won't sleep unless latched on

[stacyann21]

I co-sleep with my 4 month old son and usually nurse him to sleep. He sleeps his longest stretch of the night at first, anywhere between 2-5 hours and then I change his diaper and nurse him back to sleep. The problem is, lately he remains latched when he's sleeping and if I try to unlatch him he wakes up and cries for more. He's not eating at this time so I know it's a comfort thing. He will not take bottles or pacifiers at all. I don't mind nursing him to sleep but I need him to let go sometimes! My nipples are starting to feel sore throughout the day and I'm not getting much sleep. Anyone else have this issue?

[channelofpeace]

I went through a phase of that with my son around 4-6 months. Then he started this thing where he would be latched on, and start to fuss. If i laid him down, surprisingly, he would fall into a deep sleep and sleep on his own for a while. But if he was on me he wanted to nurse/didn't want to nurse (hope that makes sense). It could be a phase. This is when we sidecarred the crib so that i could just roll over and place him on his own sleeping surface and then easily get him if he really did still want me.

HTH! Happy Sleeping

[happy & blessed]

My dd still goes through stages where she does this (she's 10 months old). Usually, I can nurse her to sleep and when she is deep asleep, i can gently unlatch her and she doesn't even notice. But, some days, she will stay latched, and if I try to unlatch, she wakes up and cries until i latch her back on. So, i don't really have any suggestions - just know that you're not alone!
One point of advice, after the first few weeks of dd's life, once she stopped pooping at night, i stopped changing her through the night. She keeps the same diaper from about 8pm until 8am. We use cloth diapers, so we have to use a doubler to hold all the pee, but she doesn't mind. I know that if I tried to change her when she woke up at night then she would be much harder to put back to sleep.
BTW, she still wakes up every few hours at night, but quickly nurses back to sleep. She unlatches at some point, but i'm already asleep before she does.

[Tamee]

This happened to me, too. I just stuck it out. I don't really expect it to stop until she stops nursing for good. It doesn't really bother me, though. And my nipples don't hurt at all anymore. In fact, they don't have much feeling in them at all!!

[rmzbm]

If I try unlatching DD sometimes she will get up on her knees & bang on my chest like she's preforming CPR & scream "GEEEEEEEEEEE!" (Her word for nursing.) I've learned to make QUITE certain she's OUT! It's a stage, it'll pass when your babe is older...until then...

[stacyann21]

One point of advice, after the first few weeks of dd's life, once she stopped pooping at night, i stopped changing her through the night.

A few people have recommended this to me. I'm thinking my son must be an unusually heavy wetter because there's no way I could skip his night time changings without some major leakage!

[Jane Plane]

Originally Posted by stacyann21

I co-sleep with my 4 month old son and usually nurse him to sleep. He sleeps his longest stretch of the night at first, anywhere between 2-5 hours and then I change his diaper and nurse him back to sleep. The problem is, lately he remains latched when he's sleeping and if I try to unlatch him he wakes up and cries for more. He's not eating at this time so I know it's a comfort thing. He will not take bottles or pacifiers at all. I don't mind nursing him to sleep but I need him to let go sometimes! My nipples are starting to feel sore throughout the day and I'm not getting much sleep. Anyone else have this issue?

This was my older son - he ended up taking a pacifier, but he would also suck on my knuckle sometimes. I could not sleep at all with him constantly sucking.

[goddessgold1]

My 13 mo son still sleeps latched on. I think that it really is my fault, I never used to "get up" with him when he was tiny and was sleeping with me to nurse, just gve it to him while laying down, then falling asleep and leaving it there. It really isnt a prob for me tho, I sleep right thru it now as well as I ever have,lol.

[HappiLeigh]

My DD did this. That's when she started getting a pacifier. : This mama just couldn't sleep on her side all night long.

[mezzaluna]

nak in dark, excuse style!

you say ds is a heavy wetter - that could be it. when my ds was wet or needing to pee he would not let go of the nipple. it became a surefire sign for me that he either needed a diaper change or needed to be taken potty (we ec'd). once we committed to keeping him dry at night he sometimes even drifted off to sleep on his own after being changed or pottied.

is your ds in a feel-dry diaper at night? (sposie, FB...?) if not i would suggest trying that. if that doesn't help it could be that the urge to pee is keeping him from falling into a deep sleep. in which case i might suggest pottying him, but also would suggest you think about food sensitivities.

wheat sensitivity can cause frequent small pees. melon and corn sensitivity can cause copious pee. sensitivity could be through his diet or yours.

and if it doesn't involve potty needs... it could just be something else bothering him that keeps him from relaxing into deep sleep... and keeps him needing the comfort of nursing to endure whatever it is (dairy sensitivity? sensitive to sleepwear? detergent???)

[ipfree]

great thread .... taking notes