Has any1 got any advise in getting my 1 year old son to sleep more than 2 hours in his cot?

Question

my son has just turned 1 year old and co sleeps with me and his dad ,and he is also breastfed.

the things is that he will only sleep in his cot for up to 2 hours then wake up and come in to bed with us .when he comes in to bed he tosses and turns ,continuously feeds on and off all night which is making me sore now he has 9 teeth.ive tried not letting him feed all night but he just screams and crys ,so if any1 has any advise to help me either get my son to sleep in his cot for longer or to get him to calm his feeding down through the night?

he has 3 meals a day plus snacks and is breastfeed on demand but he seems to only be having 1-2 feeds through day .

HELP PLEASE ....THANKS XX

Answer 1

Hi sorry to hear you are having a tough time of it, I am a mother to a 7 year old, and a 14 month old.. My first was a terrible sleeper, and like you she used to end up getting in the bed with me, my second has never slept with me, mainly due to the fact she has to wear a foot brace at night for having clubfoot, but I have found that she's such a more content baby at night, and I'm sure it's because she didn't ever sleep with me in the first place.

I would suggest you try to ignore the cries at night for as long as you can, then go in just to let him know you haven't abandoned him, and don't give him the milk if you are sure that he's getting enough during the day ( which it sounds to me he is ) it's probably just the fact he's got used to having this as a comfort.. Maybe you could express some milk and put it in a bottle/beaker? And send him to bed with it.

I know I may sound harsh, but after my different experiences with my 2, I do believe that sometimes we can " make a rod for our own backs" so to speak.

Hope you resolve this soon, and get some well earned rest :)

Answer 2

He is addicted to your breast,and the feeding on demand has become mum on demand!!i had the same problem with my daughter i started cutting the feeds out which i think you should be doing as its not working out for any of you,then you will have to do the ignore bit at nights,you know where you let them cry for a little longer each time until he learn you are not on demand at nights and nights are for sleeping i know its hard but its the only way and you should get results within a few nights,you can get lots of info on this online etc.

good luck.

Answer 3

Hate to say this, but ensure he gets a good feed at bedtime, put him down in his cot/crib and if he wakes, let him cry it out....he's not hungry, he's just into the habit of sleeping and feeding with you. I had a similar experience with my son a few months ago, we let him cry it out for a few nights, he now sleeps 12 hours straight through in his cot. Its hard, but persevere. Congrats on still breastfeeding...you are doing a good job!

Answer 4

at night offer him a beaker/bottle of breast milk rather than your actual breast. my son did this and i realised he didnt actually want a feed he just wanted the comfort of being close to my breast so i introduced a beaker of breastmilk that i had pumped. it was a struggle for the first week but he eventually got the hang of it. there was a lot of tears and a lot of guilt on my part.but it did work. i hope this helps

Answer 5

I had the same problem, my son woke up every 2 hours at that age and breast fed all night. I ended up bringing him to my bed from the first time he woke so I didn't have to keep getting up. Everybody told me to let him cry but I couldn't do that. I just went with it and was exhausted, but it does improve gradually. Stopping breast feeding did not lessen the problem, he still woke up. By the time he was 3 we were down to twice a night and he slept through at 4. it is hard and does seem it's never going to end at the time but it will get better. I now have a healthy, happy 9 year old and I'm glad I continued to breast feed until he was 2 and never let him cry. It won't "spoil" him, it's just loving him. Good luck and try to enjoy these years, they are over so fast