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26-week-old waking to comfort suck all night

6 replies

Ag00se · 15/04/2026 00:35

Baby is currently 26 weeks old and since week 10, we've been safely co-sleeping (following helpful advice from here!). Before this, we tried to get baby to sleep in the next to me crib but it was like they were allergic to the mattress - pretty much every time they were put down they would scream.

Over time, we've progressed to 2 hr stretches, 4 month sleep regression hit and we pushed back to shorter stretches but we blissfully came out with up to 4-5 hour stretches with baby being initially fed to sleep, but then being comforted with cuddles/humming a lullaby/a dummy. We even managed a few days away and there was zero disruption with the change, it was lovely!

Fast forward to about ten days ago - baby now wants to be constantly latched and comfort sucking all night. They also do this really jarring thing of throwing themselves over while still latched so popping off dramatically, often with milk going everywhere (not to mention it's quite painful when it happens repeatedly). Wake ups are every 1-3 hours and only feeding back to sleep works, then as soon as they are back on the bed they are rooting to start comfortable sucking. The dummy seems to infuriate them.

Will this ever end?! How do I fix this?? Also, can I transition to a crib some how?! My husband is still in the spare room and I'd like him to come back into our room at some point.

I go back to work in 8 weeks and I don't think I can survive with this routine overnight. I'm not expecting to sleep through, but just up a couple of times and an easy transfer back to the sleeping space, then some rest for me would be ideal!

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
RoyalPenguin · 15/04/2026 04:41

How is he or she getting on with weaning? At this age my DS's sleep got worse because he was hungry, and was solved when he was eating more solids during the day.

mathanxiety · 15/04/2026 05:22

Teach her to suck her thumb.

Peonies12 · 15/04/2026 09:13

6 months is such a tough age for BF in my experience as they are wanting more calories but haven't got up to speed with eating yet. mine was doing similar at that age. I didn't do this but it worked for a friend to only allow BF at/after certain times in the night, so not until midnight for example, and then not until 4am. Just settled in other ways around that. What's the usual morning wake, naps and bedtime? Might need adjusting so baby is more tired for the night. I'd focus on reducing the feeds first. You might find it easier to go straight to a floor bed in their own room, skip the cot.

Rosy72 · 15/04/2026 13:30

Could it be teeth coming through?

HeyMay · 15/04/2026 13:54

Teething is a prime suspect! It can unfortunately be weeks of discomfort before they actually start coming through. If you want to know if it's this, try a dose of ibuprofen (better than Calpol for teething) and see if that improves things.

sesquipedalian · 15/04/2026 14:03

Would you consider a dummy? My DD’s second DC was a very “sucky” baby - she reluctantly tried a dummy, and hasn’t looked back.

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