Breastfeeding to sleep rut

[biggiesmallstockings]

My son is nearly 11 months old. I feel like I've totally failed on the sleep front and am at the point where I just don't know what to do. He still wakes every 2 hours and needs to be breastfed back to sleep, nothing else will comfort him at all.

My husband can get him to sleep initially by singing and rocking him but when he wakes he needs to comfort feed. We have a good bedtime routine established. We tried to hold out and not comfort feed when he woke last night but after 30 mins of him screaming (with us cuddling home etc) I caved and fed him. He's definitely not feeding for hunger it's just comfort. He won't entertain the idea of a dummy.

I keep half saying I will sleep train but it just feels so unnatural to me and I can't bear the thought of him crying for me and wondering why I'm not coming to comfort him. Any advise on how to gently wean him off comfort feeds at night?

Hey - what are the day naps like? Just asking as my DD would wake like that and I found she was sleeping too much during the day. As soon as I cut the naps back - and no nap later than day 3/4pm - she was sleeping better -not through the night but 5hours at a time.

Food wise - is he eating much at dinner?

A later snack just until morning worked for my Bub...Greek yogurt....buttered toast....

Blackout blinds... white noise at night ?

Too hot too cold?

And my favourite ... teething?

Same here but do get the odd night sleeping through. Mines is nearly 11 months and bf to sleep. I’m working on it now. Plan to stop feeding then hold her till she goes to sleep. Then cot and stay with her till she sleeps then leave her. 4-5 nights each change. I’ve started with her morning nap. Only sleeps in buggy and after 5 mins of normal walking speed I’m slowing down. Tomorrow 5 mins then stand at out till she sleeps.
I’m sure we’ll get there 🤪

It's totally biologically normal and age appropriate to be feeding to sleep at this (and any) age. Comfort is a legitimate reason for a child to feed.

Check out the 'beyond sleep training project'. They've got a great Facebook group.

His naps are ok I think, he has an hour at 9am then another hour/hour and a half at 2ish. His eating is a work in progress, it's taken him a long time to be interested in food although he's getting the slowly. I do wonder if his high milk intake at night affects his appetite.

I feel like every other 11 months old we come across is sleeping through or almost and we are not even remotely close 😢

AllltheProsecco I follow them on Instagram and it always reassure me that it's normal and healthy and I get that. On the flip side I'm due back to work in two weeks and just don't know how I can cope on so little sleep, and it's also started to take a toll on my well-being and causes tension with my husband sometimes. He gets it too but he works shifts so can't help out as much as we'd like. I know I don't want to do cry it out, but surely there is some other ways to gently encourage longer stretches of indelible sleep?

Bimbabo good luck!!! Let me know how you get on 😄

This is just how babies work. They cry, you stick a boob in, they're comforted, sleep. It's not a failure, it's just a normal part of human development. It won't last that much longer, it just feels like a long time when you're tired!

I went through this and sleep trained in the end. We did a method where DH sat by the cot so DD wasn't alone, just not being held or fed.

I know many people hate the idea but it only takes a few nights to do. The net amount of crying is a lot less than leaving it a year or so to sort naturally, waking every few hours.

Seriously I’d sleep train now. We did it with DS at just over a year as I’m back at work full time and need to be able to function.

We just cold turkeyed overnight feeds. If he woke then DH got him and cuddled him back to sleep. Took just over a week and very few tears. Your DH needs to be totally on board though.

DS is now 14 months and sleeps 6pm - 5am unless he’s teething.

We’re working on pushing his bedtime back because 5am is far too early 😂

Is he in his room OP? I found a huge difference in night wakings once I moved my DS into his own room.

Is he in his own cot or are you bed sharing? We get more sleep with DS (12 months) in our bed than we did with DD who was in her own room at 9 months with us constantly going backwards and forwards until we just got in with her.

I found this post really reassuring when I went back to work at 4 months with DD: thebeyondsleeptrainingproject.com/faqs/my-baby-will-only-fall-asleep-at-the-breast-but-im-returning-to-work-soon-how-do-i-break-this-habit

We did pick up put down (pupd) both times and it worked in a few nights. Being used as a dummy half the night might be biologically normal but it's not necessary.