usuk2004
I'm ONE!
Member since 5/05 5150 total posts
Name:
Farah
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BFing moms - question about feeding to sleep
Do you nurse your baby to sleep? If not when do you feed him or her so that they don't fall asleep while nursing? Or do you wake them again before you put them down?
He always falls asleep while feeding and has been fairly easy to put into bed. But then he wakes up every 45 minutes or so for the first few hours and has to be soothed back to sleep (usually by DH or I rocking him). I think that feeding him to sleep has created a bad habit and he has trouble self-soothing.
I always feed him last thing before he goes to sleep because I thought that was the best way to get the most food in him so that he can last the longest at night. But now I'm wondering if he'll actually feed better (ie not fall asleep before he's had enough) and sleep better if I feed him earlier, say before his bath and before he's too tired?
Please help!!! Thanks!
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ruby
you rang?
Member since 6/08 5573 total posts
Name:
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Re: BFing moms - question about feeding to sleep
I've always nursed DS to sleep but he never falls completely "out". We had to do CIO at 10 months to eliminate the middle of the night feedings and for naps but he still doesn't have trouble falling asleep without nursing. I will lay him in his crib and he'll still wake up when I let go and then fall back, the CIO helped him learn how to soothem himself and fall back asleep on his own. Have you thought about doing CIO so he learns to soothe himself back to sleep?
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organichic
LIF Adult
Member since 9/08 2223 total posts
Name:
Lauren
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Re: BFing moms - question about feeding to sleep
Chloe used to fall asleep while nursing, so I just went with it. She would wake up throughout the early hours of the night from months 4-6 and needed to be soothed (most of the time). At 6 months we did very modified CIO. We realized that we were running up to her so quick and not really giving her a chance to soothe herself. Most of the night wakings, she ended up soothing herself within 5 minutes. Around 5 or 6 months, she didn't fully fall asleep while nursing anymore too. She is 11 months now, but weve been putting her down (after nursing) wide awake and she rolls over and goes right to bed.
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Bxgell2
Perfection
Member since 5/05 16438 total posts
Name:
Beth
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Re: BFing moms - question about feeding to sleep
No, I never nursed her to sleep - I did that with Alex and it set us up for some really bad habits down the line, though that certainly doesn't happen with all babies, I assure you.
Instead, I always follow the EASY method - Eat, Activity and THEN Sleep. I do that all day - she wakes, I feed her, let her play for an hour or so, and then naptime/bedtime. That way she gets into a little routine, knows what to expect, and also doesn't rely upon any crutches to fall asleep, like nursing.
So, before I weaned, I nursed her at around 7pm, and then would play with her for about an hour, and then get her ready for bed around 8pm. I noticed that she slept the same amount of time, whether I nursed her an hour before bed, or right before bedtime.
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