Please help - 10 month old still waking 2 hourly... I'm back to work in 2 weeks!

[coveredinsnot]

As the subject says... my 10 month old boy is still waking a lot in the night. I fear a lot of this is my fault - often going in to comfort him when he hasn't been crying for long (I think the longest I've left him is a minute...), co-sleeping most nights after his first or second waking (just cannot be bothered to put him back in his cot sometimes, plus love having him near me and he seems to love it too...). But now, he just (unsurprisingly, I know!) wakes every 2 to 3 hours in the night, wants the boob, and doesn't seem to be able to get himself back to sleep without me or hubby or boob or dummy...

I have thought about what to do, and this is my plan. I must say I am very hesitant to do it, because it seems really harsh to me, so if there are any softer alternatives, PLEASE let me know!

Oh bugger I just started typing out my plan and realised it was total crap. Argh!

Ideally I would like to wean him off night feeds, get him to be able to resettle himself, I don't mind doing one night feed but I need more than 2 hours sleep in a row, especially when I go back to work.

Can any of you advise?

bumping for you

bumping for you...and for me...

I am in same situation as you. Nine month old boy waking every 2-3 hours and won't settle without boob...it's wearing me out! Please can someone out there give some advice??!!

Oh come on! There must be some sleep guru out there! If I find any help, I'll be sure to share it here...

We had this with DD and at 9 months we decided that enough was enough and one friday night, we pulled the dummy and the boob and DH went in when she woke and reassured her and offered her water. This made her very cross but 3 nights later she was sleeping through and we haven't looked back since.

Now it's my 5 month old DS who's waking every 2-3 hours and we're wondering how old he should be before we do the same again!

Mmm, sounds very similar to the approach I've been mulling over in my mind. Cold turkey! My friend did something similar with her baby, but at about 8 months. I was wondering if we've missed a window with this, as I'm not sure if he's suffering from a little night time separation anxiety... Arrgh, babies! So confusing.

I manage to talk myself out of it all the time though - here are some examples of my excuses:

He's teething (which he is at the moment)
He's ill (has been for most of December, but not now)
I'm about to go back to work, which will be a big change, and won't this just make it more stressful?

I think, to be totally honest, I'm worried that my baby will lose some faith in me if we go cold turkey, it goes against my natural instincts slightly... but I'm sure that once I realise I can sleep at night I will be so much happier.

Ideally I'd like a more gradual approach, perhaps I'll mull it over and concoct a plan...?

This is me too although my DS is 8 months and I refuse to give him boob until at least 5 in the morning (he eats 3 big meals a day so no way is he hungry) yet he still wakes frequently and am getting fed up of doing the dummy run ten times a night!

Am considering getting rid of the dummy but am worried about during the day when it comes in useful (not that he has it loads, only when getting tired).

For example, we went to the panto and it helped so he didn't scream the place down before he went to sleep on my knee.

And also thinking what if I get rid of the dummy and he still wakes all the time??

I always say that when the time is right, you will be so convinced of your decision and so determined, that you will have no hesitation in going for it! You sound like you're almost there .

I would say do it nearer to this age than 2 ish for example but I'm sure that a few months either way isn't going to make that much difference.