Nursing to sleep, anyone else?

jlp0528 · January 2014

My LO has been going through a rough patch with sleep, fun regression stuff but she's always nursed to sleep. I know they are still little and not quite forming habits yet but I'm afraid she is.

If I feed her an hour before bed and then swaddle with the sleep sack and try rocking her and using the pacifier she will be subdued like she might go to sleep like that (she sometimes even used to) but will start fussing and cry until I give her a boob, which she will often only comfort nurse. She'll fall asleep, I gently remove my boob and rock her some more where she will either stay asleep or wake up and fuss and then we will rinse and repeat on the other boob, sometimes even switching boobs for a third or fourth time.

Is anyone else in this boat? It's taking between 1-2 hours to get her down and it is always with nursing, never without. I'm nervous to create a bad habit. Thoughts, tips, advice, similar stories??

ETA: we have a white noise machine and the room is dark so it's not like there's distractions.

Heffafish · January 2014

Have you tried using the pacifier after you remove her from the boob? My LO always eats before she goes to sleep and often passes out on the boob, then when I take her off to put her in her cot she will start sooking until I put the pacifier in and she will stop sooking then! Might be an option to try if she is only sucking to nurse not to eat?!

Salemkitty13 · January 2014

No advice but you are not alone. I am nursing him to sleep now. It's been over an hour. Good luck tonight.

jlp0528 · January 2014

@Heffafish -- I have tried once she stirs but she knows the difference and it lasts like 15 seconds before she gets pissed and cries.

@Legitsince86 I've been there too but I've started to pass out for an hour when she does this which is bad because I wake up like, "oh shit what just happened" then it's taking me another at least 15 minutes to get her down on top of that!

Burrberrymum · January 2014

I'm in the EXACT same boat only it took me about 4-7 hours a night to get her down (which is impossible to function after having 0 sleep) so I gave up and started bed sharing and nursing her to sleep while I lay beside her and now she won't even fall asleep if I rock her, she needs to be in my bed and latched on all night... I feel like I've dug myself into a hole and there's no way out lol, you're definitely not alone. I unfortunately don't have many tips because her pediatrician told me to keep doing this and we'll reassess at 6 months when she hopefully learns to soothe herself better.

RagsdaleA · January 2014

Have you tried swaddling and giving a bottle instead?! We do a bottle for the last feeding so we know she's getting a full tummy and it makes her eat then sleep instead of nursing out of comfort/not finishing a feed like she use to do.

jlp0528 · January 2014

RagsdaleA said:
Have you tried swaddling and giving a bottle instead?! We do a bottle for the last feeding so we know she's getting a full tummy and it makes her eat then sleep instead of nursing out of comfort/not finishing a feed like she use to do.

I've been thinking of doing this @RagsdaleA. I want to talk to her pediatrician at her 4 month appt in a week about it.

@Burberrymum I've been fighting not to bed share because she will only sleep ON me if we do that and it was making my hips horrendously painful.

@jenny5o5 my DH is the same. By the time I get to bed we are both exhausted. THIS TOO SHALL PASS, RIGHT??

rachelstauf · January 2014

I've nursed LO to sleep since day 1 and am not worried about it right now. It's possible to get him down other ways sometimes though. Has your DH tried putting your LO to sleep? I saw you said he couldn't soothe her, so I'm guessing yes but just in case! My DH can get my little guy down without feeding him, it just takes longer. Good luck!

beckalecka · January 2014

I nurse to sleep and it takes me anywhere from 1-4 hours dd to go down with switching back and forth between boobs. I am just going with it until 6 months before I start some sleep training.

smilingeyes2308 · January 2014

Yep, my DD has nursed to sleep since day one. For naps as well. I don't mind at all because since she was 3.5 weeks, I could nurse her, wait 15 mins to let her completely pass out, put her down and she'd be out like a light for 6 hours. However, now she's going through this amazingly fun regression and now it takes me up to 2 hours for her to finally stay down. Up until then, she will wake up every 15 minutes and fuss until I give her the boob. I'm not worried about habits yet. I'm just frustrated and horribly tired lol. I never thought of giving her a bottle for her night feed as a PP said. Might try that sooner or later. Also, DD has always loved comfort nursing and has refused her paci since her 2 month shots. I'm now her human pacifier. Sometimes, I wish she would take her paci again.

lindseyb624 · January 2014

I'm typing as I nurse to sleep so you aren't alone. DD always falls asleep while nursing but I used to be able to get her to sleep without nursing until about 2 weeks ago. I'm considering it the 4 month wakeful period and hoping it passes. I don't think it will form a habit at this point and I try and my husband tries to get her to bed first and nursing is the last resort. Until 2 days ago we could get bed sharing to work but that doesn't even work now. Glad we are all in this together if nothing else. It's comforting to know you're not alone...at least for me it is.

ejb23 · January 2014

Same boat here. It *usually works just fine for us which makes me not super interested in trying it other ways. She will go down in 30 mins for last feeding of the night then just like 10 for motn feedings. At DC she does awake but drowsy just fine so I figure we will eventually be able to get there at night. But we both like our routine for now!

thedash · January 2014

I usually nurse to sleep and don't mind. However, recently it is taking her longer and longer to be asleep enough for me to transfer her to the crib. Last night I spent an hour nursing her back and forth on each side and every time I tried to put her in the crib she woke up and cried.

lillyq1982 · January 2014

We give DS a bottle before bed and for about the last week it has taken twice as long to get him to sleep. Sometimes I nurse him after the bottle to get him to calm down. Also when he woke up in the middle of the night I used to nurse him and he would go back down immediately and now I nurse him and still have to bounce on the workout ball, walk around, rock in the glider for about 15-20 minutes to be able to put him down without him waking up and fussing. I think a lot of it has to do with his changing sleep habits and it is a passing phase! At least that is what I am telling myself! Good luck!

OliveMom3 · January 2014

Nursing him to sleep is one of my favorite things about being a mom. I don't see it as problematic. It makes both of us happy.
Though I've had to deflect negative comments from friends who think I'm damaging my child and forming unbreakable habits. Last I heard there are no college age kids nursing to sleep.
While my son is little and still enjoying it, I will take full advantage.
I hope you find a solution that works for you and if not, that you can at least find comfort in knowing you're not alone!

AshleyPT · January 2014

I don't understand why nursing to sleep got such a bad rep. I nursed my daughter to sleep every nap and bedtime that I was with her until she was over two years old and she is a champion sleeper.

jlp0528 · January 2014

AshleyPT said:
I don't understand why nursing to sleep got such a bad rep. I nursed my daughter to sleep every nap and bedtime that I was with her until she was over two years old and she is a champion sleeper.

@AshleyPT it's not a bad thing in and of itself, if it didn't take so exhaustingly long and require me ninja style getting her into the crib after at LEAST an hour of nursing. It's just always a long and tiring fight and I know she's tired and exhausted but she fights it even when I do nurse her.

AshleyPT · January 2014

jpryber0528 said:

I don't understand why nursing to sleep got such a bad rep. I nursed my daughter to sleep every nap and bedtime that I was with her until she was over two years old and she is a champion sleeper.
@AshleyPT it's not a bad thing in and of itself, if it didn't take so exhaustingly long and require me ninja style getting her into the crib after at LEAST an hour of nursing. It's just always a long and tiring fight and I know she's tired and exhausted but she fights it even when I do nurse her.

Yeah, I have to camp out for 2-3 hours for his last session of the night, but I guess I don't mind it since I'm not trying to change it.

amy11401 · January 2014

The only way I can get my LO to sleep is to nurse him to sleep. It has been happening for about a month now. He also nurses longer in general now. I think he is comfort nursing. He does sleep well at daycare though but they have him sleeping in a swing.

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