Bittersweet

[Baby~Braatens~Mama]

Constantly told:  Nursing your babe to sleep will make your child unable to fall asleep without nursing.

My little man was sitting on my lap after his diaper change.  We were playfully fighting over the keyboard (he reaches out and touches as many keys as possible, I move his hands and delete any "words" he has added) as I placed a bid for a job.  He giggled and leaned back and yawned really big.  I asked him if he was sleepy and laid him on the couch, stretching out beside him ready to nurse him down.  He smiled at me, closed his eyes and went to sleep.

Our first nap without the need to nurse or the desire to fuss!  We did it AP style baby. :)

[Knitting Mama]

Oh mama, I know how you feel!!! A few weeks ago, I was really upset when my daughter began nursing, but not falling asleep, and being patted to sleep across my lap. It happened for every sleep for 2 days in a row. I was so scared that she was never going to nurse to sleep again, and I knew I would be a disaster over that. Thankfully, she now goes back and forth between falling asleep nursing and falling asleep after. Now I know too well to cherish our nursing to sleep because she will someday stop doing it.

[MamitaM]

My boy can fall asleep on his own and I'm glad he can. I'm a single mama and have no help so for me this is really important. Quite often I'll get into bed with him and start to nurse and when he's done he'll pop off the boob and turn around and make a few cute sounds and then go to sleep on his own. If he isn't ready to sleep yet he'll "play" beside me in bed while I play on the net then he'll fall asleep. It's nice that he can fall asleep on his own and that he still needs to nurse to sleep sometimes.

[gardenmommy]

Well, my oldest is 12, and I don't nurse him to sleep, lol.  Somehow, all of my babies have figured out sometime between 12-24 months how to put themselves to sleep.  We've never done CIO, and we've co-slept with all of them.  My baby is not quite 1, and often doesn't nurse to sleep.  Instead, she likes me to lie on my back, and she likes to lie tummy-to-tummy with me so she can just snuggle while she drifts off.  Very peaceful for both of us.

[P.J.]

To the OP: Congrats! It really is a milestone to celebrate.

I love your view of it Aimee, and it helps me to appreciate it and cherish it while it lasts. And, I also look forward to the time when Max gains more sleep independence. I also enjoy nursing him down, it is a time for me to come back to myself and relax, and connect with him. I just don't like it that it always has to be me. He does fall asleep now with others....for example MIL and sometimes Papa, but it's sometimes a struggle.

Max also sometimes nurses down and then pops off on his own and thrusts himself away from me and falls right asleep all sprawled out on the bed in his own space.

I am happy and willing to nurse him down as long as he needs, I want to enjoy it while it lasts, and it's also worthy of celebrating when they can do it on their own.