BFing and Co-sleeping - When, If At All Do They Go Through The Night?

[Quootiepie]

Hiya,
I dont really want to stop co sleeping, much less BFing but DS still wakes alot during the night. He has been abit ill, but even before that it was 3-6+ times a night. Worst is the early hours. Hes 8 months.

Bump

have you read 'the no cry sleep solution'?

the author breast fed and co slept and she managed it.

hi quootie, with DD1 she was sleeping 8-8am at 12 weeks! BF and cosleeping, we kicked her out our bed at 15 months as she was wriggling far too much and I was pregnant with DD2. DD2 is another story she is 10 months and averages 2 wakenings in the night. I'm doing No Cry Sleep Solution with her just now it's working but very slowly.

spooky

I know exactly where you are coming from, you get to 8 months and you think things will never get better, but they do grow out of it, really. With my DD she gradually reduced the night wakings as she got older.

Do you know of the No Cry Sleep Solutions book by Elizabeth Pantley? I haven't looked at my copy for a while but she has a few suggestions for this situation, eg don't leap to feed at the first stirrings and see if they go back to sleep on their own or with a few words and a cuddle. There is a very long running thread on the sleep board here for people who are trying her ideas so you could try asking there or trawling through the thread.

There's a good article with some ideas here and there used to be another article on the same site (can't find it now) saying that once they're over about a year old to choose the times you're not prepared to bf at night and basically stick to your guns about refusing. You'll be in for a few nights of grief then it's sorted. I tried this around 18 months and it worked a treat after literally 2 or 3 nights.

See that more people have recommended NCSS in the time it took me to write that, it's no quick fix but must be worth a try

oh right thanks. I feel bad not feeding him... hes starting to pull at my breasts abit and shuffle right over and gets the feed himself if I ignore him! Ill try the NCSS - it seems to be a popular option

I found a baby-proof nightie that you had to actively unbutton was good for that, sometimes she would give up after a few pawings (and sometimes not!)

im very lazy at night though! Ill give it a go I think though, because he sometimes latches himself on wrong and it hurts!

My sister coslept with her twins for 5 years under the continnum concept etc. Last week she and her children were here. They were up again and agian in the night. Fine if she loves it but in my view it hasn't worked. I did breastfeed at night all my babies but I could never easily sleep with them in bed. I'd pick it up, the warm damp squidy thing by the back of its babygro and put it as far away as I could manage it, take up my normal sleeping position and it would gravitate towards my body like a magnet all night long.

the warm damp squidy thing my ds was a little shark when my milk first came in

My ds is now 12 months and has one feed about 5am - I have found it depends on how into other food besides the breast - as to when they sleep through.

Get one with poppers. Agree actually unbuttoning one in the middle of the night would be far too much effort

DD2 eats loads during the day but still wants 2 BFs in the night, some times she will settle herself though with a cuddle. We have a bedside cot brilliant invention she can cuddle right up to me but I still get room in the bed.