Nursing to sleep still at 4 1/2!

[bright_eyes]

Please tell me mine isn't the only 4 year old who still does!  Ds is almost 4 1/2 and still nurses to sleep almost every single night.  I feel so torn over how I feel about this.  Part of me loves it because when he doesn't nurse to sleep, bedtime because such a long drawn out ordeal.  I love that we do our routine and then he just nurses and is asleep and that is that.  But part of me worries that he needs to learn how to go to sleep without needing to nurse.  Part of me worries that if I don't teach him to go to sleep without nursing that he will just go on nursing to sleep for another year or two, or more!

Has anyone else had a child nurse to sleep for years?  What was it that finally put a stop to it?  Did you have to actively do anything to change this or did they just stop on their own at some point?

[TiredX2]

Sorry I didn't see this until now!

My DD did not nurse to sleep regularily after she was four.  My DS, meanwhile, nursed to sleep well beyond that (he was not yet sleeping through the night at that point either).  He ended up weaning around 5.75 years and he did it all by himself.  He just got to where he would roll over and snuggle instead of nursing.  It seemed very similar to others gradual weaning stories, just a bit later than many of them! 

Good luck!

[ElliesMomma]

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Edited by ElliesMomma - 5/28/11 at 11:41pm

[~pi]

My DS is 4.5 and still nurses to sleep when I am home at bedtime. He clearly does not need it, as he goes to sleep just fine when I am not there. (I travel for work a lot.) However, he likes it, it's very comforting for him, it's a nice way for us to reconnect when I've been away, and although I'm mostly over it at this point, I don't mind nursing most of the time, so I see no pressing need to stop.

My guess is that your DS is likely very capable of going to sleep on his own, it's just that he doesn't have to because you are there to nurse him. As long as you don't mind doing it, I don't see a problem with that.

[eirual]

My 5 year old does (well, did....once his 6 yr molars came in he couldn't bear it). I say if it works, and it's a peaceful transition why not!?

[CheriK]

The bedtime nursing was the last to go for both my older children (DD weaned at 5 1/2, DS at 6).  They did stop falling asleep while nursing at some point, but that was a natural transition, nothing I did to make it happen, they just eventually wanted to cuddle & talk more than nurse.  I think they were probably 5 or so when they stopped falling asleep while nursing.  We did let DH take over bedtime more and more as they got older, but again that was a natural transition - he started reading novels to them at bedtime & they would sometimes all fall asleep before I got into the room. 

If you enjoy it and it works, then why change it?  I've always hated reading suggestions that moms should never nurse to sleep because it's a "bad" habit.  I loved that part of our routine.  It made life (well, the bedtime part at least) so much easier for many years.