How to help baby sleep throughout the night

[CCIH]

My DD is 8 months now and still wakes up around 5/6 times a night. She's BF so I usually put her on breast and she falls asleep straight away but as you can imagine the broken sleep every night isn't fun.

I know I've probably spoilt her by giving her the breast to get her back to sleep each time but it's just so much easier, but I think I've made it harder for myself in the long run!!

Any tips would be appreciated

@CCIH I am completely with you there. It is so difficult and you think there is no end but there definitely is.
Not sure if you have Instagram but there were/are a few accounts that really helped me get through it and realise I wasn't alone.
Little nest sleep
Fox and the moon infant sleep
Second star to the right
Hey sleepy baby
Lyndsey Hookway

I'm also in a couple of Facebook groups, hey sleepy parents and fox and the moon sleep parents. Both of these groups are posts from actual parents wanting support or just to take to other mums going through the same.
They're lovely groups x

Aww lovely thank you I'll check them out! Have a lovely Christmas x

Oh what I would do for a 2 hour nap lol! Thank you. Have a lovely Xmas

Will she take a dummy?

I breastfeed and bottle-fed, and it didn't matter which I was doing. She still woke up until she was literally 11 months and 29 days old the day before I went back to work. She suddenly started sleeping. Good luck it's exhausting xxx

Everything works out in the end!
I've not properly tried her on a dummy before tbh, I think I've been her dummy 😂

@CCIH thank you, you too.

Honestly @CCIH I literally didn't know what was going on in the morning when she suddenly slept through!

Your time will come xxx

I bet you couldn't believe your luck😂 thank you for your replies, merry Xmas to you xx

My DD doesn't really even feed I think she does it more out of comfort because she falls back to sleep within literally seconds. Is this the same for you?

Exactly the same. In her 5/6 wakes phases, she’d only have 1 hungry wake around 3am where she’d properly suckle.

The only trick I can offer is having your main meal of the day at lunchtime so you can get to bed earlier

It's like they just want the reassurance that you're still there, quite sweet really if not fucking exhausting!😂 happy Xmas to you

As others have said you can't not spoil a baby by giving it what it needs. 8months is so young and if they just need that bit of comfort and reassurance then providing that is the good for them. So be kind to yourself.

Our DS wasn't sleeping through by then either, it just took him that little bit longer. Which is fine as they all do things at different times.
I do look back now so lovingly at those middle of the night feeds, just the 2 of us,with him looking up at me. I do also remember being tired and the worry of everyone telling me he should be sleeping through.

I know it's probably not helpful but I think It happens when it does.

Please though be kind to yourself, you are doing amazing and sound like a great mum, so do what's right for the both of you and follow your gut. Have a great 1st Christmas x

Thank you for your lovely reply! It's so true what you say, some of the baby phases are such a struggle but when they're over you do miss them. Maybe I will try do enjoy it (while I'm not back at work anyway). Hope you have a lovely Christmas too

This

My baby was exactly like this. I started night weaning gradually - so I decided initially that I wouldn't feed her more than every 2h, then every 3, and when she woke, I just cuddled her back to sleep. It was much less traumatic than I'd expected!

It didn't, however, fix the sleep problem! She's always been a dreadful sleeper, but has suddenly, at 11 months, started sleeping through with only one wakeup or an early start. Nothing different we did; I thought I'd tried everything! Just wanted to give you some hope - she will sleep one day!

Good luck :)

Thank you for your reply! It's so reassuring to know it's not just me lol. Another lady in this thread said the same thing about her baby just suddenly sleeping at 11 months, I wonder if that's a thing... Hopefully, only 3 more months to go have a lovely Xmas x

DD was like this, got to 13 months and sleep trained. With Ds, trained him at 9 months.

If I were you I'd research a sleep trainer and how much it costs, and have it as an insurance policy if this is still happening by the time you go back to work. You'll get a brigade of doom on here saying sleep training is terrible but in my opinion a few nights of the baby being upset while they adjust then everyone better rested and happier is absolutely worth it.

Good luck!

8 months is still tiny and night feeds are normal for a baby that age. Who has decided they need to sleep through the night? You, the other parent , family? If it's not you, do thier opinions need acting on?
I hope you're not having to get up to feed every time? A bed with you and the baby in it means so much more sleep.

My dc slept though once they'd dropped thier daytime naps at about 3. I did night wean them at about 18-24 months, they still woke a couple of times a night, it's just a bit more effort to get them back to sleep without breast feeding.

My mum and nan have made a few comments that they think im spoiling her too much, we do share a bed so I'm not having to get up every time but by the time I'm ready to fall back asleep she wakes up again!

Yh I think I'm gonna struggle giving it up just because it's so much easier!

Thank you! If all else fails, I may have to give it a go!