Is nursing to sleep a bad idea?

[October2013]

What are your opinions on nursing to sleep, and nursing back to sleep when they wake up in the night?
I just came across an article stating it was a bad idea because the baby will not learn how to "self soothe". I'm worried this may happen to my baby, since she wakes many times throughout the night looking for the breast, and screams until she gets it. Even when she falls asleep and I try to take her off the breast, she wakes up and cries until I let her nurse again. She can't possibly be that hungry all the time. She pretty much won't sleep unless she's on the breast.
She won't take a bottle and I've tried 4 different kinds of pacifiers, no luck. So I feel like nursing her to sleep is my only option. But is it actually causing more harm than good?

 

[sunnyday123]

Morning! I've breast fed my baby to sleep since day 1. As to if I regret it? Yes and no! Yes because although now he has learnt to fall asleep without it at first, he still wakes up 3-4 times a night wanting boob and won't settle without it. It isnt a bug deal for me as I co sleep and he will just latch on and go sleep straight away. Also we want to try for #2 and night feeds are shortening my luteal phase . And no because I love that she wants snuggles and milk with me so yeah up to you I just created a rod for my own back and I'm finding it hard to say no to him! He is 10 months old x x

 

[sunnyday123]

Also I tried putting him on bottle, dummies etcnno luck! He just screamed for the boob! So I practically gave up! My friends have bottle fed babies and they sleep through the night! If only....

 

[QueenMummyToBe]

I have also fed to sleep and fed back to sleep at night.
I don't think a baby should have to self settle as bf is food, drink and comfort to them.
I am lucky that dd does take a dummy and a bottle so dh can give her a feed now and again.

I try not to read articles like that.. parenting is hard enough without doubting yourself

xx

 

[w8ing4bean]

I feed to sleep but my lo can self settle. Sometimes she finishes feeding still awake so i pop her down and she will fall asleep x

 

[October2013]

parenting is hard enough without doubting yourself

xx

Excellent point!

 

[October2013]

Also I tried putting him on bottle, dummies etcnno luck! He just screamed for the boob! So I practically gave up! My friends have bottle fed babies and they sleep through the night! If only....

Sounds just like mine!

 

[Foogirl]

I fed Abby to sleep for about 4 months but eventually had to stop because she slept so well. and so much, I was having to lie down with her for 4 naps a day as well as through the night. We did sleep training which isn't for everybody and was certainly no walk in the park.

The bottom line is, if you are happy to do it then carry on. If it's a problem for you then some kind of sleep training might be in order. Your LO might learn to settle all by herself at some point, or she might not, only time will tell!

 

[Dragonfly]

You are suppose to nurse to sleep, Your milk contains ingredients that make your baby tired. Enjoy while it lasts it goes fast. And this is biologically normal. See James McKenna PHD and Pink McKay for more info.

 

[Elmo5]

The questions is why wouldn't you want to?

Baby falls asleep quicker, no crying, lots of snuggles.

I fed the last one to sleep, and she still has milk before sleep now. I feed the new little one to sleep as well. Both feel secure and sleep well.

 

[October2013]

The questions is why wouldn't you want to?

Baby falls asleep quicker, no crying, lots of snuggles.

I fed the last one to sleep, and she still has milk before sleep now. I feed the new little one to sleep as well. Both feel secure and sleep well.

The only problem is when I take her off the breast, she immediately wakes up. She won't stay asleep unless my nip is in her mouth, meaning I have to lie down and stay down with her for every nap.

 

[Rachel_C]

I let my LO feed to sleep. She's 2 now and I night weaned her. She still often falls asleep feeding at bedtime but she doesn't *have* to have it, it's just the easiest, quickest and most natural way to get her to sleep. I don't see any problem with it.

When you're taking your boob away when she's asleep, have you tried waiting different lengths of time? My LO takes about 5 minutes from looking perfectly fast asleep to me being able to take the boob away without waking her but if she's fussy (teething, illness etc) it can be longer. If she was really tired it can be almost straight away. Sometimes I can gently put my finger in her mouth then slip my boob and the finger out at the same time - she roots for a second then settles. Other times, if she's deeply asleep her latch will loosen a fraction and I can whip the boob out quickly. I think every baby is different and it takes time to learn the signs and what works. Your LO is really very little still, so just keep going, try different things but always assume you're going to be there for an hour or more, so if it is any shorter it's a nice surprise I find reading a book helps as I'm actually quite happy to be there, or at least it's not a chore and the time goes quicker.

 

[October2013]

I've tried waiting a long time, and not waiting long at all, but she always catches me sneaking away. I've even tried to slip a pacifier between to replace my nip, but she doesn't take it. I don't mind laying with her and allowing her to freely nurse as she sleeps, in fact I enjoy it. It's really only an issue when I'm trying to sleep too, because I cannot get comfortable with how I have to lay in order for her to stay latched.
I think she's teething and possibly needs the extra comfort, so I definitely don't want to try to wean her off right now. I'm just afraid she will always need it to fall asleep.

 

[Dragonfly]

They do grow out of it. I have 3 children 2 of them dont need boob sleeping and one has weaned himself a year ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFSPtTiVx5Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OR-zSOg0AxE

watch these.

 

[Foogirl]

The questions is why wouldn't you want to?

Baby falls asleep quicker, no crying, lots of snuggles.

I fed the last one to sleep, and she still has milk before sleep now. I feed the new little one to sleep as well. Both feel secure and sleep well.

The only problem is when I take her off the breast, she immediately wakes up. She won't stay asleep unless my nip is in her mouth, meaning I have to lie down and stay down with her for every nap.

Yep, that was exactly what happened with us. No matter how I tried, how long I waited, she would wake up. It was a real pain in the boob!

 

[Perplexed]

My baby is still young and I'm a ftm but I think you should go with your instinct. If it works for you then you should do it, if there are issues with it then try to address those specific issues. But it does make sense she'd want extra comfort because of teething.

I personally nurse to sleep and only recently found out that some view it as "wrong". But it has worked well for my baby & I so I don't plan to change it right now.

As for babies not learning to self-sooth, I do believe it will come with time and that we are not spoiling by nursing to sleep! I hope my instinct isn't wrong though lol.

 

[firefly15]

Don't worry - they all learn to self settle in their own time. Some take ages, some are fast but they all get there regardless of feeding to sleep. I always fed DS to sleep, it was the fastest, easiest and nicest way for him to fall asleep and SO much easier than any other way. The alternative was ages of walking/rocking to sleep that was rubbish for all of us. When they're ready to self settle they will - my DS was probably on the later end of doing it but I don't believe it had anything to do with feeding to sleep. I have friends who all did the same thing and their kids all did it at completely different times!

When they're ready to do it themselves they kind of let you know. As for nipple removal, that just takes a lot of trial and error but you do eventually learn to read them fairly well and mostly get it right

DS is now 2 and is the happiest of all the children in my antenatal group when it comes to bedtimes. We never have tears or fuss, he settles really happily and actually looks forward to bedtime at the end of the day. He's the only one in the group who was allowed to feed to sleep until he decided he didn't want it. Coincidence? Quite possibly, who knows! I genuinely don't believe you can 'spoil' by nursing to sleep, it's just completely natural.

Second time round I will be paying NO attention to anything that goes against my own instinct. I worried too much about all that crap before (although ignored it in the end anyway!), you just do what's right for you and baby and you'll be fine. xxx

 

[seaweed eater]

IMO, yes it could cause problems. But your baby is not yet 4 months old. If she insists on being nursed to sleep, and it's working well, do it. You can make changes later when she's older and has a more complex understanding of the world and her relationship to you. Any issues with it (and you may not have any) are not likely to come up until a bit later, anyway.

"Drowsy but awake" isn't feasible advice for every parent and child. Believe it or not, some babies are so easygoing that they really do just fall asleep if a parent gets the timing right. But other babies want what they want and will let you hear about it. Those mothers who say "Oh I just put them down drowsy but awake and never had a single sleep problem, tra la la" probably didn't have babies who screamed when they did it. So don't doubt yourself -- you know your own child and you are doing fine

 

[Mummymoo_x]

My LO is only 2 weeks old and MOST of the time he will sleep after a feed...i'm guessing this is normal for his age though. Im just glad he sleeps after a feed in the night ha x

 

[Noo]

Biologically BF is supposed to make the baby sleep. I always nurse at bed time. He used ti fall asleep on the boob though recently although sleepy - he isn't actually asleep.