Breastfeeding and co-sleeping

[EmilyG]

My first Dd woke every two hours to nurse until around 15 months, I thought that was just her, so we did it. Now dd#2, who was sleeping 6 hours at a stretch at 2 weeks old, and 8 hours at a stretch at 12 weeks old, has been wanting to nurse every 1-2 hours all night long. She's 7 months now and has been doing this since about 4 months. She's off the charts for weight and height, 22 pounds at 7 months, so she can't be that hungry - is it just the cosleeping that makes them feel the need to snack all night long? How do I break this habit so I can get some rest?

[odoole]

I don't know. It could be cosleeping is reinforcing the habit, but I bet it wasn't started by cosleeping. My son did the classic 4 month regression as well, I think mainly because he started eating less during the day and established a reverse cycle. Around 5.5 months I finally gave up on the crib and switched to full-time cosleeping. He goes through periods where he's nursing every 1-2 hours, and then periods where he only wakes 1 time during the night. There are so many variables in how well a baby sleeps at night (temperature, hunger, developmental stage, new skills, other disturbances, etc), and I think cosleeping is just one of the many variables.

Sometimes when it seems like DS is waking up for no reason and when his nursing is just comfort sucking and not a substantial feed, I'll move to the opposite side of the bed so he doesn't sense me near him and that seems to help. So that tells me that yes, cosleeping might cause him to wake more frequently ... but not all the time. A week later he might be sleeping through the night with me right there, so like I say, it's one of many factors.