I don't know how to comfort DC when she wakes in the night.

[Treadmillmom]

DC3, 11 months old exclusively BF responded very well to controlled crying approx 3 weeks ago.
It took just 5 nights of ups and downs and she's now sleeping through 12 hours.
I feel like a new woman.
Now the problem is, if she does wake which really is not often at all I cannot settle her, she wants to be BF.
I've tried sending DH in and she more or less wrestles him to the ground.
After a couple of hours of screaming everytime her back touches the mattress I have given in and fed her, panicking that I am re introducing old habits but she has always proved me wrong and slept the next night (touch wood).
So what can I do to avoid the feed altogether when she wakes?

If she doesn't wake that often as you're saying, then I'd just feed her, as if it's not the same time every night that she's waking, then it's probably that she is actually waking out of hunger on those few nights. I would have thought that feeding her will give her the reassurance that she will get the feed if she needs it and then she's less likely to wake out of habit IYSWIM.

Does she actually have access to any fluids apart from breastmilk at night?/because 12 hours is far too long to be without a drink.

colditz, you really think 12 hours sleeping is too long without a drink? Lots of children are 12 hour sleepers aren't they, well DC1 always was, DC2 about 9 - 10 hours.
The 1st thing I offer when she wakes is water, which she guzzles without pause, but she's never satisfied, it's the breast milk she wants.

yes I really do - I can't go longer than 7 hours without waking up to get a drink of water, and I am not a tiny baby!

somebody on here posted on a previous thread of mine that it's only when babies wake at the same time every night that it's habit rather than hunger, so if she only wakes a few nights a week and not at the same time, chances are she's just hungry that night - maybe she didn't feed to much that day? Some babies genuinely are just hungry at night for longer than others. (I have 2 of them !)

can you try feed her when she wakes for a week or so and see if it affects the rest of the sleep - a week isn't so long to create bad habits again and it might just mean you all get a bit more sleep if she responds well to the feed. - with-holding a feed if she's hungry might just mess up the sleep even further as she might wake again a bit later, then she's disturbing her longer sleep stretches?

Thank you all...I will feed her then. I guess I've just got so used to these luscious sleeps I don't want to tempt her back to regularly BF in the middle of the night.