My boy is a very heavywetter because of the night feedings too and using double-stuffed cloth diapers could last him through 12 hours. (Changing is almost sure to wake him up too, so we eliminated night-time changes since he was very young.) Our night-time diapering solution is shared here.

If your boy falls asleep by nursing only, then you’d need to try many of Pantley’s ideas to help him learn sleeping longer stretches without nursing. I did not stop feeding my boy at night. After every feed, I try to unlatch him using Pantley’s method. Sometimes I had to unlatch him, put him over my shoulder, bounce a little, then put him down to bed and let him continue sleeping.

He really improved when we started day-weaning at 14 months old. Gradually, he relied less on the breasts for comfort. He slept through his naps without fussing to suck. then he slept through longer hours at night. Finally, at 18 months old, he slept through the night.

8 + two 1-hour naps sound little for an 8-month old. I think night-time sleep should be at least 10 hours with 2 good naps. Is your boy usually in a good mood during the day or easily cranky from insufficient rest? If he’s easily cranky, then you’d need to work hard to help him sleep better.

Some things to start off:
- relaxed evening: reduced activities, avoid loud noises and bright lights. I only allow quiet play after dinner, so that he could tune down easier for bedtime.
- bedtime routine: bring feeding to earlier part of routine. Ours is feed, change, dim lights, white noise (rainfall sound), story, songs, goodnight kiss, lights out (with small night-light). If baby insists on nursing to sleep, then let him suckle again before sleeping.
- early bedtime: we shifted bedtime to 8-9p.m. in the early months and he was less fussy.
- similar bedtime routine for naps
- help baby take longer naps: I aim for at least 1.5 hours, as per Pantley’s suggestion. When baby wakes up after 1 sleep cycle, I nurse or rock him back to sleep for another cycle. After that, he is much more well-rested. Apparently, a well-napped baby sleeps better at night.

Try to borrow or buy a copy of the book to try out the various ideas. The initial chapter on sleep cycles also gives a good understanding of your baby’s sleeping patterns. For us, it was well worth the money spent.

All the very best to you! Keep in touch!