How do i stop feed to sleep cycle

[MumOfBoys16]

DS is 6 months and we've found ourselves in feed to sleep cycle with him now up every 2 hours at night. He used to be such a good sleeper!

How do i stop? This might sound silly but I really don't know what to do with him in the night when he won't settle other than feed. I've tried cuddles, and patting/ shushing. But most of the time it doesn't work and he cries. He was able to self settle at some wakes a couple of weeks ago but not now.

We've started weaning but not dropped feeds I don't think. He has a bottle of formula at bedtime but the rest is breastfed.

His naps are ok at he sleeps well for these, 3 hours a day in total.

Please help!

I was about to ask the same thing. My daughter is 5 months and will sleep in the sling and sometimes the car, otherwise has to feed to sleep for all naps and bedtime. She wakes often (sometimes just half an hour after going down at bedtime) but needs feeding every time. I want to be able to both put her down and settle her without boob! She doesn’t take a dummy or a bottle and I’m going back to work end of Jan and worried her dad is going to have a horrible time on parental leave if we can’t work this out.
So watching with interest!

My DS just stopped feeding to sleep eventually and gradually, so I can't help with practical tips, but just reassurance that if it's working for you then you don't have to "fix" it.

Most babies have a growth spurt at 6 weeks.

That might be true @seaborgium but the baby in question is 6 months.....

@MumOfBoys16 Perfectly normal for baby to feed back to sleep. That's what nature intended.

Is there another parent there?

The only way I managed it was by getting her dad to take her to bed every night for a fortnight and then the habit was broken.

Oh I know it's natural @harrysmummy246 I'm just not keen on the every 2 hours bit! I feel a bit lazy sometimes just offering him the boob rather than do something else.. I was just looking for ideas of what else.

@seaborgium he was only up once a night at 6 weeks! I wish we were at that now!

@AnnaSW1 DH is here and will put DS down too but it doesn't really make kuch difference.. but was it doing it every night that made the difference for you?

I popped out for an hour and a half this evening. Baby was waking just as I left (just 10 minutes after being put down, fed to sleep), so consequently she was still up when I got home and my partner hadn’t been able to settle her. I know it’s natural but I’d like to know he can put her to bed… and also put her down for naps when he takes over parental leave in six weeks.

Is it a case of needing some gentle sleep training (don’t shoot me down in flames)? Would that help with breaking the association or is there another way? If we try to put her down without boob she will gradually get more and more worked up until she’s hysterical.

Sorry I meant to say 6 months.

@MumOfBoys16 yes that was the key

I fed to sleep with both mine while it worked. As far as I was concerned, it worked, it worked quickly, and anything else was just more effort. Why make life harder.

At 6 months they both went through a few weeks of 2 hourly wake ups. It wasn't fun but that phase did pass.

At 9 months feeding to sleep stopped working. They just wouldn't go back to sleep. I did controlled crying and within about 4 nights they were sleeping through.

For context, DS was combi fed and woke regularly at 10,1 and 3 am for feeds. He'd have bad nights but that was the standard. DD was EBF and a unicorn. At 8 weeks she was sleeping 10-5 every night! I personally feel how you feed them makes no difference, they are who they are.

That said, it went to pot at 6 months just because.

We were stuck in this - literally every 45 mins throughout the night.

I stopped breastfeeding at night and gave the bottle with either formula or water. She was furious but it helped.

Thanks all, last night was much better, up at 1 and 5.30 after a quick cuddle at 11. He's just started sitting confidently too so sounds like it's been linked to that.

@badgerbum how will DH be feeding DD when you go back to work? Try introducing it more now and then see if she will settle for DH. We use the medala bottle and DS took to it well, I heard a lot of people recommend it for bf babies, it's teet seems longer than other bottles, not sure if that made a difference.

@MumOfBoys16 Sounds like you had a better night! DD is also sitting really well so maybe with confidence a sleep miracle will happen.
We just tried her yesterday with a beginner sippy cup, she drank about 15-20ml which is huge for us, so I’m going to try it every day now and hope we can get there. We’re also going to start on some solids after Christmas. My HV is very reassuring that it will all be ok, and people keep telling me babies are very adaptable so I’m really hoping it falls into place in January!