Need advice!

[1990fran]

Helli have a 5 month old baby who i co sleep with as im ebf, im due back at work end of September by that time he will be on bottle thats already decided, I've done well to come this far bf, anyway he wont sleep in his next to me hes getting to big for it now, we got him a cot but dont hold out much hope, we have tried every trick in thr book to get him to sleep and nap in his next to me NOTHING you can recommend we haven't tried haha, me and my partner want the bed back for us and for little one to have some independence when he's on bottle etc my question is, did anyone else go through this and if so when did your LO eventually sleep on thier own? Or have I set a rod for my own back letting him sleep with me this long? He cat naps like 10 mins at a time doesn't have long naps in the day.. when he does nap hes mostly napping on me, this is my first baby by the way! All new to me x

I'm sure more experienced posters will come along shortly but I certainly don't believe in "making a rod for your own back" - you just simply responded to what your baby needed by practicing cosleeping and contact napping. For many babies, this is the only way they settle as being alone and not picked up is what's unnatural!

I let my son develop / progress naturally regarding his sleep and he started napping during the day by himself before his 1st birthday. We still cosleep at night but he goes to bed on his own now (18m) and I join him later - currently extending the time and leaving him for longer and longer periods. He was bottle fed from birth so that wasn't a factor for us. He just never stayed or slept in his cot / next to me crib, Moses basket.

I can't offer you any solutions or advise re sleep training, but just wanted you to see that for some babies this can actually be quite normal. Good luck x

I think right now you need to work out whether you want your be back or whether you want to stop BFing. Both at the same time seems like too much all at once for him.

Could you concentrate on swapping over to formula and getting DH to give some of those night feeds to get him used to being settled by him?

Once he's 6 months, I'd move him into his own room if you no longer want to co-sleep but sleep with the sheets for a couple of nights before you put them on his cot so that the cot has the smell of your bed.

I'd also try sorting out the daytime naps so that he gets used to napping before you return to work. The No Cry Nap Solution is a good book