My son who is now 8 months old, has recently been waking what seems like constantly throughout the night to nurse (I believe just for comfort to fall back to sleep). A few months ago, he used to sleep much more soundly and for longer stretches, only waking 1-2 times to nurse in 7-8 hours of sleep. I know he is growing and still does not eat much other than breastmilk, although he is becoming increasingly interested in food. I am about 99% sure he is not waking out of hunger so often at night but more so to soothe himself back to sleep when he rouses at all. We have a family bed, which I love- I love to cuddle him and nurse him at night, but now he seems like wake every 30 mins-1 hour at night and cries until I nurse him. He will suck for a few minutes (sometimes actually drinking breastmilk, and sometimes not) and then fall back to sleep. He has never wanted a pacifier or taken any interest in a blankie or other type of comfort item, besides the breast.
My husband or his grandma can sometimes rock him to sleep in their arms, but he still prefers to nurse at night. I also have a daughter (just turned 4) who nursed until she was 2 and went through a phase like this, but she would take a pacifier so eventually that helped cut back on the night time nursing. I do not necessarily want to night wean him, but I would really like us all to have longer stretches of more restful sleep and for him to learn to soothe himself a bit better. I asked my Pediatrician about it and he recommended just cutting him off from nursing at night and patting him on the back when he cries to nurse, etc.
Does anyone have any tips or advice to help with this? I'm afraid he is becoming too dependent on nursing at night to soothe himself, to the point where the slightest movement or noise wakes him and he cannot get back to sleep without breastfeeding. Thanks so much for any info you might have....
