Breastfeeding to sleep

[Catarinah]

This post is not for any tips or advice because I've basically tried it all. All I'm after is some reassurances that I'm not the only person breastfeeding their baby to sleep at 8 months. I am exhausted. He's not even fussed with weaning because he constantly wants breast. Surely I'm not alone? :(

It really is so tiring. And the last 5 nights he's behaving like a newborn again, i dont know if its a leap or if those even exist but last night for example -
Fed to sleep 6pm (always needs to go early because hes ready)
Woke 6:30pm (always after 30 mins i have to resettle, with boob of course)
Slept 7pm-10:30pm....fed.....stayed in bed because god forbid i move an inch last few nights or he cries for boob again.... Slept then until 2:30am and from then onwards woke every hour for boob until 7am when he cried for boob again (6th time) and I decided enough is enough so woke him up. He will only sleep if hes feeding or literally glued to me, if i even turn on my back he wakes crying. So i slept 11pm-2:30am. That's it. Before last week I could put him in the next to me but everytime I've tried this last week he wakes crying until I feed him again and I'm too tired to try fix it. He's not teething because he's fine in the day. Just gone back to wanting me stuck to him in bed.

OP, my kid self-settled the last two nights and slept through for the first time last night at 17 months. They do all get there. Mine was the archetypal bad sleeper, she used to only be out to sleep as a newborn by being held upright by DP while he sprinted up and down the house. At certain stages she woke hourly. It’s exhausting but it does pass. (Though I’m not expecting her to repeat the sleep-through miracle soon, it does feel like we’re on the home stretch.)

I breastfed DD to sleep until recently (she's 20 months). One night I just gave her a feed and then popped her into her cot and she lay down and went to sleep, so as a PP said, it will happen eventually! She has now slept one night without any feeds but she usually ends up in my bed at some point and last night I think she fed about 6 times. But she no longer feeds to sleep at the start of the night and it was just something that happened, I didn't have to do any sleep training or anything like that.

I did this with all my dc (3). But they all eventually learned how to put themselves to sleep. I would give them the opportunity every once in a while and then they would just do it. My most recent is 9 months soon and she has been doing this since 7 months. Basically I breastfeed and put her down drowsy and she will turn over and sleep. Or sometimes she will coo and then sleep. On a rare occasion she might protest and cry out (for a few seconds) and then stop and go to sleep. I used to also have to rock her to sleep as well. And then moved on to just breastfeeding and then to just placing to sleep. And if your baby isn’t interested in solids, try not breastfeeding for at least two hours before a meal. If I feed too soon mine won’t be interested in the food.

DD is still going strong with feeding to sleep at nearly 12 months. Hushing and patting did sod all. Controlled crying quickly became uncontrollable crying. Gradual retreat was just her staring and babbling at me waiting for me to come over and pick her up. Dummies were thoroughly rejected...

However, it's getting less reliable and it's taking much longer to get her to sleep than it once did. A few times now, I've managed to put her down still awake and she's dropped off. The rest of the times I've tried, she's escalated her crying until I returned for more boob and cuddles. Irregardless, I'm hoping it's a sign that she's getting ready to fall asleep by herself soon.

Another sign I'm hoping she's getting ready to fall asleep on her own are her naps. Until about a month ago, all naps were on me. If I tried to put her down, she'd wake instantly and not settle again until fed back to sleep. Fortunately, she transitioned to one nap early, and ever since then I've been able to put her down asleep. And she stays that way until she wakes up 90mins - 2hours later!

She'll have to learn soon though. I return to work in a few weeks. Which means she'll be at nursery during the day, and as I won't be home until long past bedtime, DH will be doing the bedtime routine.

I will admit.... I shall really miss our cuddles to sleep once she stops.

Guess I certainly am not alone thdn, and from reading all your messages I think its safe to safe they really do just get there when they're ready don't they.