So frustrating and sad..

Mrs. Nicolian

ugh.. we are trying to get DS2 to learn to sleep on his own without nursing to sleep..  it's so awful. I don't know what to do.  We can pat and shush him to sleep but that's just replacing one crutch with another. I try nursing until he's really drowsy - almost asleep - but as soon as I unlatch him or lay him down he's right back up.

I just nursed him to drowsiness, laid him down and he was just talking to himself and rubbing his eyes.. but then that escalated to screaming and now we can't get him to stop.

It's awful... it has me in tears. It's so frustrating. It makes me want to just nurse him to sleep but I really want him to be able to put himself back to sleep at night. I need some sleep!

Anyone else have any experience with this?

Mrs. Nicolian

I feel like such a bad mama right now.. my poor baby.

babyluv617

You aren't a bad mama. But, I don't have any advice. DS still uses crutches to sleep and we're working on fixing them.

Celyn

My oldest nursed to sleep until he self-weaned at 22 months.  Much to my surprise, it just dropped out of his routine and wasn't a big deal.  DS2 stopped nursing to sleep in favor of being carried by daddy.  It's still a crutch, but one that he and daddy enjoy, and it gives me a break.  Good luck!  I know from others' experiences that it can be tough.

ncbelle

Have you taken a look at the No Cry Sleep Solution?  She has some suggestions to move away from nursing to sleep that you might find helpful. 

Kiddo is starting break himself of this habit.  He still nurses to sleep quite a bit (just did for a nap in fact) but in the evenings and in the middle of the night he has started pulling off and then rolling around a bit before putting himself to sleep.

If you don't want to wait though, check out NCSS.

Mrs. Nicolian

Thanks for the support. I really appreciate it.

I finally just gave in and took him up to bed with me.. we both got to sleep so that was nice.

I think I may have that book ncbelle. But if not I will look into. Thanks for the suggestion.

Lotte134

I second NCSS though I will say that DS pretty much stopped nursing to sleep at night around 5 months.  I had worked on naps before that since I knew I had to go back to work at 3 months, but nighttime kind of came on its own.  So I would say definitely do what is right for you, but don't feel bad if what is right is continuing to nurse to sleep for a bit longer.