Has anyone broken a 1 yo's BFing sleep association?

[StormyBlue]

My DS is nearly 13 months. In the past, dropping the bedtime breastfeed has not been an option because breastfeeding has been the only way to get fluid into him. He has always fallen fast asleep with this feed, so I have always just popped him in his cot and got on with it. He has a quick bath at 7 and then feeds to sleep - I don't really want him going to bed earlier because he already gets up between 5.30 and 6.30, which is early enough for me!

Today he suddenly drank a whole cup of water in one sitting though, twice! Phew, good to know he wouldn't get completely dehydrated if I were away. But anyway, I was wondering about ways to get him going to sleep on his own. It isn't that I don't like breastfeeding anymore, it's just a sleep association I would rather he didn't have.

All the advice I can find is for little babies, and the toddler advice is a bit advanced for him since his understanding of language is still minimal - has anyone out there been through this? I want to tackle it but I know he will be outraged when I do so I would love to hear any similar experiences you might have.

Following for tips.

Not a bedtime sleep association per se but DD2 was still feeding several times a night at 14 months and I really needed it to stop. I thought she would just start to sleep through eventually like DD1 did when she no longer needed the feed (at 13 months finally!). It obviously wasn't going to happen so when she woke in the night for a feed instead of holding her in feeding position I put her over my shoulder for a cuddle. She was a little confused at first but was enjoying the cuddle, then after 3 nights or so she just didn't bother waking me up just for a cuddle.

Could be worth feeding a bit earlier then having a break and then do bedtime?

Hmm well tonight I tried putting him in his cot with his bunny and blanket and shushing, patting and softly singing to him but he just cried until he was in a right state and I ended up feeding him to sleep again.

That's the trouble, he gets immediately outraged if he thinks I'm putting him down to sleep instead of feeding him, even though I'm giving him reassurance. I'm thinking a first step might be introducing a few minutes of quiet singing in his cot before his feed and hopefully he will start to become less anxious about being put in there.

Have you tried someone else putting him to bed? My DD will only sleep for me if I feed her, but will happily cuddle her daddy until she sleeps.

DP works away during the week so there's only me to do it, unfortunately!

When my DD was younger I managed to break the association for a few months- I used some suggestions from the No Cry Sleep Solution which worked really well over a few weeks. She then started nursery and spent 2 months with non stop infections so I just let her sleep however she could and undid all my good work!

I did however give up worrying about sleep associations- she sleeps no better overnight if she self settles or not. She comes into our bed 50% of the nights, sleeps through the rest and will happily snooze until 830-9 at weekends. I've left her with her dad when I've been on night shifts and with her grandparents when I've been to weddings and they've all managed to settle her in their own way with no fuss.