How do I get some sleep

I have an 8 month old who still does not sleep through the night. She wakes at 5 Am or 4 AM and sometimes 2 AM. I BF but I wont feed her till after 5 am. By then I am just tired and cannot keep going to her crib to sooth her. SO I bring her into bed and feed her for the next 2 hours. I am not opposed to sleeping with my baby, but I really dont sleep, I doze.

DOes anyone know how to get a BF baby to actually sleep through the night. SHe at times has slept till 7 am which is where I would like her to sleep till, but that happens so far and few these days.

She is teething but that does not seem to affect her that much. And my husband works third shift so I am doing this at night by myself. I also have a 10 yr old step son who I dont want to disterb his sleeping, and when she crys I get nervous that he will awake.

Any thoughts on this would be a great help.

I couldn't breastfeed, so I don't have any real experience with this.  However, I bought a book at Babies R Us call The No-Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantly because my son was having sleep issues when he was a few months old.  It has lots of great advice, and it's suggestions are geared toward breastfeeding babies.  There's also lots of info on co-sleeping if you want to go that route.  Good luck! 

I have 14 month old twins.  I bf my son till 13 months and my daughter got expressed breast milk because she refused the breast after about 6 weeks (extreme colic).

My question is if you refuse to bf till 5:00 what do you do at 2:00 when she wakes up.  Are you trying to just soothe her in her crib.  My philosophy was to do what I had to to get back to bed and not wake up the other baby in the same room. 

If you feel like bf her at 2:00 will let her sleep till 7:00 than do it.  If she just really needs to be rocked and soothed than do it.  The fact is she will sleep through the night when ready.  I would rather spend 1/2 hour at 2:00 and get to go back to bed than only half sleep with her in your bed.  You will be a happier mommy in the long run.  My daughter needed a bottle at 5:00 in the am till about 12 months but I didn't have a problem doing it because 90% of the time she went back to sleep for a couple of hours and I could too.

My son would wake at about 2:00 to bf till about 10 - 11 months and than I realized he wasn't really hungry he just needed some soothing so i would rock him for 5 minutes and get to go back to bed and the other baby wouldn't wake up.  In a month or so he just stopped crying in the night and would sleep through.

Sorry this probably doesn't help but it is what I did.

Thanks, wow twins, I bet that took some adjustment.  Thanks for your story and thoughts,

I do try and sooth her at 2 and 5 but if she does not go back to sleep after a half an hour I do feed her.

Thanks again

My daughter "nightweaned" around 10 months. My husband would go soothe her & since he didn't have the milk she'd settle. She's slept through the night since.

Nurse her. My DS didn't night wean until he was over the age of three (Extended breastfeeding advocate here).  I was an avid co-sleeper and got PLENTY of rest when he was nursing nearly every hour.  I tossed the crib when he was 6 months old because walking the floor at night, and trying to get him back to sleep after he had awoken screaming..was CRAZY. I was more exhausted the few months I fell for that mainstream crap than any other time in my DS's life.  I just decided to roll with his natural rhythms.  It was always easy..but I don't think walking the floor at night tending to your child's needs on a regular basis is easy either. 

My DS is almost 4.  He happily sleeps in his own room, and sometimes sleeps with his dad and I. 90% of the time he still climbs in bed with us around 3AM. I don't really care it doesn't bother me. 

I had to keep some prospective about co-sleeping though.  We are taught by society how our childern will never leave our bed or other rediculous ideas. I took a long hard look at my own child hood and realized..that I co-slept nearly my entire life. I slept in the bed with siblings, grand parents, my own parents ect.  Who was I to tell my son he couldn't do the same.