With my first DD, I always nursed her all the way to sleep. It was easy to do and I didn't think of doing it any other way. But, it also made things terrifically hard for me during the night--she woke every 90 minutes-2 hours all night long (every 30 minutes when sick) and I had no other way of getting her back to sleep other than nursing. I finally cracked and nightweaned her at 18 months. It was so bad that I wasn't willing to have another baby for 5 years.
My second DD has always been willing to fall asleep in many different ways--being walked around in a carrier, rocking, lying next to me in a swaddler while I pat her. I've sometimes nursed her all the way to sleep, but I've varied it up and she's gone with the flow. No tears, not even any fussing.
She's now 8 1/2 months and will ONLY go to sleep with a giant marathon nursing session where it's basically fluttering for most of the time (which makes my skin absolutely crawl). All of a sudden, nothing else is working, and I'm now up every two hours with her.
So, I know this is a really tough age. She hasn't got any teeth, but they must be on their way. And she's crawling which I know disrupts sleep. And she's definitely got some separation anxiety since she sleeps better once I come to bed.
But, will this *only* nursing to sleep pass? Could this just be a phase because of the age? I'm willing to follow her lead, but I'm worried that there may be no going back, that she'll forget that she can indeed fall asleep in other ways. I can't do what I did with DD#1--I was younger and could do with less sleep, but it still drove me nearly insane. I thought she would have *less* of a sucking need as she got older, but it's actually increasing (and she won't use a pacifier anymore)
My second DD has always been willing to fall asleep in many different ways--being walked around in a carrier, rocking, lying next to me in a swaddler while I pat her. I've sometimes nursed her all the way to sleep, but I've varied it up and she's gone with the flow. No tears, not even any fussing.
She's now 8 1/2 months and will ONLY go to sleep with a giant marathon nursing session where it's basically fluttering for most of the time (which makes my skin absolutely crawl). All of a sudden, nothing else is working, and I'm now up every two hours with her.
So, I know this is a really tough age. She hasn't got any teeth, but they must be on their way. And she's crawling which I know disrupts sleep. And she's definitely got some separation anxiety since she sleeps better once I come to bed.
But, will this *only* nursing to sleep pass? Could this just be a phase because of the age? I'm willing to follow her lead, but I'm worried that there may be no going back, that she'll forget that she can indeed fall asleep in other ways. I can't do what I did with DD#1--I was younger and could do with less sleep, but it still drove me nearly insane. I thought she would have *less* of a sucking need as she got older, but it's actually increasing (and she won't use a pacifier anymore)
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