Nursing to Sleep

[LeaPea]

I nurse my daughter to sleep for naps and bedtime, and sometimes it takes forever! She rolls away, comes back, gets on her hands and knees, cries, repeat!! I have heard comments from other mom's I know that there baby falls asleep very quickly when nursing to sleep. Am I doing something wrong, or do these people have easy to sleep babies? How long does it take your baby to fall asleep when nursing?

[Sfcmama]

Our dd does that when she's overtired and/or we haven't given her enough routine or time to wind down. It's definitely gotten harder with each leap in motor activity... Now she pulls off and tries to stand against the headboard. Sometimes when she's too spun out, I pass her off to dh and he rocks her to sleep.

Other times, she comes off because my supply is low (like when I'm ovulating) and so we have to switch sides a few times before she settles.

Hth!

[ann_of_loxley]

DS2 does this - its almost like he can't stop himself from doing it...like he doesn't want to but his body just moves and he is so tired and wants to nurse down to sleep but can't.  If I can - without upsetting him (sometimes he cleary is not okay with it - so I don't) - I will hold him gently but firmly in place...just to help his body slow down.  Mostly though, I just stick him in the sling and then when he has fallen asleep, slip him onto the bed (which then sometimes requires nursing him but he is still 'asleep' just a bit grumbly.  And then that is that. 

He does the same thing during the day if I try to nurse him to sleep whilst he is on my lap.  He sits up - like he can't help himself.  He looks around like 'hey - where did my boob go ...omg I am SO tired!'...and then falls back down into my arms adn continues to nurse - it happens within a matter of seconds...he repeats this over and over until he finally conks outs lol 

[Mawood]

My daughter does that too. She used to only do it in times when she was learning new motor skills. When she learned how to crawl it seemed like her whole body had to go through all the patterns before resting for the night. She would move through and I would pull her down gently and she would sleep. Lately she does that (she is almost 11 months learning to stand up now) when she gets a second wind and any move or cough of mine can start it. It can be so frustrating when she seemed like almost out and I just move an arm or leg to get more comfortable but off she goes: turning on her belly, onto all fourth, starting to talk. A lot of times she won't be able to settle anymore and she'll be up for a while then. HTH

[cocoanib]

DD does this sometimes.

I just usually hold her close and rub her back or butt and tell her it's ok to fall asleep now.

That mostly does the trick. Other times DH or I will rock her or walk her until she settles.

[katelove]

Mine does that too. Mostly she seems quite happy so I just let her go for it. When she starts to make distressed sounds I bring her back over and latch her on again. It usually happens a few times before she settles down to sleep. She just seems to need to burn off some energy sometimes.

When she is attached but writhing all over the place then I try to gently restrain her with my arm or leg. Sometimes you can actually see her collapse into relaxation.

*But* I don't have any other children so I am usually perfectly happy to lie down for as long as it takes

[P.J.]

We nurse to sleep too. Usually DS goes down within 5-10 minutes. But sometimes he is all fussy and pulling on and off the breast and squirming all around. In those instances he usually needs to fuss a bit before he settles down, so I just remove him from the breast and let him fuss (with me right there holding him and sometimes patting his bum or singing), usually it lasts about 2-3 minutes and then he can go back on the breast and fall asleep pretty fast.

[LeaPea]

Originally Posted by ann_of_loxley 

DS2 does this - its almost like he can't stop himself from doing it...like he doesn't want to but his body just moves and he is so tired and wants to nurse down to sleep but can't.  If I can - without upsetting him (sometimes he cleary is not okay with it - so I don't) - I will hold him gently but firmly in place...just to help his body slow down.  Mostly though, I just stick him in the sling and then when he has fallen asleep, slip him onto the bed (which then sometimes requires nursing him but he is still 'asleep' just a bit grumbly.  And then that is that. 

He does the same thing during the day if I try to nurse him to sleep whilst he is on my lap.  He sits up - like he can't help himself.  He looks around like 'hey - where did my boob go ...omg I am SO tired!'...and then falls back down into my arms adn continues to nurse - it happens within a matter of seconds...he repeats this over and over until he finally conks outs lol 

This is EXACTLY what she does! It is like she needs to move.

[ShanaV]

Same here. Seems normal. My boys do it often, not just when working on milestones. Sometimes it means they have a burp, other times that they're not ready for sleep, other times still, who knows.