Sleep training and weaning off breast

[baby1wanted]

Hi ladies have posted this in baby club and breastfeeding as it covers a couple if areas and need as much input as possible!!

DS is nearly 6 months. He's been ebf since birth and has been having veg / fruit purée for last 2 weeks now at twice a day. He's currently completely dependent on the boob to go to sleep, most of his milk comes from feeds around getting him down for a nap. He also feeds to sleep at night and apart from rare occasions where I can get him to settle he comfort nurses when he wakes through the night. He is not a great sleeper occasionally does a four hour block but more routinely wakes after 2 hours or even hourly!! Naps are inconsistent, if I hold him then they're fine if I put him down sometimes they'll happen sometimes he wakes with 10 mins and I either nurse him back to sleep or he's up again.

I go back to work pretty much full time when he is 8 months old so when he turns 6 months old we'll be starting sleep training and weaning from the breast though I am still happy to feed perhaps once or twice either side of work.

I don't expect him to sttn yet and am happy to still feed during the night if needed. I know he can go four hours between feeds before being truly hungry. We have a routine in place and I use blackout blinds in our room.

So my plan is to change bedtime routine from bath, massage, pjs, story, singing, boob to putting boob straight after or even before the bath. If he falls asleep at the boob I'll wake him up. Then put in cot after stories and do singing in cot where he'll magically fall asleep and sleep for 8 hours.... The plan is to try pu/pd but both DH and I are prepared to use cc if needed (no debate here wanted though...) we will not use CIO

My questions are....

Do I set a time after he falls asleep during which he won't be fed if he wakes? E.g if he falls asleep at 7pm shall I determine that I will only feed at/after 11pm and four hours after that? And any in between wakings use either pu/pd or cc depending which we've gone with?

Should I work on not feeding to sleep on nighttime or naps first?

In terms of weaning from the breast my plan is to swap one feed to a bottle feed each week so that my milk production gradually reduces, does this sound sensible? I'd leave the first and last feeds until last as I'm happy continuing with those if needed even when back at work. Will also bf during night as can't be bothered with bottles at that time until he no longer needs night feeds. Basically looking to get onto bottle between 8:00am and 6:00pm so any suggestions gladly taken!

I'll happily take all the advice I can get so throw your thoughts at me!!!
Thanks

 

[Kyten1978]

I just recently started something like what you are talking about, except I will not be weaning to formula. I just needed to get my LO to sleep longer than an hour and a half at night. I have insomnia to a degree and it takes me 30 to 45 min to fall asleep no matter how tired. I found an article that says how if you are feeding your baby every two hours during the day they get in that habit of just "grazing" or taking in just enough milk to make it the two hours. That pattern continues into the night time causing them to wake up and want to nurse back to sleep. My DD was waking up and I would put her to the breast. She would eat for 5 min tops and drop off to sleep. Only to wake up again no more than 2 hours later.
Anyway, what I have done is four days ago I started extending out the time between feeds during the day. I worked it up to where there is between 3 1/2 to 4 hours between feeds during the day. If dd wakes at night before its been 4 hours I will give her 5 to 10 min to see if she will resettle herself. If she doesn't I go in and pick her up and just hold her till she is falling back asleep. I don't rock her or talk to her, just holding her so she can relax back to sleep.
I also changed my feeding routine and bedtime routine. During the day I feed her on the 4 hour schedule then we cuddle or play quietly for 15 to 20 minutes then she gets a diaper change and into her sleep bag. Then down for a nap. At night we changed from "dinner" of solids, bath, pjs and sleep bag cuddle / story time, feed to sleep to "dinner", nurse, bath, pjs and sleep bag, cuddle / story time, into bed awake. She will fuss usually for about 5 -10 minutes, no real crying and drop off to sleep. She now naps for about 1 1/2 hours twice a day and last night she slept a 5 1/2 hour stretch, then a four hour, and 2 hours.
This has been after just 4 days - 3 nights. She is also much happier during the day and less fussy at night.
I hope I made sense and this helps you.

 

[baby1wanted]

Thanks so much for this everything you say makes sense!! I may week put off the weaning to a bottle and concentrate on sleep first. He needs to be off the bottle during the day by October so I have time yet and am really more than happy continuing to fb for the moment.
What you are doing sounds great!
Like you I know he can go four hours between feeds during the day... And I'd be more than happy if he did that at night! But I do end up feeding him much more often than that in the daytime - essentially because he feeds to sleep for naps. So if he wakes at say 7am he has a feed then. The. By 9am he's ready for a nap and so gets another feed the on - so often he's feeding every couple of hours.
Last night he woke 1.5 hours after a feed - I did as you suggested and got him back off without nursing!! I didn't push it for the rest of the night as he's unwell with a cold and was struggling with his breathing. But it gives me hope!!

Can I ask - we're you feeding to sleep for naps and at night? If so how have you found stopping doing that? And when did you start for the first time - was it the morning and then nighttime. Or did you start at bedtime one night?
Thanks again!

 

[baby1wanted]

Haha just noticed my signature says I've been fb for three days longer than he's been alive!!!

 

[Kyten1978]

I was feeding to sleep every time I put her to sleep. I would lay down in bed with her and let her nurse until she would drop off and be asleep enough for me to move her without waking completely. So she was very hooked on nursing as a sleep crutch. When I decided to change our patterns I went all out for it. I started that first day at her morning nap. As I said I now feed her then we play or do quiet things for 15 - 20 minutes after eating, but I also changed where and what position I feed her in. I did that in hopes that she wouldn't have as strong of an association with sleep and that she wouldn't be quite comfy enough to make her drop right off. She has accepted the change better than I thought. The nursing still makes her a little sleepy so when I lay her in her crib she is sleepy. I tell her "it's time to sleep. I love you." then I turn and walk out. As I said she does fuss for up to ten minutes, but it isn't crying really. It is more like she is grumping about till she gets comfortable. You can tell by listening to her she is annoyed, not scared or needing you. Hopefully you know what I mean.

 

[Kyten1978]

I hope your LO feels better soon.