Don't want to stop co-sleeping and night feeds. Will we never sleep better?

[SuiGeneris]

DS2 is 17 months and does not sleep well. On a good night he will do 8-11 in the cot, then come into our bed and feed 3-4 times until 5.30/5.45, when he has a bigger feed and then sleeps, sometimes to 6.30, rarely 7. I have to get up at 6 for work, so don't mind the 5.45 awakening but would love it if we could reduce the night feeds to one or two. Don't want to give up as I have recently started work and miss him, so treasure our night-time cuddles and his big smile when he wakes up in the morning.

Most threads on here seem to suggest people in our situation will never get to sleep. Is that the case? Please tell me your good stories...

Our ds2 was like this. He's now 2y3m and has been sleeping through (8-5.30) for a couple of months. I started bringing him in bed to feed and when he popped off said, "all done, back to bed" and put him back in his cot. Most nights he just rolled over and some he called out a bit. If he got really screamy I just got him and snuggled back down. Probably teeth. Anyway, unless he's poorly he stays put all night now and comes for a snuggle and a feed in the morning.

If you feed him at 8 and put him in the cot, could you repeat that routine at 11 and kind of fool him?

If it's any consolation, we weaned dd2 off the boob at 16m and she still got up twice a night until she was nearly 3. Stopping feeding may not make any difference at all.

Good luck!

Thank you. I do try to feed him and put him back at 11. The issue is that I fall asleep with him, so if DH is still up he returns DS2 to the cot, otherwise he stays with us.

Good to know that stopping bfeeding does not automatically resolve the issue. I would be utterly gutted if we gave up bfeeding to improve sleep and it did not work. But would not even try it, I love the connection, ESP now that I am out all day...