Comfort Nursing

[I Love Lucy]

DS seems to need to nurse to sleep. This resulted in us co-sleeping which was fine until he got bigger and would kick and hit me all night so neither of us was sleeping well at that point. He now sleeps on a floor bed so I can nurse him to sleep but I feel like this is only going to work until he starts moving around on his own. Anyone else with a baby who wants to nurse to sleep? Advice on how to move away from this so I can get him in to his crib?

 

[blake12336]

I have no advice as my LO is now 9 months and we still nurse to sleep and co sleep But LO has also grown to be able to nurse to sleep very quickly (5mins) and then stay asleep on his own x

 

[LDC]

My baby stopped nursing to sleep about three weeks ago. Honestly it was a much easier transition than I though it would be. We used to nurse to sleep, then if she woke in the night I would bring her in our bed and co sleep or nurse to sleep then carry her into her cot in her room.

I started feeding her and then taking boob out of her mouth (we then started moving to formula about a week after we stopped feeding to sleep so it wasn't a massive change from no more feeding to sleep and no more boob for bed at the same time).

I would feed her and when she had been feeding for a while, I'd put her in her cot using the shush pat technique.

I'm not going to lie the first few times were difficult because she was crying but it took about three nights for her to cut the crying to about 5-10minutes and being asleep.

I sit by her cot, put my arm through the bars and pat the bottom of her back (she sleeps on her belly but you could do it gently on her tummy or arm). I use a firmish hand because she was moving and trying to get up but now she has learnt to self settle, three weeks in.

I'm amazed at how quickly it worked, I wish I'd done it earlier!

Good luck Hun xx

 

[Kellen]

Mine still nurses to sleep, but will roll away from me after about 15-20 minutes. After this DH or I can scoop her up and place her in the crib. She'll sleep from around 8pm-4am in her crib. When I hear her moving around I'll go pick her up, nurse on the coach for 5 minutes and then put her back in her crib until she wakes up around 7:30am. Sometimes she'll wake back up at 5:30 or 6 and DH will bring her to the bed for family snuggles. The 3am or 4am feed she doesn't even really wake up for if I catch her wiggles before they turn to tears.

 

[seaweed eater]

Mine nursed to sleep for several months, and after that he continued nursing to wind down and relax before going to sleep. He only stopped doing that when he stopped nursing altogether.

A floor bed seems to work for a while even for mobile babies. But if you want to get baby into a crib, you'll want to move toward putting him down awake but drowsy. You could start with letting him nurse until he's just fallen asleep but then let him wake up as you transfer him to the crib. Or you could try Pantley's gentle removal method, where you remove your nipple before he falls asleep as many times as it takes for him to fall asleep without it (pressure on his chin can supposedly help too).

 

[Jess19]

I started out with putting DD down in her bassinet and getting her comfy sleeping by herself in there, although I still nursed her to sleep. If/when she did wake when I put her down (which was almost every time) I would just rub her belly. she would cry but I just shushed and rubbed her and talked to her until she calmed down. The first few nights are bad but after 3 or 4 days she knew it was time for bed.
Then I did the same thing but in her room, in her crib. Now if she wakes ill go in and rub her but not for long, ill leave and let her fuss for a little then go back in. A few times ive gone back and she was sleeping!
Takes some time and patience but its totally worth it!

 

[danielle1984]

Wish I had some advice but my son does the same. He's only 11 week old. He even nurses to sleep for naps.