Nursing to sleep | Imamother

amother

Copper

Thu, Jul 12 2018, 8:56 pm

Is it really not good for me to nurse my baby to sleep? He's 4 months and sleeps well when he falls asleep nursing but I keep reading that its not a good habit. Why can't I nurse him to sleep until he stops nursing and how do I get him to sleep without nursing?

amother

Sienna

Thu, Jul 12 2018, 9:02 pm

There is nothing wrong with nursing to sleep. That is one of the beauties of nursing, that it relaxes babies so wonderfully.

However, it is good to teach babies to fall asleep on their own.

So one recommended way of doing things is "The Pantley Pull-Off" (from the book by Elizabeth Pantley, The No-Cry Sleep Solution). You nurse baby until he/she is ALMOST asleep, then gently break the suction and stop nursing. Baby will usually protest, so you let baby nurse again for 30 seconds to 1 minute (or whatever arbitrary number), and then repeat. Repeat. Repeat. If baby starts getting frantic, try again a different time. Eventually, baby will nurse until full drowsiness, then fall asleep on his/her own. This helps minimize night wakings.

Woman of Valor

Thu, Jul 12 2018, 9:03 pm

Read Sleep Lady's book. You are teaching him to use nursing as a crutch to fall asleep. Falling asleep is a skill. You are not giving baby an opportunity to learn this, and you'll pay for it later! The key is to have a great schedule based on his age/needs and put him down DROWSY BUT AWAKE so he can learn the self soothing necessary to fall asleep on his own. The parents that don't do this are the ones that are still up 4 times per night when baby is 2.

amother

Peach

Thu, Jul 12 2018, 9:12 pm

WindowMagic wrote:

Meh. Not true for my kids, and I have a few. I nursed to sleep until I weaned them. Each one is a baby for such a short time, and it was such a sweet experience for us. It doesn't work for everyone, but I don't believe it creates bad sleepers.

amother

Magenta

Thu, Jul 12 2018, 9:14 pm

I make a point of giving one bottle a day & I give the bottle the last feeding before bedtime. My babies usually don't fall asleep while having the bottle. I rock them till they're al it's alseep & than put them in the crib. My baby sometimes cries for a minute when being put down but than falls alseep.

yidisheh mama

Thu, Jul 12 2018, 9:19 pm

Baby ds nurses to sleep. Dd used to, too. After I weaned her (age 1 and a half) It took about 1-2 weeks for her to be "sleep trained" and fall asleep in her own bed, on her own. At age 2 she slept 11-12 hours at night, and now (age 3&1/2) she sleeps 12+ hours nightly (no naps anymore).

amother

Copper

Thu, Jul 12 2018, 9:24 pm

I'm trying to figure out if I'm ruining his sleeping habits. He sometimes wakes up as I put him down after nursing but he's so tired he just falls back asleep. Is there any reason to put him down wide awake so that he falls asleep? And should I be sacrificing my sanity now (putting him down awake, him crying, doing the whole thing over again) for the sake of him learning how to fall asleep?

He has woken up crying and fallen back asleep on his own before, does that mean he knows how to self soothe or I still need to put in the effort?

amother

Apricot

Thu, Jul 12 2018, 9:32 pm

You don't have to teach him to fall asleep on his own at 4 months. I have 5 kids. I nursed them all to sleep until about 1yr and then did sleep training. First for day naps, then for night sleep. Took 2-3 days for each one. Now they all sleep fine. In Yeshiva dormitories. 4 months is so little. Don't stress. The kid will still be a great guy regardless of whether you put him down sleeping, drowsy or wide awake at 16 weeks old.

nicole81

Fri, Jul 13 2018, 12:11 am

I'll tell you what works for me... I nurse my baby to sleep in the living room but then give him over to dh to bring him upstairs and put him down. The baby wakes up from this exchange and the movement but he's full, calm, and sleepy and usually resettles in his bassinet easily.

We started doing this when he was about 6 weeks old. At first, dh would frequently have to bring the baby back to me to nurse again and we'd repeat the cycle. Within a month, the baby was resettling himself nine out of ten times. By 11 weeks old he was still wide awake after nursing a couple of times a week and dh was able to put him down with no issues.

amother

Copper

Mon, Jul 16 2018, 9:20 am

Looks like I jinxed it shock

The sleep regression has arrived. I'm beyond exhausted and losing my mind, nursing to sleep doesn't even work

Machel

Thu, Jul 19 2018, 10:03 pm

I nurse my baby to sleep and then put her down for the night. When she fusses I leave her for a few minutes and most of the time she settles down on her own. If not I nurse her again. Most of the time she will sleep for 8 of so hours, nurse then sleep again.

The sleep regression sucks but it passes.