My eleven month old was exclusively breastfed and while she’s now eating solids, she still feeds , particularly for sleep. She’s never in her life fallen asleep without a nipple in her mouth.
She is now FAR too big for the Snuz pod but I can’t put her into her own cot because it’s impossible for me to lay beside her and feed to sleep.
A bottle is no good because it’s not milk she needs , it’s the suckling. We tried expressed milk many times in a bottle. As soon as a bottle ran out she would scream.
I know this is my fault but I’m a first time mum with no family or other mums I could have asked so I did what felt natural and what she seemed to need. It’s only now I realise that a change needs made for her to sleep in her own cot.
I have been trying dummies for months but because she never had one early, she doesn’t take them.
Everything I have tried leads to frustration and because I’ve never let her become distressed at bedtime , I now don’t know if that’s the only way forward.
I’m not really willing to let her become upset. Bedtime for us is calm and soothing and comforting for her (but for me it’s uncomfortable, exhausting, quite painful for my back etc and now becoming so overwhelming) but I don’t want to do any of the sleep training etc that requires me to let her cry.
Ive also tried to create new associations in the hope I could make those her ‘thing’ for sleep but she doesn’t like being patted or stroked or cuddled or held. Nothing. Just seems to piss her off.
Has anyone successfully moved on from feeding to sleep without doing any kind of cry method? I feel like I’m living on a pipe dream even asking :(