Feed to sleep at 5months

[GimbleInTheWabe]

Hi everyone,

I need a bit of advice please. Ds is 5 months old and still feeds to sleep for naps and at night. I don't mind so much for bedtime (though it can often take over an hour!) but during the day he'll only be fed to sleep and then will nap in my arms. if I try and transition him he always wakes up. It means I basically get nothing done because when he's asleep i'm sofa bound and when he's awake I obviously have to keep an eye on him. He's EBF but does also take expressed milk in a bottle with DP feeding him it. He used to fall asleep by himself when he was tired up until he was about 3 1/2 months. He does also sleep in the buggy and the sling but only if it's moving I.e out on a walk.

I have my best friends hen do coming up at the end of April and I'm desperate to go but if he only falls asleep by being fed then I've got no chance of going. I know it's not the end of the world but she's my best friend and I would be so sad to miss it.

He spits out a dummy but he does self soothe in the night by sucking his thumb. We have a fan going in the room so that provides some white noise but happy to be persuaded to try a Ewan sheep if people think it's worth it.

Does anyone have some good tips or advice on how to help him fall asleep naturally please? I've tried putting him down drowsy but he just tries to rollover in the cot and then starts grumbling.

Thanks in advance!

~Sleep deprived bump~

I don't know the answer to this but I too am in the same boat with a nearly 5 month old and want to go to an April hen party! Hopefully someone can come along and help us!

I am in exactly same situation. I don’t know but handhold and hope this bumps this for you (us)

My DD is 6 months and fed to sleep , she's number 3 and my other two fed to sleep at this age too. They eventually grew out of it when they were ready. I wasn't up for any sleep training and they both sleep through fine now. If he feeds to sleep can your partner just give him a bottle so you can still go ?

Wow What're the chances @ChikiTIKI!? My DS is actually 5 months on 10th March but thought rounding up would be easier.

Glad to have found my people at least!

@Semilunar22 and Chiki how are yours sleeping at night? Ds went through an amazing spell of sleeping for 8 hrs for a little while but the past 2 weeks he's been sleeping for 3ish hours and then waking up approx every hour after that. I usually resort to cosleeping which I really don't want to do because I'm always so uncomfortable and don't sleep well with him in the bed.

Annoyingly he doesn't feed to sleep with the bottle @newcupcake. We tried and he just fought it and as soon as I latched him on he zonked out straight away typical! as I say I don't mind feeding to sleep for bedtime as that feels quite natural to me, it's more daytime naps which render me glued to the sofa. Was that the same for your 6mo? I feel torn about it because I know I'll miss the cuddles but I just have so much other stuff to do! Like napping.

My DD has just started to be put down in the last couple of weeks really for day time naps before that it was my arms only or on the move. I’m a believer that thy all just get it at some point but that point varies for each baby maybe you going out for the night may switch things up a bit and he’ll surprise you - what’s the worst that can happen

How old is your DD @Cupcakegirl13? I know my DS will get there eventually and like I say I know I'll miss the cuddles but I guess I have to start somewhere otherwise he'll never learn to send himself off to sleep without nursing also my washing pile is like Everest.

I have tried a few times to get her to nap in her cot but on the few occasions it’s worked I have felt so lost and empty- like I’d left my skin in another room- it actually took away all incentive to work on it. I love love love our nap cuddles watching tv. In an ideal world I would have the option to put her down if necessary but I’d rather cuddle for every nap than no naps because I’m so routine/rules driven. :)

So she slept from 10-8/9 from Christmas. Then moved her bedtime to 7.30 at 3.5 months and she slept 7.30-7/8. Then 4 month regression hit/booster jabs/some teething and she now sleeps 7.30-4/5/6 sometimes earlier. I bring her in with me to try and cosleep another chunk in desperation- but like you say OP it’s not proper comfortable sleep. Recently have had to do a few feeds at 5am which feels like a step backwards as I thought i was through nightfeeding. I got smug and this is my payback 😂

Also I have Ewan and I’m not impressed. Wish I had spent a little more and got a myhummy with a sleep sensor on it which might help her drift off when she wakes in the night. Ewan literally does nothing that YouTube on your phone can’t do :)

the past 2 weeks he's been sleeping for 3ish hours and then waking up approx every hour after that.

4 month sleep regression/development leap.

Will he rock to sleep? DS will usually feed to sleep, but if we want to swap some nights so I'm free to do the other DCs bedtime then DP is able to get him to sleep by rocking him cuddled in, or slowly walking round the room holding him.

(Forgot to mention - by rocking to sleep that's stood up rocking, for some reason the same movement while sitting down doesn't work but soon as DP stands with him he'll start to settle!)

I could have written your post a couple of months ago but now (DD almost 7 months) I think we have cracked it.

We started tackling naps first as it's less hard on all parties. Used to BF to sleep and let her nap on me. Transitioned to BFing as soon as she wakes up from naps and then leaving it no more than 2 hours before putting her down for her next nap. So she would wake up from a nap at e.g. 11am. BF, play downstairs in jumparoo or on the floor, maybe have a snack, top up snacky feed, nappy change then into sleeping bag, Ewan the Sheep on (rain noises on Spotify or YouTube work just as well), put her down in her cot and leave the room. At first she did cry so I would leave her for a few minutes, she always settles. I'd never let her scream and I think crying it out is cruel but she would fall asleep pretty quickly, often in less than a minute now.

Once we had naps sorted night time became much easier. Routine seems to be really important - sleeping bag, music, light off and into cot. She knows it's bed time when the sleeping bag comes out and gets really grumpy! I feed her just before bed (7pm) and she usually lasts until around 2am then has another feed and sleeps until between 6.30 and 8.

All babies are different but it works for us so maybe give something similar a try. Good luck! It's so hard BFing and they're so dependent on you but it's worth it.

Also don't think you're necessarily missing some tip or doing something 'wrong', it may be that no matter what you do your baby just isn't too keen on sleep!
DC1 was a nightmare sleeper, DC2 was perfect and never had any trouble settling herself to sleep at night or nap time, we've only ever had to pop her in her cot and she'll drift off, and DC3 takes fair bit of persuasion especially for naps, but we've done nothing differently!
The perk is you get a lot more cuddles from a fussy baby!

Recently have had to do a few feeds at 5am which feels like a step backwards as I thought i was through nightfeeding. I got smug and this is my payback 😂

Baby sleep and development aren’t linear. There are no backwards steps.

Your baby is a week older than mine :) mine sleeps through the night, starts sleeping anywhere from 9-11pm and wakes between 6.30-8am. I know we are very fortunate to get sleep every night but she often doesn't sleep in the day at all and it leaves me desperate for a mental break!!

Very unusual for her to fall asleep if not feeding at the time. Has nodded off a few times while playing or after 5 mins of crying but usually the crying doesn't stop and I can't stand it! So I just feed her and she goes to sleep after a few minutes.

Sorry for the late response, we had no water today so I've been at the MILs!

Thanks for the advice and experiences. I know the sleep through the night can be affected and changed by the wind or if there's a full moon it seems so I'm not so worried about night time. It's more just getting him to nap in his cot/not always in my arms. They say to sleep when the baby sleeps but how can I when I'm either walking him around the park or stuck on the sofa with him
Snoozing on me?!

He doesn't rock to sleep sadly @BubbleAndSquark. In fact he can be literally on the edge of sleepdom and will fight it and as soon as he latches on me he'll zonk out. We've tried a dummy too but he just spits it out.

I have tried the feed, play sleep thingy routine @RedPandaMama but tbh not that rigorously so maybe I'll give it another go. DS rarely cries so I think when I have left him before and he starts to become upset it really plucks my heartstrings and I end up picking him up. But I'll definitely give it another go and hopefully he can nod off himself. Did you find the Ewan sheep really useful? I might have a look on my local mums page for the myhummy one and see if that makes a difference. Do they just try and play with the toy? That's what I imagine Ds will do!

I've been trying to get a handle on the day naps for the last few days but it doesn't matter how dark/temperate the room is, what white noise I have on and how long he's asleep in my arms for beforehand, DS always wakes up when I put him down in the cot. I get close and then - ping! His eyes open..
I tried putting him down drowsy and leaving him but he just got upset.
I know it's not the end of the world if he continues to nap in my arms but I just have so much to do I need the nap time to get on with it. I'm self employed and am still working but my work admin is basically non existent at the moment because I don't have the time to do it.

Has anyone got any other advice or experiences they can share please? It seems to mostly be the cot transfer that wakes him up, even though that's not a problem at night!

Bumping for the night crowd

No advice from me but a wave of solidarity as I'm currently going through this with my 5mo too. DS only seems to settle with me and is fed to sleep every night / for most naps. He also refuses a bottle. I am missing a hen party this weekend because of it!

My DS used to be a pretty good sleeper but the regression has hit hard and the last few weeks have been brutal. We've had the hourly wakes, minimal napping despite obvious tiredness, and for the last few nights even feeding back to sleep doesn't seem to work and DS has been awake for 1hr or more at a time before resettling.

I'm going out of my mind with tiredness and had a little cry at DH this afternoon. DS usually seems to sleep well for the first few hours of then night so I'm planning to go to bed at 7.30 tonight!

Thanks for the solidarity @MunsteadWood! It's good to know that other people are finding it tough (in the nicest possible way!) and I'm sorry that you missed the hen do. Hopefully your DS will revert back to his good sleeping pattern soon? My DP tries to be helpful sometimes when I am having a moan about being sleep deprived by saying 'it could always be worse' I mean, of course it could be worse but it's certainly not great! Trouble is I know he really is trying to be positive and help but it really riles me! Happy Mother's Day to you by the way!

In a very non-MN move I'm going to start weaning DS early. He is desperate to eat food, constantly attempting to grab off of my plate and will stare and food and get very frustrated that he can't put it in his mouth. I think we're going to go for a mix of BLW and weaning. Is your DS on solids yet?

I still breastfeed my 10 month old and he struggles to get to sleep for naps still. I feed to sleep as it’s honestly the easiest and quickest way. I did worry but he’s an ok sleeper at night (1 wake up). I can easily transfer him to cot then I have 1-2 hours of free time!! Transferring does get better! I have given up worrying about feeding to sleep to be honest. When I return to work, there’s no other option, he’ll reduce to one nap and he’ll just have to learn to do it himself.

Perfectly, perfectly normal OP! My DD (now 2) fed to sleep until around 9-10 months. She now goes to bed beautifully and sleeps 12 hours 90% of the time in a bed. Try to hang in there, I know the sleep deprivation is a killer but it's not forever. I'm embarking on babydom again in 3 weeks so no doubt I'll have a similar post coming up soon 🙈

Well DS is better at going down in the night now, I no longer have to transfer him as if he is an unexploded bomb. So now tackling naps starts properly. I think I'm going to always feed him to sleep in the bedroom so that he gets used being in there in the day and then slowly start to get him used to the cot for day naps. I need my arms back!