Nursing to Sleep Part 2

homemaker5711

Ok, I was relieved to read about all the mamas that are nursing their LOs to sleep.  I do the same.  I don't have the heart to sleep train at this point because I believe more that i'm building trust with my DD, than trying to break a "bad" habit.  But here comes the questions:

How long does it take for you to put LO to bed - just the nursing part?

 - it takes me anywhere between 20 minutes and almost an hour 

Do you ever have trouble transferring baby from your arms to crib?

- sometimes she is asleep and then bawls when she hits the crib mattress :-(

Any tips on how to successfully make the transfer from arms to crib?

??

For the most part I enjoy nursing my LO to sleep but some nights it can become frustrating when I've got her asleep and then she wakes up when I put her in the crib.  Right when I think my job is done for the day, its not! I would love to hear how its going for all you other mamas.

TIA!

GolfWife678

We nurse 20-30 minutes. I nurse on one side and then put on his night time diaper, give medicine and swaddle then nurse to sleep on the other side.

I put him in the crib and give him the paci and turn on his sleep sheep. Sometimes he is so asleep, he doesnt even take the paci. I have never had an issue transferring him

flummadiddle85

At night, it's probably around 15ish minutes now. If I didn't break the latch, he would probably just stay on for a lot longer. But at this point, when I know he's done eating, and sleeping, I'll break it. So the actual eating time is probably less than the 15. I'll usually sit and rock him for a few minutes, and then put him in his crib when he's sound asleep. 

However, a few weeks ago, he would not fall asleep while nursing, and just had big wide awake eyes. I ended up putting him in his crib when he was wide awake, and he was able to put himself to sleep. He doesn't do this consistently yet. So sometimes he gets nursed to sleep, sometimes he ends up in his crib wide awake, and he'll put himself to sleep. Without crying for that matter too. 

Naps are an entirely different story. And I'm guessing we got hit with the 4 month wakeful as well because his naps were starting to go similarly to bedtime. And then, the past week or so, the only time he would nap is on me after nursing, or on walks/car rides. We might be turning a corner now, as he took a long nap on me this morning, and he's now fast asleep in his swing (which he wasn't doing anymore for the past week). 

I basically just try to follow his cues. If he's fussing when I put him down, I'll usually wait to see if he soothes himself (he sucks his thumb now, so I know he can soothe himself) for a minute or two. However, if he goes into his hysterical crying (this usually doesn't take long), I'll comfort him right away. 

No tips I guess.... sorry. I just try to do whatever works for right now. Even if that means walks, car rides, swing, our bed, etc. But DS has also shown that he is going in the right direction as far as bedtime/naptime goes, even when we hit a regression like this. I guess I'm like you, I don't have the heart to sleep train, but at the moment, I don't really see a need to. Especially since he started STTN so young. 

Mrs.Castaldi

I've had occasional luck with a few things. For a while I would put a blanket under LO on the nursing pillow, and move him with that so that there wasn't a sudden temperature change from the pillow and my hands to the mattress, but then of course the downside is they are on a blanket in the crib, bad I know. Another thing that seemed to help was I would take whatever sheet or blanket that was going to be in the crib and sleep with that in our bed for a couple nights so that it smelled like us when it was in the crib. I've never found a foolproof method, but at least that can be a starting point.

youenjoymyself

I had the same problem with her waking when I went to put her down. Now we bed share, and I LOVE it! No more crying, lots of sleep for everyone, and the bonding is incredible.

homemaker5711

Ladies thank you so much for detailed responses. This has been so helpful!! I feel like I'm not alone in this anymore.

saraenns

Same as britt (above). We start feeding frequently (every half hourish)-snacks from about 7 til she is full and sleepy (between 9-11). She finally nods off nursing, i give her a little rocking and then put to bed. Most often shes out for 5-8 hours. If she wakes up after a few mins i just start nursing/rocking and try again.
That stretch of sleep for me has transformed a crazy zombie (of 3 months ago) to a fully functional mama!! Rocking chair and nursing pillow are my besr friends right now

shellmh

We start our bedtime routine about 1.5-2 hours before we go to bed. DH changes his diaper, puts on a new onesie and puts him in his swaddle. Then I nurse him either until he falls asleep or until he is done eating (usually 15-20 minutes). I then pass him off to DH, who sits with him on the couch until it is time for us to go to bed. We've found that this works for us because I'm not the one putting DS in his bed, or really falling asleep with him. When I was, he would wake up immediately when we put him down because he wanted mommy/liked how I smelled like milk.

Some nights his teeth are hurting him so we have to change it up a little. I'll nurse him sidelining on the couch and let him fall asleep there until we go upstairs to bed. But DH is always the one to carry him upstairs and put him in his cradle.