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Comfort nursing.

JayandEmmJayandEmm member
in Attachment Parenting
Ds, who is 4 months old, has decided that for the past month he wants to wake and comfort nurse all night. At first he was up 2 times to eat and then once to comfort nurse, that wasn't bad at all, we bed share so I didn't really mind. Now he's up 4 or 5 times to comfort nurse and once to actually eat. So basically he's up every hour past midnight. I don't nurse him to sleep for naps or bedtime because he would be latched on for like half an hour, then he'd poop and wake himself up. [Lol!] It's just quicker to rock him to sleep. So this whole waking up and comfort nursing all night is a new one.

Any idea on how I can gently cut back on the wakings? I've tried to rock him back to sleep, give him a pacifier, hug him, etc but he just fusses louder and louder until I give in and nurse him.
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Re: Comfort nursing.

  • MoparWife67MoparWife67
    I have no advice, but my 10 month old is the same way! I'm lurking to get some advice too.
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  • grangerizegrangerize member
    My LO is almost 4 months and will do this from time to time... To discourage it, I will gently roll her to her side, as in the position that we nurse laying down in, and give her a paci while patting her butt/back. I make minimal movements so that she spent fully wake. Almost every time, this will work and make her happy enough to go back to sleep. Some nights I am too exhausted and don't really realize that she doesn't need to nurse, but I try to now offer the paci first so that she doesn't get into a bad habit of using me as a paci!
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  • Emerald27Emerald27 member
    4 months is a very common age for this. DS was the same way, and after a couple weeks and a super growth spurt, he woke less frequently.

    I recommend trying to console him back to sleep by gently rubbing his back or even shifting his position slightly. If he doesn't settle easily right away, I would go ahead and nurse, just because of his age. Do you work outside the home? If so, he may also be just needing extra mommy time.

    Good luck! I learned early on how to sleep with DS latched so that he can nurse all night if he wants. That is certainly not ideal for everyone, and I wish you the very best in finding the balance that gives both of you the most comfort and rest.
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  • nels5113nels5113

    I have a 4 month old as well and I have been reading The No Cry Sleep Solution. I would recommend a few things from the book because what is probably happening (we are going through the same thing) is that he is associating the nursing with falling asleep. They say in the book that they go through wakeful cycles and instead of just turning over and going back to sleep, like most adults do, they need to do the thing that puts THEM asleep. In this case, he thinks that the only way to fall asleep is to nurse. There are a lot of things you can do and I would totally recommend checking out that book, although I'm sure it's not the only book worth while. 

     We've been making sure that we put him to sleep in many different ways (in the carrier, just laying him down when he is tired, in the car, rocking, with dad etc) so he doesn't associate any one thing with falling asleep. The one time that they should have an association is with the first time they are put down at night. It's great to have a nighttime routine to signal night sleep. I hope you can get some more sleep! Good luck!

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  • nels5113nels5113
    Oh, also nursing him as much as possible during the day.
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  • mpstochlinski8mpstochlinski8
    I've tried everything & read every book I could find and nothing has worked for me. I have 14mth old twins and they still do this. They didn't start this until around 10 or 11mths though and I can't break them of it unless I let them CIO which I really have no interest in doing. There are some books on sleeping that touch on this subject in chapters, you can google the pantley pull out method, no cry sleep solution and dr sears sleep book.There are others I jsut can't think of the names at the moment sorry. I have stubborn babies who are boob-a-holics LOL I wish you lots of luck!
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  • mpstochlinski8mpstochlinski8
    imagenels5113:

    I have a 4 month old as well and I have been reading The No Cry Sleep Solution. I would recommend a few things from the book because what is probably happening (we are going through the same thing) is that he is associating the nursing with falling asleep. They say in the book that they go through wakeful cycles and instead of just turning over and going back to sleep, like most adults do, they need to do the thing that puts THEM asleep. In this case, he thinks that the only way to fall asleep is to nurse. There are a lot of things you can do and I would totally recommend checking out that book, although I'm sure it's not the only book worth while. 

     We've been making sure that we put him to sleep in many different ways (in the carrier, just laying him down when he is tired, in the car, rocking, with dad etc) so he doesn't associate any one thing with falling asleep. The one time that they should have an association is with the first time they are put down at night. It's great to have a nighttime routine to signal night sleep. I hope you can get some more sleep! Good luck!

    this exactly only Ive had no luck with any of it getting any better 

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