Still nursing to sleep at 2y 10 mo. Anyone else?

[Plarka]

My daughter is 2years 10 months and nurses to sleep, when she wakes up in the morning, and then lately the only time in the day is late afternoon when she's tired.  But the nursing to sleep one is where I'm feeling resentful.  I want to get her to be able to fall asleep herself, which her sister did from probably 18 months.

OR should I just try and chill out, stop thinking about the things I want to be doing, and let her continue to nurse to sleep? I just lay there thinking, 'why does a 2 and a  half year old need to suck on me to sleep!!!  Like a baby!'  And 'I have stuff to do!!'  Or is it really normal, and not 'like a baby' but 'like a 2.5 year old?'  I guess there are kids this age who go to bed with a pacifier still?

I just told her tonight 'when you're 3, you can go to sleep without milk, right?' and she seems fine with it but probably won't be when the time comes!  And I feel sorta bad that I said that to her, but also sorta like I can't wait!  The ambivalence!

So, I'd love to hear there are others this age and even older who need to nurse to sleep and it's not only us!

[contactmaya]

Hi, the nursing to sleep was the last to go as far as weaning was concerned. Ds1 weaned at 5, and ds2 at almost 4.  When i say 'the last to go', that means that they were not nursing to sleep every night, towards the end, it was just a couple of times a week,  and then every couple of weeks, and then once a month, and then maybe every 2-3 months, until it stopped.

 Its relaxing for them nurse, so it makes sense.

There were times  though, when younger (your childs age) when they may have gone to sleep without nursing

[rebecca_n]

My son was still nursing before sleep at that age and I don't really remember when he stopped. It was gradual like not needing it one night then needing it the next. Now he's 4 and nurses once or twice a week. I would hang in there, it won't last forever :)

[MsCCM]

Do you mean she has to nurse until she's fully asleep and then you slip her into bed? Or do you mean she just need to nurse before bedtime and then gets into bed herself? Sorry if I misunderstood.

Does she go to bed fine if you're not home and someone else puts her to bed?

My DD is 5 and nurses almost exclusively at bedtime. It's our routine... story, nursies, song, bedtime. I never thought about having her fall asleep "on her own" in that regard. But she is my only so I don't have the experience of an older sibling not nursing before bedtime. As far as nursing to the point of being asleep, she probably stopped around 18 mos or so.... and thereafter only if she is realllllly tired.

At 2.5, if I remember correctly, it would have been a difficult to get her to understand why she couldn't nurse at bedtime, especially if I was right there at home and just saying "no." There were times when I wasn't home, of course, and DH put her to bed and she was fine. Now she is too smart -- if she knows I'm going out and I won't be home at bedtime she says, "Don't forget to nurse me before you leave!"

[Plarka]

Wow, it's good to know I'm not alone!  She nurses laying down in bed, not to sleep exactly, but almost.  I unlatch her and then she snuggles up to me and falls asleep.  Then when I know she's asleep I sneak away!  If I've been out at bedtime, which is like once or twice, she just falls asleep really late in the living room.  She won't be put to bed by anyone else I don't think.  Whatever.  I'm always here anyway.

Just hearing someone say, 'hang in there, it won't last forever' gives me what I need to keep going!  But I'll probably be back here in months or a year asking the same thing again!

[katelove]

My 2y7mo still feeds to sleep most of the time. And I mean lying in bed, sucking until she's asleep. Then I ask her to let go and she rolls over and stays asleep.

She does occasionally stop feeding while she's still awake and I scratch her tummy or pat her back til she's asleep. She will also go to sleep for other people if I'm not there but that doesn't happen often.

[Asiago]

My son is 37 months and nurses to sleep too. I cannot think of a more wonderful way to drift off to sleep!

[happybunny]

My daughter is turning 3 this month and still nurses at bedtime. We read a couple of stories, she nurses and then I say 'night night, mi' (her word for nursing) and she rolls over and goes to sleep. She doesn't really go to sleep with anyone else, but occasionally DH lays down with her after I've nursed her. I went through a resentful stage about 2 months ago, when she would literally want to nurse for 30 minutes or more each night and my body just could not handle it. I was so tempted to wean her completely that I kept telling myself that we would stop on her third birthday. During this phase she also woke several times to nurse at night and it was too much. When the night nursing and marathon nursing stopped I felt much better. Now I'm totally cool with her nursing forever... or maybe not quite that long ;-)

[Mama505]

Originally Posted by happybunny 

 I went through a resentful stage about 2 months ago, when she would literally want to nurse for 30 minutes or more each night and my body just could not handle it. I was so tempted to wean her completely that I kept telling myself that we would stop on her third birthday. During this phase she also woke several times to nurse at night and it was too much. When the night nursing and marathon nursing stopped I felt much better.

My DS is 2y10mos and this is where we are!  I am not resentful (anymore), but he does nurse forever at night, usually falling asleep while nursing.  Then he has been waking up at night and wanting to nurse.  I have started telling him that "boobas" need sleep too and if they don't get rest then they will be tired tomorrow and not want to nurse.  When we go a night without wake up nursing I feel much better (physically) when nursing him to sleep. 

But the weirdest thing happened tonight!  We were sitting on the couch and nursing, and switching and nursing some more, and he popped off and climbed out of my lap and said "Mama I am tired.  I am going to sleep in bed now."  And he walked into the bedroom, climbed in bed, turned over and fell asleep!  I couldn't believe it!

[greenemami]

My ds is about the same age and still nurses to sleep :) As in, I lay in bed with him and he nurses actually to sleep and then I can get up.  He has fallen asleep without a problem the very few times I have been away from him for bedtime though.  It doesn't bother me, because honestly I would snuggle him to sleep anyway ( my daughter weaned around 2-1/2 when I was pregnant with my son and I still cuddled her to sleep after she stopped nursing for a long time, sometimes still do!)  He doesnt' nurse for long if he is tired, though he will pop on and off and drive me nuts if he is not that tired. 

[moonmama22]

I needed this.  My dd is almost 2.5 and I've hit one of those walls where I can't take the nursing anymore.  She only nurses before bed, falls asleep on her own, but just cut some molars and was nursing every couple hours at night for the last week or so. I fully intended to nurse her until she weaned herself, but then I get to this point and just can't take it anymore!  This was what I needed to remind to myself that it will not be 10 more years!

Thanks!!!!

[MiddleRiverMama]

I think it's completely normal, if you are practicing baby led weaning. Mine is almost two and a half and still nurses to sleep. If he takes a long time to fall asleep I sometimes lay in bed with my phone and read the newspaper or a book on the kindle app. That helps so much if I feel trapped. But usually it is just a nice way to relax and be close at the end of a long day.

[aaronsmom]

My son will be 3 in May and he still nurses to sleep, I'd say, 4 out of 7 nights a week. It doesn't bother me at all, though, as we often fall asleep together when he is nursing. :)
 

[pickle18]

We are not there yet, but I can see it in our future!   DS is about to turn 2, and he still needs to nurse fully to sleep (and a while after - if I get up too soon, he wakes), multiple times a night, lots during the day, and during his entire nap about half the time (the other half, I can get up at some point during his nap for a few minutes).  Every kid is different, I'd say this is just how your younger one rolls!  Just wanted to give you some additional encouragement for hangin' in there. 

[Aradia88]

my son will be 3 on april 9th and every so often i nurse him to sleep at night too.