les effective, not least because I had to get them off the tandem feeding pillow and into their cots without waking them! Which was not at all easy!

I started to pat them rhythmically while feeding them, did this for. Couple of weeks, then used the same rhythm to pat them to sleep in their cots. I started one day at their first nap of the day, took 30 mins to get them both asleep with a fair bit of wriggling/annoyed crying but by the end of a few days I could get them to sleep in about 10 mins. I never eave them to cry alone and if they got very upset, I lifted them and cuddled them until they were calm (even if it meant they fell asleep in my arms).

I still feed them to very sleepy/asleep at bed time and lunchtime nap but if they stir/wake on the transfer to the cot, I know I have another means of getting them to sleep. Morning nap is pat in cot only. lunctime feed will be dropped once they are better on solids - it's just coincidence at the moment that they need a feed at nap time. Also means DH can help settle them and it's v useful in the middle of the night (they are not great sleepers and DTD in partic wakes a lot plus they not infrequently wake each other). They now (mostly!) lie down when they get into their cots and know that they are supposed to go to sleep, which is great. Still not really close to self settling but I figure I'll wait until they are sleeping more solidly and eating better and then work on less patting.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page