Oh I am sooo thankful to find someone who shares the same experience as myself! I am a single mother of an energetic 11 month old baby boy... From the time he was born he would only fall asleep if he was nursing. Month after month I waited patiently for him to sleep for longer than an hour or two... but 11 months later and here we are.
My little guy naps twice every day, usually 2-2.5 hours apart but must nurse to sleep. He has only fallen asleep in the car seat a handful of times, and has never been rocked to sleep. When I try to rock him or bounce him or walk him to sleep, he throws his body down towards my chest and lets out angry shouts. He would rather stay away 24 hours straight than fall asleep without nursing and it doesnt seem to affect him.
I too have tried the no cry sleep solution, and it doesnt work. I can gently slip my nipple out of his mouth right before he conks out, and he will wake up every time, 100 times in a row. Our babies are a very unique breed... I am going to try and ween the little one off this coming month. I will be in school in the evenings and have really secluded myself from the world because I can't be anywhere for longer than a couple hours without having to nurse. It's overwhelming (but worth it).
My little one has never accepted a bottle or a pacifier. He turns his nose up to almost all synthetic nipples and looks at me like I'm crazy when I offer them to him. My mother says "you'll miss it when he's done nursing" but NOBODY understands until they have a child like ours. Of course I will miss the closeness of nursing but will be extremely thankful when I can share the joy of putting him to sleep with someone else!
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