How do you not BF LO to sleep?

[Tryandwish]

Hi all.

I know I'm making things hard for the future 'coz I wont be BF a teenager to sleep!! My LO is now 20 wks and wondering how you all get ur LO's down for naps and bedtime. Only way my LO falls asleep is by BF-ing or when we drive somewhere. I'm not hardcore enough for just leaving him cry? Any gentler ways?

 

[Rachel_C]

Kids learn to fall asleep without boob/milk in their own time. My 2 year old has been doing it for quite a while, no teaching needed, she just started dozing off occasionally on her own and then started doing it more regularly. IMO it's making things harder for yourself if you try to make a child fall asleep on their own when they're not ready. We just left it, trusting LO to do what's best and she did

 

[babyjan]

I was not hardcore enough and still not!

So now my 21 month old will not sleep unless being nursed, only other place he will sleep in is a car journey and that's only if his extremely tired.

Sorry, not much advice x

 

[babyjan]

Kids learn to fall asleep without boob/milk in their own time. My 2 year old has been doing it for quite a while, no teaching needed, she just started dozing off occasionally on her own and then started doing it more regularly. IMO it's making things harder for yourself if you try to make a child fall asleep on their own when they're not ready. We just left it, trusting LO to do what's best and she did

I really hope this will be the case for my 21 month old, but the problems is we bedshare so if I'm next to him he will not find another way of sleeping as he will just expect breast. He really doesn't know another way BUT....


I went out with some friends a few weeks back and was running late and LO didn't sleep the whole day, OH told me he took him to bed turned all the lights of an rocked him to sleep, I came back to him asleep and that's the first time his ever slept on his own.. Was really proud but then he woke up few hours later for boob lol

 

[misspriss]

Well, I started nursing LO when he work up a long time ago. He doesn't nurse to sleep for naps usually (although sometimes it is the easiest way). We developed a method or routine that works.

I swaddle in a muslin (although MIL doesn't, she lays the muslin on her shoulder) and then put baby over shoulder. If he is fussy, you have to walk at this point until he calms down, or if not fussy you just rock. We rock him for ~3-5 minutes and he is asleep. This is where the swaddling comes in, I then move him to the swing or somewhere and go on about my day. MIL prefers to hold him while he sleeps, not too productive to me, but hey.

At night, we cosleep. Sometimes he nurses, sometimes he doesn't when we go to bed. He just snuggles up to me and sleeps.

I know he doesn't go to sleep on his own much, like just put him down and he goes to sleep, but it works for us and he doesn't nurse to sleep.

 

[charlie15]

I nurse my 11 month old to sleep for bedtime but only occasionally for naps, usually when she is overtired. I agree that they will learn how to fall asleep on their own in their own time. But the one thing that you could try in nursing your baby and just as she is getting sleepy and about to nod off, take her off the breast and lay with her until she sleeps. This way she's half way there already. From there you can bring the feed a little further away from bedtime, nap time as when you are both ready.

 

[snowfia]

My OH could get DD to sleep at around 11 months fine. I couldn't as she would want feeding, which wasn't a problem. But at around 15 months she started falling asleep herself with some gentle encouragement at first- singing, stroking her back etc

 

[Tryandwish]

Thank you Ladies I feel a lot better now at feeding him to sleep. Just in process of trying to move so once we're settled again I will work at getting him to nap in the days without a feed every time but will feed to sleep for bed time You've all reassured me that I don't need to worry about teaching him to fall asleep Thank you

 

[CupcakeBaby]

BFing DD to sleep is my super power. lol.

I don't mind if she needs it for ages.

That being said some nights she wants to be put down and goes to sleep on her own. But that was her decision.

 

[Dk1234]

I started laying down with him and playing Mickey Mouse on my iPhone. I'd pay his tummy and he'd cry but it didn't take long for him to calm down and eventually fall asleep. That has led to a really good progression of good sleep. Once he learned to put himself back to sleep in the night if he woke (that happened once I night weaned at 8 months, I was 4 months pregnant) I started rocking him for naps and bedtime. Eventually bedtime I could rock him til sleepy and put him down and he would fall asleep. Then that has eventually happened with naps. He is now 15 months and I don't nurse anymore because my milk dried up and now I'm nursing his brother. But I put him down awake for every nap and bedtime and he puts himself to sleep. It's amazing!

 

[Dragonfly]

I dont know what I would have done if my boobs didnt put mine to sleep. Was handy when I wanted them to nap, boob out and sleep. Use it to your advantage as they do get older and it stops working. My near 3 year old can fall asleep without but if I want him to nap with Myles I need just tandem feed them. Its perfectly normal your breastmilk has ingredients that induce sleep.