ETA: Summary (so you really don't have to read this whole thing)--my 6 month old nurses throughout his entire nap and for the first couple hours after going to sleep at night. A) how can I get him to sleep without a boob in his mouth? and B) what's going to happen when I go back to work in September?
Ok so my babe (who is now 6 mos) has ALWAYS had sleep issues. The first 8 weeks, he just wouldn't sleep during the day. Now I think that may have been due to supply issues, since when my supply was fully established at 8 weeks, he started to fall asleep after nursing. But before that, it was lots of walking, rocking, singing, bouncing, and it took a loooong time for him to fall asleep.
At around 2 months, he started nursing for about 45 minutes at a time again, or so I thought. People would ask me if he was asleep, and I'd say no, he's still nursing! He'd be sucking and swallowing, with pauses in between. I could feel let-down, so I thought he must be awake. Well turns out he was sleeping! It took me about a month to figure that out. Probably realized when he would sometimes pop off and keep moving his mouth like he was nursing while he was obviously sleeping.
Anyway so for the last few months, we lie down to nurse for naps, and then he nurses through the whole nap. I try to take my nipple out and either right away or in a few minutes, he's looking for it again, and if he doesn't find it, he'll wake up and cry. It wasn't so bad when his naps were 45 minutes. Now sometimes he wants to nap for up to 2 hours...which is GREAT....except that he'll only do it attached to me! The other big problem in this scenario is that I'm going back to work 3 days a week in September.
At night, I also have to go to bed when he goes to bed. He sleep nurses on and off the first hour and a half or so, then eventually he pops off and just wakes up to nurse maybe every few hours...like normal. This also wasn't a problem when his natural bedtime was 10-11, but now that it's around 7:30...well evenings are always disastrous as I rush around to make dinner and eat and get us to bed. We usually go late, like 8:30, and he's overtired and hard to get down.
I don't know what to do. My biggest concern is what's going to happen when I go back to work. I have Elizabeth Pantley's No Cry Nap Solution, and there's a chapter on getting a baby to sleep without nursing. Basically, it means pulling him off before he falls asleep, and trying this over and over and over until he gets used to falling asleep on his own. Good luck to me!
I've also read and talked to other people who say that he will find a different way to nap when I'm not there. He's going to be with my husband 2 days a week and my mom 1 day a week. My husband has basically only had play-time with him so far, and my mom has taken care of him much more, so I was thinking of having my mom do the first week or so to make the transition more gentle.
I bought a whole bunch of pacifiers last week, hoping that might work. He thinks they are cool toys, doesn't really get the whole paci thing! Too late to introduce paci? Just creating new problem if he does get attached to it?
Maybe he will fall asleep with a bottle? It happened once in the car seat, but he was reeeeeeally tired. I think it takes a whole lot more sucking than that for him to fall asleep.
Ok so that is the first and primary problem, when I go to work. But the secondary of course is that it doesn't really work for me to co-nap and co-sleep WHENEVER he is asleep. I mean, clearly, I have no other children and I have a minimal attachment to housework/cooking, given I've done it this long. But it's getting a little crazy, even for me now. I am fine with nursing him to sleep for naps and at night when I am home, but how do I get him to stay asleep without me there? Anyone BTDT????
Any thoughts and ideas appreciated!
p.s. He used to fall asleep in a sling, and he still does occasionally, but only after maybe 30 minutes of being worn, and he wakes up pretty quickly. I'm figuring that will be the emergency solution for my husband and mom, but don't think it will be more than that.
Ok so my babe (who is now 6 mos) has ALWAYS had sleep issues. The first 8 weeks, he just wouldn't sleep during the day. Now I think that may have been due to supply issues, since when my supply was fully established at 8 weeks, he started to fall asleep after nursing. But before that, it was lots of walking, rocking, singing, bouncing, and it took a loooong time for him to fall asleep.
At around 2 months, he started nursing for about 45 minutes at a time again, or so I thought. People would ask me if he was asleep, and I'd say no, he's still nursing! He'd be sucking and swallowing, with pauses in between. I could feel let-down, so I thought he must be awake. Well turns out he was sleeping! It took me about a month to figure that out. Probably realized when he would sometimes pop off and keep moving his mouth like he was nursing while he was obviously sleeping.
Anyway so for the last few months, we lie down to nurse for naps, and then he nurses through the whole nap. I try to take my nipple out and either right away or in a few minutes, he's looking for it again, and if he doesn't find it, he'll wake up and cry. It wasn't so bad when his naps were 45 minutes. Now sometimes he wants to nap for up to 2 hours...which is GREAT....except that he'll only do it attached to me! The other big problem in this scenario is that I'm going back to work 3 days a week in September.
At night, I also have to go to bed when he goes to bed. He sleep nurses on and off the first hour and a half or so, then eventually he pops off and just wakes up to nurse maybe every few hours...like normal. This also wasn't a problem when his natural bedtime was 10-11, but now that it's around 7:30...well evenings are always disastrous as I rush around to make dinner and eat and get us to bed. We usually go late, like 8:30, and he's overtired and hard to get down.
I don't know what to do. My biggest concern is what's going to happen when I go back to work. I have Elizabeth Pantley's No Cry Nap Solution, and there's a chapter on getting a baby to sleep without nursing. Basically, it means pulling him off before he falls asleep, and trying this over and over and over until he gets used to falling asleep on his own. Good luck to me!
I've also read and talked to other people who say that he will find a different way to nap when I'm not there. He's going to be with my husband 2 days a week and my mom 1 day a week. My husband has basically only had play-time with him so far, and my mom has taken care of him much more, so I was thinking of having my mom do the first week or so to make the transition more gentle.
I bought a whole bunch of pacifiers last week, hoping that might work. He thinks they are cool toys, doesn't really get the whole paci thing! Too late to introduce paci? Just creating new problem if he does get attached to it?
Maybe he will fall asleep with a bottle? It happened once in the car seat, but he was reeeeeeally tired. I think it takes a whole lot more sucking than that for him to fall asleep.
Ok so that is the first and primary problem, when I go to work. But the secondary of course is that it doesn't really work for me to co-nap and co-sleep WHENEVER he is asleep. I mean, clearly, I have no other children and I have a minimal attachment to housework/cooking, given I've done it this long. But it's getting a little crazy, even for me now. I am fine with nursing him to sleep for naps and at night when I am home, but how do I get him to stay asleep without me there? Anyone BTDT????
Any thoughts and ideas appreciated!
p.s. He used to fall asleep in a sling, and he still does occasionally, but only after maybe 30 minutes of being worn, and he wakes up pretty quickly. I'm figuring that will be the emergency solution for my husband and mom, but don't think it will be more than that.
