My EBF demand-fed 7 month old has become a little too dependent on the boob for comfort (not food) for sleep throughout the night, and I'd like to work on that. Any tips?
He's less dependent during the day. I can pop him in his crib or bassinet and he'll go down for a nap. But at night, whenever he wakes he wants the mummy dummy to get back to sleep. He would go for hours on end with my nipple in his mouth and often wakes pissed off if I'm the one to gently remove it.
He's a purist too! Won't take a dummy (we've tried all kinds all ways), and isn't keen on a bottle at all. He hates his next-to-me crib in the middle of the night, but will sleep in it for naps and the first stretch of the night just fine. I feel like we're so incompatible because I truly HATE co-sleeping and find it wrecks my sleep, so it's been a rough time on that front with the mummy-dummy issue.
He's outgrowing his next-to-me, and we need to transition him into a cot that's too big to have right next to our bed. I'm dreading it. Eventually, he'll be in a room with his sister.
Does anyone have any ideas on replacing the nipple with another form of comfort? I want to comfort him obviously, but what he's demanding right now isn't going to work for much longer.