Feeding to sleep

[RiverMeadow]

Advice needed please!

My LO is 4 months old and EBF. Won't take a bottle or a dummy! We're now in the habit of feeding to sleep and he just can't drift off to sleep or for a nap without the breast. Whilst I don't plan to stop breastfeeding soon it's really taking its toll on me being up 4-5 times in the night and then the baby not wanting to go back in his own bed.

Has anyone used any tips to get baby to settle themselves off to sleep? I'm positive he isn't hungry and it's solely for comfort in the night!

4 month babies are often super wakeful and fussy, it's a massive time of growth and your baby may well be hungry. Mine both settled down sleep wise after 4 months (until the next growth spurt!). If you can bare to, offer a feed when he wakes to make sure your milk supply can keep up with his needs, keep up your fluid intake and try and plan some quiet days so you can recharge yourself.

Afraid it’s just the age! DD couldn’t really be rocked to sleep at night until around 9 months.

My advice is to embrace the feeding to sleep. Co sleep if you need to- that saved me. I would just latch her on and go back to sleep. 4 months is a difficult time with the sleep regression. My DD started sleeping through at 11 months and now sleep 11/12 hours. I just fed to sleep until she outgrew it.

All my friends who bottle fed were often up for hours. So embrace the fact you can just put them on your boob and they go to sleep. Its hard but I promise it’s not forever!

So very normal for babies this age. Google the 4 month sleep regression.

I coslept with dd from around 4 months. I could latch her on at night and go back to sleep. Ended up getting around 7 hours of sleep a night this way! It was just dd and I in the bed though. That way we had plenty of room and she couldn’t roll off anywhere.

Dd fed to sleep for all naps/nighttime until she was around 18 months where I did some very gentle sleep training with her (gradual retreat). Took about 2 week, but she’s slept through the night consistently since then. I never worried about habits/rods and backs etc as there’s always a way to resolve any issues I’ve found. But whilst it’s working for you both now I see no reason to stop. Sleep training isn’t recommended before they’re 1 anyway.

Thank you for your replies and reassuring me that this is normal! I don't mind feeding whatsoever and I'm sure it'll pass!