Co-sleeping, breastfeeding and sleep training??

[TwinkleTwinkleDancer]

How and when? Baby is nearly 6 months old and wakes every 2 hours (at least) at night. Really would like to get to maybe every 4 hours for feeds? Is this possible?

This is my first baby and I have no idea where to start?
Is a sleep consultant a good idea? If so, when?

Do we sleep train and move baby to their own room at the same time?

I started putting my baby to bed from six months. We decided his bedtime would be 7pm. I would start getting him ready for bed at 6.30pm and feed him to sleep in the dark. Then I'd gently place him in the cot and leave the room. I had a video baby monitor to watch him on. If he woke I would go into his room and feed him back to sleep. When I say his room I mean a cot by the side of my bed. He didn't start sleeping through the night until he was 18 months but the routine was established early and we still follow it now. He's four now. It also meant my partner and I got some kind of evening back.

You don't need a sleep trainer but one of the Health Visitors at my GP surgery is a qualified sleep trainer and offers the service for free. You could check if there's one in your NHS area.

Following as I'm in exactly the same boat.

@Pilot12 how long did it take you to feed him to sleep? Did it get easier?

We also moved to own room at 6 months from having coslept and really started a bedtime routine.

We did a shh-pat technique and gradual retreat kind of thing. Baby self settled quite well after the first three nights and started self settling in the day for naps. But there were some tears.

Second DS we did the same and he just went to sleep on his own first night!

I did gentle night weaning at about 8mo. Essentially, when your baby wakes then shush/pat/soothe without bf for 10 minutes. If not asleep after 10 minutes OR if your baby falls asleep but wakes again within an hour, then feed. I was amazed at how often DS fell asleep again in less than 5 mins with no bf and cut it down to 2 night feeds this way. I also co-slept and he still falls asleep with a cuddle but stopped bf totally at 18mo (he is 2.5yo now).

Hi, yes I did exactly this. I used a sleep therapist too. DS was sleeping with me as a result of the 4 month regression that lasted 6 weeks. He Is EBF and almost 6 months. He never napped i the day and was awake every 90 min or so. Life was hell.
He was moved into his own room and sleep training began that day. I did controlled crying. On day 2-3 he was on one wake up. Night 4 he slept 12 hours. He now naps brilliantly. It’s not plain sailing and it’s a lot of work to keep them on a routine but it was the right decision for us.

Do you have a solid bedtime routine and consistent bedtime? Does baby nap ok in the day?
4-6 months is the most effective time to sleep train as I understand it. We did it at 7 months for DC1 out of desperation and it was life changing.

@Bobbybobbins & @HayleyHaystack how long did it take for baby to fall asleep on night 1? And how often did they wake? Was there lots of crying? Just trying to prepare myself.

@TwinkleTwinkleDancer

First night for DS1 was over half an hour, some crying and we went in every minute and did shh pat after retreat. Second night was 15 mins, not much crying.

For DS2 was about 5 mins, not really upset.

The very first night wasn't super easy - my DH did a lot of it. For us it was worth it as it had got to the stage where both would only sleep on me or next to me at night and were waking up for feeds every hour.

They both still woke up for a feed until 18 months but only once or twice a night and would sleep on their own at night and for naps.

So I made my DH take the day off work. We started in the morning, less intense than night.
The first morning nap was 55 min of crying until he dropped off. Bearing in mind he has been rocked and fed to sleep for 5 months. Woke him up after 45 min. Of course we were going in etc at the intervals but it was intense.
Second nap (the 2 hour lunch one) no crying, asleep within minutes but only lasted a 45 min sleep cycle and couldn’t resettle. Bedtime, 35 min until dropped off. Woke at 10 and woke at 3.
Night 2 - 25 min of crying at bedtime but only one wake up pre midnight. (I had to then pump at 4am!). Naps were a breeze on day 2 I couldn’t believe it.
I follow the exact same routine for day naps.
I committed to the routine for a solid 2 weeks. Ensured he only slept in cot and barely left the house. Couldn’t risk him falling asleep in pram or car.
Some naps easier than others and some bedtimes are dreadful if the naps haven’t gone well.
Tip - His room is constantly prepped for sleep. Static black outs at the window, pink noise playing on a speaker. He knows it’s his safe sleep space. Persevere! In 21 nights he has done a 7-7 about 10 times.

Thank you.. definitely going to do it. Just need to get my head in the right space

Good idea @TwinkleTwinkleDancer
Prior to doing this we had a night where we were rocking him to sleep from 7pm-4am and when he finally dropped off he slept for 45 min. That was the final straw for me! Head immediately switched.

Good luck when you go for it OP. Keep in mind that self-settling is a really important 'skill' that will benefit all of you hugely. Definitely choose a time when you are both available and have a drink ready for when they are asleep.