Tips for changing sleep situation
We have a 14mo who currently cosleeps, wakes about twice a night, and still feeds overnight. I'm aware this is all pretty normal at this age, but there are a couple of reasons the current sleep situation isn't working for me and I'd like any tips on how people dealt with transitions like this.
She is likely eating enough during the day, plus gets around 500ml of milk throughout the day (which my GP said is what should be the max around this age and with eating solids). I'm no longer breast feeding, it's just milk from a bottle. We actually (almost) successfully night weaned back when she was 12 months, but a few bouts of sickness reversed this and now she has really developed an association with feeding to be able to get back to sleep.
So I think it is probably time to try and night wean at least 1 feed, and on top of this she has a very strong attachment to my hair. Basically needs it to fall asleep now, because we were never really successful at helping her to attach to a soft toy/lovey to help her with sleep. This might seem harmless but it's to the level of yanking and pulling out hairs some nights - and she will scream if I tie it up and withold it from her.
I love cosleeping most of the time but it is not really sustainable when it's the only way she can sleep. I'm having some back/neck issues and headaches because of this.
My question is this: How would you/have you gone about working on things? Is night weaning while cosleeping easier, or better that they have the comfort of a bottle while trying to transition back to the cot? Should I try and help her develop another sleep association with a different toy first to help the transition or is 14 months a bit old for this to work?