how long until its not just about the boob?!

[Neiffer]

Just after some advice/info.
I am currently exclusively breastfeeding ds2 Who is 4.5 months old. Like his brother, he's not a great sleeper but recently it's all gone to pot. Could be 4 month sleep regression, could be his bug (he had croup). Either way I'm exhausted. I hate breastfeeding anyway, and always have. The only reason I'm persisting is that ds 2 has quite bad eczema and we have a history of dairy allergy in my family. I'm mentally working towards 6 months until I can hopefully put him on formula. However, how long does it take for babies to rely less on milk when weaning? I can't remember! And when are they old enough to night wean from boob? I'm m wondering if I could feed longer once it's not constant, and if I could do having to Get my boobs out every hour at night. Any ideas?

honestly it really varies. my DD took to solids in a big way and by 7.5 months was taking far less milk off me and was ready to be weaned off night feeds (although we did use sleep training to do this, as she'd got a night feed habit but I was certain by 7.5 months it was habit not need). However I've heard tales of babies who eat very little solid food until 10+ months, and so still need loads of milk, including night feeds, till then.

If your DS has eczema and there is a history of dairy allergy in the family then BFing him and going dairy free yourself as much as possible is absolutely the best thing you can do for him, as you know, so well done for sticking with it. If you do switch to formula at 6 months I presume you'll ask for nutrimagen? does your DS take a bottle?

If he's waking every hour it's likely he's got into a feed to sleep habit, rather than being genuinely hungry every time. you might be able to improve his sleep while continuing to BF by using something gentle like the No Cry Sleep Solution or something a bit less gentle like gradual retreat or controlled crying (best to wait till 6 months at least for that one). these should help break the feed to sleep habit so he only wakes when genuinely hungry or upset. We used sleep training as I say to reduce night wakings, but I carried on BFing, the two aren't linked IME.