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Attachment Parenting
co-sleeping and nursing
i've started to unintentionally co-sleep more with my DD. she's usually in a co-sleeper bed next to our bed, but i've been having her sleep next to me more lately. are bed-sharing babies more likely to nurse or use you as a human pacifier? i don't know if this is a 4 month sleep regression thing but i just feel like she's nursing non-stop at night but not drinking in that much. not sure what to do.
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Re: co-sleeping and nursing
Close access to the breast does indeed encourage nursing. I see it as a good thing. Frequent nursing/sucking is a great way to boost your supply through the 3-month growth spurt, and for the emotional needs of the 4-month wakeful it can be a brilliant strategy. When baby starts to teeth around 6 months or have separation anxiety aruond 9 months, once again loads of nursing can help nights be much easier on you. DS was/is a frequent night-waker, but got to be old enough where he could pretty much self-latch and I would just be awake for a minute. I would've lost my mind if I had to get out of bed each time because I would've had to fully waken to get to him and he would've had to fully waken to rouse us from another room.
P.S. Some moms find it more helpful to think that a pacifier is an artifical nipple rather than frequent nursing is being a human pacifier. Babies are wired to suck for both comfort and nutrition, so the breast makes perfect sense! It is just a phrasing change, but for me--it is mentally helpful to remember that this is the way that nature intended moms to soothe babies, when possible.
More Green For Less Green
Yes, baby will nurse/suck more often if shes closer to your breast.
Also, your baby is positively adorable.
agreed!
Yup, what everyone else said! Does it bother you that she nurses overnight? Are you both getting enough rest?
I co-slept (and nursed at night) with both of mine. I night weaned DS1 around 20 months, and DS2 is pretty much night weaned as of last week (he's 18 months). It seems like with my kids, nursing at night gets harder for me the older they get. Under six months is pretty easy, but then they get squirrely-er, or wake up more and more.
Ack, it's late and I'm rambling, sorry!
DS2 - Oct 2010 (my VBAC baby!)
it only bothers me to the extent that i'm not getting rest and that she's not actually using it to satiate hunger but more to pacify. if i could sleep through it, i wouldn't mind because i could use the supply boost, but when we side-lie nurse, i am wide awake each time.