Question for BF moms, especially experienced ones!

Did any of you nurse your babies to sleep at night? If so, did they become reliant on it? Did they outgrow it and learn to self-soothe to fall asleep? Was it difficult?

My son in 3.5 months old and has basically always been a great sleeper. He's been STTN consistently since about 4 weeks. We usually put him down awake (but tired) or semi-awake, with a pacifier, and he's never had a problem falling asleep on his own and staying asleep. I think it is because he is starting to teethe in the last couple weeks, but a handful of times now, I have put him down, he falls asleep, and then will wake up a half hour to an hour later and start crying and not be able to go back to sleep. I have always learned that you should not nurse your babies to sleep because then they become dependent on it and never learn to self-soothe. But these couple of times recently, I have nursed him, thinking he was hungry, and after about 2 minutes, he passes out and then I put him back down and he's down for the night. I don't want to get him into any bad habits, or get in the way of his self-growth, but it is such a simple and sure-fire way to help him fall back asleep. I'm so torn over this, can anyone offer some advice or experience??

Thanks for reading, sorry kinda long, and TIA for any help you can give!

ETA: I just went back to work today (my son comes with me to daycare in our building and I am still able to EBF him during the workday), so I have to wake him up earlier in the morning, which is why I am trying so hard to help him have a good night's sleep!

Message edited 5/5/2010 11:57:42 PM.

Re: Question for BF moms, especially experienced ones!

I went through this with my DD, too.

I wouldn't worry about it TOO much just yet. I remember quite well that around the same time, DD started waking up and I'd do the same thing--BF her since I assumed she woke up from hunger, just to have her pass out a few minutes later. I'm happy to say that she grew out of it

As she got a bit older, what I did to ensure that I was never nursing her to sleep was I'd break up the session a little bit, and then do the rest of the nighttime routine afterward. As best I can remember, I would nurse her first, change her diaper mid-feeding (to keep her awake before changing sides--I'd usually keep her undressed at this point too), finish nursing, put her pajamas on, read her a story, THEN put her to bed. I feel that having this routine, she learned not to be reliant on BF in order to go to sleep.

Not sure if I answered your question, but I hope that helps!

Re: Question for BF moms, especially experienced ones!

That is definitely helpful and reassuring to hear! Do you remember around what age you switched into that routine and she let go of the nursing-to-sleep thing?

Re: Question for BF moms, especially experienced ones!

Re: Question for BF moms, especially experienced ones!

My DD always nursed to sleep. She never took a pacifier. If daddy or anyone else but me were putting her to bed, she'd be fine. If I were around. She had to be nursed to sleep. This went on for well over a year until I was able to night wean her.

DS always nursed to sleep as well. He's 13 months now, but for the last few months, I put him down awake & he falls asleep on his own, usually with a pacifier.

So I think it depends on the child. I BFed mine the same way in the beginning & they both turned out different later on.

Re: Question for BF moms, especially experienced ones!

I don't think they will be reliant. Every baby is different but sooner or later they will outgrow being nursed to sleep.

My DS is going on 17 months now and I'm still BFing and nursing him to sleep most nights but when I'm not around he's cooperative with DH or the babysitter..

Also, at daycare, he goes down for a nap w/o a fuss when the care givers place him in his crib awake.

Re: Question for BF moms, especially experienced ones!

Thanks for the input... bumping for any other views?

Re: Question for BF moms, especially experienced ones!

DD just stopped falling asleep around 5-6 months. She would get sleepy but not fall asleep. Then I would put her down in the crib and she would put herself to sleep (she is a finger sucker). Still at almost 14 months, she nurses before bed but does not fall asleep. So this could happen for you also!

Re: Question for BF moms, especially experienced ones!

I nurse DS to sleep sometimes. Other times he stays awake. If he falls asleep nursing and I transfer him to his crib, he will wake up about a half hour later screaming, once he realizes where he is he either goes to sleep on his own or I sometimes have to go and give him a paci. He is 8 months now and I'm not too concerned about it. He goes down for naps without nursing. When we are ready to wean I will start nursing him before his night time routine instead of at the end.

Re: Question for BF moms, especially experienced ones!

DD is 9 months and is still nursed right before bed. From birth to about 6 months she would fall asleep nursing and I'd rock her for a while. Around 6 months she stopped falling asleep while nursing and I would feed her and then rock her... then around 7/8 months she wanted no part of being rocked. So now she is nursed right before bed and put down in her crib awake and she puts herself to sleep.

So I say, enjoy it while you can!!!

Re: Question for BF moms, especially experienced ones!

Ok, I am feeling better about the whole thing now. He doesn't do this every night, and it's ONLY at night when it does happen- he has no problem putting himself to sleep for naps in daycare or at home, or even initially when going to sleep at night. He's just woken up a few times, so I feel like just those few times, it's not terrible to nurse him for 2 minutes to help him calm down and go back to sleep. Sometimes he even wakes up when I'm putting him back in his crib and he is able to just go right to sleep. I also feel like it could be related to teething, so it might just be a phase. Thanks for all the input!