Unintentionally nursing baby to sleep

luckygirl15

Hi ladies.  Im concerned I am going to ruin LO's sleeping patterns by unintentionally nursing him to sleep.  Since Ive been back at work (7 weeks ago), my routine is to generally get home with LO around 5:40, feed him anywhere between 6-8 (depending on when he took his last bottle at DC), and then feed him one last time before Im ready to go to bed.  The problem is that he almost ALWAYS falls asleep during this last feeding and then is down for the night.  Is this awful?  Does anyone else have this problem?  Im not sure what to do to rectify it.  Any advice would be appreciated!  Thanks!

JulyBebe27

I've read in a couple sources that its okay if baby feeds right before going to bed at night.  As long as he's still napping during the day minus the bottle as a napping cue, then it should be fine.  Seems like you're doing a job!

elaughlin

I nurse Nathan to sleep every night. I figure it is comferting to him and when he doesnt need it anymore then he will stop doing it. until then i'll keep nursing him to sleep

RicaBlue

Same here. We've tried modifying our daughter's bedtime routine to put her last nursing FIRST in the sequence - and the little bugger goes out like a light (thus negating the entire bedtime routine)! We're going to talk to our pediatrician this week at her 4-mo appt and see what they say...

gdemars

When you nurse your baby at night, you release "sleepy" stuff into your milk that makes you both sleepy and relaxed. If you aren't meant to nurse to sleep, why would nature have done this? 

As a side note, I nurse DH to bed most nights, but he is still able to let DH get him down to sleep and he doesn't need to nurse for naps (although it's easier.)  Don't worry about it.  I'm in the what works for you camp.

kgwillia

gdemars:

When you nurse your baby at night, you release "sleepy" stuff into your milk that makes you both sleepy and relaxed. If you aren't meant to nurse to sleep, why would nature have done this? 

As a side note, I nurse DH to bed most nights, but he is still able to let DH get him down to sleep and he doesn't need to nurse for naps (although it's easier.)  Don't worry about it.  I'm in the what works for you camp.

 This!  Especially the bold part!

Bride2bMO

gdemars:

As a side note, I nurse DH to bed most nights...

You are a really good wife! just teasin.

WildcatPrincess

https://www.kellymom.com/parenting/sleep/comfortnursing.html

Dreamsicle23

I think it's only considered a "bad habit" if your baby keeps waking up every hour and can only go back to sleep by nursing.  If you nurse to sleep but his sleep habits are good I wouldn't change a thing.