How bad is it to Nurse baby to sleep?

[SnoozinSusan]

My son is almost 10 months old, he falls asleep for naps & at night nursing.
I kept saying I would break the habit but I never have. We both love it & it works for us.

If you had to wean a child from nursing to sleep how did you do it?
I think I have to start (

[boobybunny]

Not bad at all, my 21 month old still nurses to sleep at times. Please throw out the baby books and do what is in your heart.

Sometimes he does not need chi chi to fall alseep, sometimes he does.

[phaeon]

Originally Posted by boobybunny

Please throw out the baby books and do what is in your heart.

Amen, amen!! My DD is 27 mos and nurses to sleep many nights.

[LukesMum]

Nurse her to sleep!! Its such a great way for her to fall asleep and convenient for you mama! I hav eheard many parents struggle to "get their kids to sleep" and I just smile because I have the best tool. At 3 1/2 dd now just snuggles up with her brother at night. I am firm about its now bed time, but my supply has dwindled to almost nothing so she doesnt even ask. She still nurses for nap time and I love napping so wont stop that anytime soon!

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

21mo still nurses to sleep here. My dd nursed to sleep till she weaned at 32months she sleeps like a log now no prblems. I 3rd the throw away the baby book idea. Do what works for you and your child.

[MamaE]

BTDT! I wondered this too, but it wasn't long b4 I realized that nursing to sleep was my savior for many, many months (years!). When my dd finally reached the point where she nursed so quickly she couldn't fall asleep nursing (around 2?), bedtime suddenly became this long, drawn out routine of books, stories, songs, and lying there waiting for her to fall asleep. Oh, how I long for the day when she nursed to sleep. Enjoy it while it lasts and don't listen to what anyone else says!

[AutumnMama]

I agree with the other posters, don't worry about it!
I spent countless hours trying to get my DD to sleep when she was a baby/young toddler...crying and crying (I was there, only tried CIO a couple of nights), all because that's what I thought I was 'supposed' to do.

With DS I realized that 'they' didn't actually know what they were talking about and nursed DS to sleep till he was over 2.

The only reason I weaned him from nursing to sleep was because I'm pg and my supply basically dissapeared. It wasn't a big deal to get him to go to sleep on his own (believe me, I was wondering how well he was going to deal, he LOVED to nurse to sleep)!

As long as you're both happy, totally stay with it. It sounds like it's working great for you

[alegna]

Just keep nursing. It's what babies are designed to do. My dd will be 2 in a couple of weeks and often still nurses to sleep.

-Angela

[SnoozinSusan]

I am OK with the fact that he has to nurse to sleep. I Love our time together. My husband is ready or change, the fact that Jake will only nurse to sleep has meant that we cannot go out.

[alegna]

Babies need their mamas that first year. we just went places that we could take her.

-Angela

[Pen]

I've nursed/still nursing to sleep our babies. It's a wonderful and peaceful way to drift off (for both of us). If you are putting your child down to sleep anyway with a story, being tucked in, a bath or whatever, why not keep the nursing as part of the bedtime routine? Our oldest still gets a story and a tuck in but does not nurse to sleep any longer. When they are ready, they will stop. Some habits are good and are not meant to be broken.

[cinnamonamon]

Yup, my 3 year old nurses before bed each night -- not necessarily to sleep, but mostly. I never really attempted any other methods (except the car ride occasionally). Ds2 nurses mostly to sleep then rolls over & conks out (sometimes with a pacifier ).

Listen to your baby -- they're only little once.

[GalateaDunkel]

I don't even understand what's supposed to be wrong with nursing to sleep. Where did this idea come from?

[Momtwice]

Nursing to sleep is wonderful! Who told you it wasn't?

[DreamsInDigital]

I couldn't imagine not nursing my sweetie to sleep! I can't think of another way he would fall asleep unless he was drugged or something

[SnoozinSusan]

I am not the one spreading this view. If you just search nursing to sleep on google you will find nothing but negativity. In the book healthy sleep habits happy child he states that it is one of the worst things that you can do.

I agree I cannot imagine doing anything else.
I don't even understand how people have BF kids that don't fall asleep at the breast. I could not have stopped this if I wanted too.

As I get closer to 12 months & the time when we will begin to wean (if we wean then) , I wonder how we will transition

[crissei]

Originally Posted by SnoozinSusan

I am not the one spreading this view. If you just search nursing to sleep on google you will find nothing but negativity. In the book healthy sleep habits happy child he states that it is one of the worst things that you can do.

I agree I cannot imagine doing anything else.
I don't even understand how people have BF kids that don't fall asleep at the breast. I could not have stopped this if I wanted too.

As I get closer to 12 months & the time when we will begin to wean (if we wean then) , I wonder how we will transition

Well I haven't read that book but, I have a feeling the author isn't speaking from experience.
Go with you gut.

[Momtwice]

My dd was not anywhere near ready to stop nursing to sleep, or nursing in general, at age one. That's another myth that all children magically become completely independent at the age of 365 days on the calendar.

[alegna]

Originally Posted by SnoozinSusan

I am not the one spreading this view. If you just search nursing to sleep on google you will find nothing but negativity. In the book healthy sleep habits happy child he states that it is one of the worst things that you can do.

As I get closer to 12 months & the time when we will begin to wean (if we wean then) , I wonder how we will transition

Yeah, if you search on the internet you'll find stuff that says that formula is just as good as breastmilk, welcome to MDC

Do some reading on the breastfeeding beyond infancy and child led weaning forums. Just keep nursing Humans need to nurse until at least two.

-Angela

[luv2eatamango]

Originally Posted by SnoozinSusan

My son is almost 10 months old, he falls asleep for naps & at night nursing.
I kept saying I would break the habit but I never have. We both love it & it works for us.

If you had to wean a child from nursing to sleep how did you do it?
I think I have to start (

10 months old? That is so young. I am having the hardest time getting my 38 month old to go to sleep (he can drag out his routine for hours!) and sometimes wish I were still nursing him to sleep.

But I have to tell you, I felt the same way you do now, when he was 23 months old. My husband and I took a very gentle approach and slowly and gently nightweaned. I will not go into details here as there is a lot of controversy in general about nightweaning but I was tired of waking up 4-5 times every single night. Since then, he has been sleeping like a log for 9-10 hours at night. He also dayweaned all by himself at 35 months (I was in my 9th month of pregnancy by then and he was nursing once a day or so) and moved into his own bed at 36 months.

Now with a newborn, I am asking myself the same question, should I continue with this sleep association of "to fall asleep, I must breastfeed"? Even having gone through all this already, the answer is Yes, no doubt about it!

I refuse to see this as a sleep association or bad habit or whatever. This is my child and this is nature. And this is the shortest time that flies that you have with your precious child. Enjoy those breastfeeding moments - especially the ones that lead to blissful sleep!