To sleep train or not? I'm a pushover already

[newmomaboutthreads]

Exactly that really I'm not sure if I should sleep train or not.
My baby is 6 months EBF and wakes every 2-3 hours.
I never planned to (bought a very expensive side car crib) but we co-sleep and feed to sleep. I.e she sleeps in my bed with me. Has done since she was born. The only way she would sleep was contact but found a way around this by feeding her to sleep in my bed. I did it twice and never admitted it to anyone as I thought it was so taboo, but the health visitor came around and volunteered the safe sleep guidelines and it was a god send. So we followed the safe sleep guidelines since.
She's EBF and I just find it so easy to pull towards me and feed her to sleep.
I have no problem with this, neither does my husband and everyone gets collectively enough sleep.
I have a tendency to be a bit of a hippy with things like this but worry I am doing my baby a disservice. I love it but worry I'm harming her future sleep in some way as I have just parented instinctively. I'm there for her at every whimper and know I couldn't do any CIO methods. What happens if we keep free styling, no sleep training and I just keep feeding her back to sleep. Will I end up with 5 year old with sleep problems and attention issues for example.
Am I making a giant rod for my own back?
Is sleep training just for parents benefit?

A very quick response as I’m working late and I’m tired, but my DD is 21 months now and I’ve always been a responsive parent with her, I never co slept (tried it once and DD didn’t settle) and stopped BF shortly after DD turned 1 and she was no longer interested, but have never left her to CIO. She is still fed to sleep with a bottle, I know this needs to stop but I’m waiting for her to do it herself as she has done with everything else so far.

DD sleeps through more often than not, in her own room, and goes to sleep easily for naps and at bedtime. I was always told that allowing / responding to the baby’s need to be dependent on you allows them to learn independence, and so you will never be making a rod for your own back by being a responsive parent. Also remember that things are only a problem if they are a problem for you and your family. Sleep training is for the parents’ benefit as most babies get there in their own time, training just accelerates the process, that’s my opinion anyway. And for some that is necessary, but I’ve never had to.

I'm the same as you co slept for every child, but 1. (She didn't like it) My 6 and 4 year old now sleep in thier own room. I put them in their own beds when they were just turned 2. Still bf. Was pretty easy and hasn't caused any issues. Youngest is still co-sleeping and bf at 14 months. I'm hoping to move him soon too.

She's still tiny, don't feel pressurised to impose sleep training. That doesn't mean you can't have a routine, though. All mine were EBF, all very different feeding patterns, but they all moved from their Moses Basket to their own cot in their own room around 6 months old. They had their last feed there, dimly lit, then settled for the night. It is tiring, getting up to them when they cry, but they will start to settle for longer between feeds. Good luck 🤗

We sleep trained because we needed to, our 6.5 months old had been waking every 20 -45 minutes since 4 months old. Doesn't sound like you need to sleep train as you are all getting along fine! I was about to be put on antidepressants by the doctor so we decided a few days of sleep training was worth trying before committing me to months or years of sleep deprivation related depression and drugs. Luckily, we chose what was right for us as she was asleep in 12 minutes on night 1 and slept 7 hours straight, and it improved every night until 5 days later straight to sleep and sleeping 11 hours 95% of the time. We did what we had to, it doesn't sound like you have to though, which is great, as sleep training is a very hard decision to make.