In a nutshell, I would like to help my 6mo baby sleep and nap longer (and independently) once put down - but I DON’T want to stop feeding to sleep / feeding to ‘sleepy’!

Please be kind - I believe I have good reasoning for this. I know my own baby, and sleepy time is the ONLY time she reliably nurses well without getting distracted. I also enjoy the connection, and I guess I fundamentally don’t believe it’s a bad or harmful association. What could be more natural?

My dream (that I’m willing to work for) is to feed / hold her to sleep, pop her in her crib, but then after that initial feed, she resettles herself when she wakes, most of the time. I’m definitely willing to pat, soothe, sing or stay in the room for a while… all I want is to be not physically holding her for hours, or doing a lot of extra ‘top up’ feeds after that first one. Is that really so much to hope for? Is there anything sleep training can offer me?

Could I perhaps do PUPD or chair method but only when / if she wakes up after initially feeding to sleep? Has anyone done this?

I’m fully expecting some very blunt ‘Uh, no, that’s the opposite of sleep training’ replies - and I do understand that, in theory. But surely life is lived in the gray areas, so I thought it was worth asking.