Baby will only fall asleep on the breast!

[xocinot]

Hi everyone!

My little one is just over 5 months old. She was exclusively breastfed until she was 3 and a half months and now she's combination fed but really is primarily formula fed. She only uses the breast now as a comfort and to help her sleep.

I've tackled the main transition into formula feeding but now I need to tackle the transition of sleeping without relying on the breast. I know the difference in her feeding vs. suckling from when she was exclusively breastfed and she's definitely suckling for comfort opposed to feeding.

She's never took to a dummy - I've tried since she was about 6 weeks old, I've tried about 8 different brands at various times, trying to take it at her pace and not force it but she simply does not want a dummy.

I have bought a Jellycat comforter and she seems to be really liking that, but not enough to use it as a sleep aid/distraction.

Tonight I tried the placing down in the cot drowsy method after her bottle but those little eyes shot open as soon as she was put down and then she cried. I did try the whole leave her cry for a moment, return, leave her again, return but I really didn't last very long at all, I felt she was getting more agitated and in turn, more awake.

Does anyone have any tips on how to transition the baby away from using the breast as a sleep aid without the use of a dummy?

Thanks in advance.

Well you could try waiting, they do grow out of it.

Have a look at Little Ones sleep guides and maybe try side-settling instead

I found the Pantley pull off was quite effective. The idea is you gently unlatch while keeping cuddling them, if they want to relatch you allow them to do it for a bit and then unlatch them again. The idea is that you're still providing comfort, and not getting them wound up by refusing the breast, but gently giving them the opportunity to fall asleep without it. Over time they will become more used to falling asleep with just in-arm cuddles, then you can transition to cuddling while they're lying down, then hand on tummy and so on until they don't need you in the room.

The pantley pull off worked for us too, but the whole thing gets easier over 6 months.

I still do this with mine. The way I see it is I have an easy/safe/comforting way of getting her to sleep with a 100% success rate. She’ll grow out of it one day.