How to wean off the breast for sleep?

[Alyssa]

Hi, have a twelve week old that likes to sleep only on the breast. How can I wean him off this? Has anyone had success doing this? He has a comforter and dummy neither of which he is a huge fan of....and they don't help get him off....neither does rocking etc....any ideas would be great. Thanks

[*TripleJ*]

Sorry to say but my almost 10 month old still falls asleep on the breast good luck though i know its frustrating

[HotI]

Is he feeding to get to sleep or feeding to stay asleep?

The book the 'no cry sleep solution' has some ideas. Have a think about what you want to replace it with, your bub will still need some help to get to sleep.

My 16 month old still feeds to sleep for most sleeps (if i am there). I used techniques from the book to stop the all night sucking though.

[*EJ*]

I have had two that liked to do this and for me it was never an issue, they had their feed and went to bed quite happily. Still doing it with DD now

Whatever you try dont expect a quick soloution, it will probably take some gentle persuasion over a few days/week or so to get out of the sleep association but you'll be able to do it if that's what you want.

You may be able to tell between the comfort suck and the actual feeding suck. Once i noticed DD was just sucking for comfort i would put her in her bed.

Most recently for me with DD when it was snooze time i'd wrap her up or do whatever our sleep routine was then hold her, sway, sing whatever she seemed to like until she was starting to get sleepy. I could see it in her eyes when she was about to doze off and when i saw this i'd gently put her in her cot, so she'd be really close to sleeping but not quite. I found this helped her be in the calm state to be able to then fall asleep herself.

Good luck, but while you're trying to change things just relax and enjoy. You only get to hold them that close for such a short amount of time

[Arcadia]

I fed both mine to sleep...am feeding ds to sleep right now. Is the issue bub wakes as soon as you put them down? 12 weeks is notorious time for this and they do get better at it again. With ds I feed to sleep and then put him in a cot, and then kind of rock the cot if he stirs. Otherwise I put my face next to his and breathe on his face and that seems to work too.

Good luck with it. I fed my dd to sleep until she was over to. I always fed on a bed and then snuck out. Would that work?

[*EJ*]

A bit similar to Arcadia once i put DD in her cot i'd still have my arm really close to her (kind of slide in under the cover so she still feels my arm and can smell me), then once she seems settled in her bed i'd remove it.

I think you mentioned a comforter also, if you haven't already... it's great to tuck it into your top for a day or so and get your smell on it, then try using this at sleep times. DS will love to smell you. But comforters can take some time to become favourites, DD is 8 months and just starting to show an interest/comfort in it.

[onthefly]

Feeding to sleep is normal, especially when this young. You will probably find it's a lot easier to change as they get older - indeed they grow out of it on their own given time.
Are you actually having a problem with the feeding to sleep or do you just think you should change it?

If hte problem is only sleeping while feeding, that is also something that will tend to change with time. You could go to your local library and hunt down a copy of the no cry sleep solution - it has some suggestions for this sort of thing. Also, do you have a sling or carrier? Sometimes just being snuggled in close with mum is sufficient substitution.