We've come so far... yet so far to go!

[sleepsuit]

Hi All,
I posted a while back about the fact I was BFeeding to sleep and cosleeping and gradually losing the will to live because of it.

After a nasty cold and a few other issues we had to wait out, we've bitten the bullet and made the transition to the cot! The cot is in my room and it has only been a week, but I feed, put DS down sleepy but awake and then stay and support. He cries for a few minutes and then falls asleep. Crying has gradually become less, but I still need to sit with him and cuddle occasionally as it's still very early days.

The first couple of nights he did 5-6 hour stretches (dream!) second couple he woke every three hours (I can cope with that), following night every two and last night every hour! What am I doing wrong!!!? I pick him up, feed and soothe and he goes straight back down ok. He's not keen on a dummy so won't take that. I noticed a tooth coming through yesterday, so could be that?

Any other pearls of wisdom? He has three naps a day, eats two meals and is still BFing, or do I just need to wait it out? Am I picking him up too quickly? Or do I just need to relax and see how the next few nights go?

Very sleep deprived Mum!

How old is your DS?

Almost 7 months!!

Sorry forgot to add that quite important information. He'll be 7 months next week.

Yes! Sorry, just didn't want to respond and find out he was 6 weeks old or something!

As you said this

The first couple of nights he did 5-6 hour stretches (dream!)

I would take that to mean he is capable of going without milk for that length of time and would aim to keep to relatively consistent feed times (my DC's were approx midnight and 4am at that age). I'd feed at those times and then try another method of settling for all other wake ups. I used to try to keep DC in their cot for anything other than feeds, so a combination of stroking and shhhing worked for me (I also wanted to have the minimum intervention possible so as not to create a new habit I'd then need to change, such as cuddling to sleep). Whatever you choose, make it something you're comfortable to do consistently so you don't end up giving up when your resolve is low at 3am. I'd try that approach for a week and see what happens, unless it seemed that DC was suffering in some way. It's hard to be confident that they are not hungry at his age and when BF but do try to trust that those feeds at night are enough.

Thanks @modge that's really helpful.
I'll see how tonight goes and maybe just try to settle him without a feed! I don't think I'm he is always that hungry as I don't really hear him swallow milk in the night - I can hear him guzzle usually!!

Good luck! Yes, it may just be a comfort thing, which is completely fine if you're both happy with that, but it should be possible to help him to find another way to settle back to sleep to ultimately help him to link his sleep cycles.

Maybe also try just leaving him for a couple of mins (I had to time this on my phone as 30 seconds of crying felt like 10 minutes!) to see if he just conks back out.

Hope you have a better night tonight