HELP - feeding to sleep has stopped working!

[TheCaptainsCat]

My daughter is one at the end of this month, and has fed to sleep every night and nap of her life. Some say it's a bad idea, but it was so easy and effective that I carried on. Only now, what used to take minutes takes hours. I've just got her off too sleep now and I've been trying since 8 when she started rubbing her eyes and whinging! Once she is finally asleep she will sometimes wake crying 4 times a night, on a bad night could be hourly. We cosleep and she will only settle back down if I feed her. I'm so tired, and me and DH have had to sleep in different rooms for months. I can't continue like this, I want my evenings and husband back. I want to avoid CC/CIO as she is teething and it seems harsh when it's so removed from what she's used to.

Suggestions desperately gratefully received!

I had the exact same problem with DS and it started when he was about 9 months old. He used to previously only fall asleep at night and for his naps whilst feeding which was great when it worked but when it stopped working my life was hell.

DS would wake about 3-5 times a night and could be awake from between 1-2 hours at a time because both he and I had no idea how to get him back to sleep.

We tried co-sleeping but it didn't really make any difference. I was getting about 4-5 hours of broken sleep every night and I was exhausted. Me and DH were arguing all the time because I was so sleep deprived and I seriously thought I was going to crack up.

After about 6-7 weeks of coping with this and sending a lot of time in tears due to exhaustion I contacted a Sleep Consultant and under her instruction I did CC. I had reached a point where I had to do something because I couldn't cope anymore.

The Specialist changed many aspects of DS's daily routines and bedtime routines, meal times, nap times etc but she said the most important thing was to put him in his own room.

The first night of doing CC was the hardest but within 3-4 nights he didn't need feeding to sleep (bedtime or naps) and he was sleeping through from 7pm-6am.

Everything in our life improved so much!!

Some people do say that CC is cruel but babies and infants need their sleep in order to aid development and doing it had benefits for him as well as me and DH. Following the CC DS was getting about 4-5 hours more sleep in a 24 hour period than he previously had been and he was such a happier baby because of it.

Or come and join the "what worked for me" thread - aka not so gradual retreat!

When feeding to sleep stopped working for us around 12 months, we found that reading to sleep could sometimes have a good effect (and now at 2 yrs is the normal bed routine).
Other options are rocking, singing, walking, lying and holding hands. I know it can seem ridiculous and like evenings will never become civilized again, but things are more likely to improve over time than not, even if it's slow.
If you aren't sure about CC then don't do it (there are lots of good reasons not to), many other things to try first. Good luck.

DS stopped feeding to sleep at around the same age.

In a frustrated huff I dumped him in his cot, stomped downstairs and waited for the screaming to start. But...it didn't! He fell asleep by himself and has continued to do this for every bed/nap time since (he's 16 months now).

Don't know if that's helpful, but thought I'd share