The Human Pacifier

[Lahlah]

For the past few weeks, my daughter will only sleep next to me if my nipple is in her mouth. She falls asleep with my nipple in her mouth, then wakes up so she can relatch, and on and on and on. If she's finally in deep sleep, I can move away but this goes on all night long and I'm getting very frustrated. We used to give her a pacifier to help her fall asleep but she rejects them now and we don't want to offer it any more. Any tips on how to get her back to a place where she can fall asleep without needing to latch? Now that her first tooth is coming in, this scenario is much more painful and I'm ready to sleep in another room!

[alegna]

I would bet it's a combination of the age and the teething. Keep trying to ease it out little by little. One of these days it will work.

hang in there!

-Angela

[Nan'sMom]

When we've gone through this it goes on for a while and then stops. Try to remain hydrated, get rest (can you nap during the day?) and take care of yourself as much as possible. I also found it helpful to think every once in a while what it would be like if I wasn't nursing--I figured I'd have to get out of bed and walk the baby, which would be way less restful.

Quick wording choice thing--I've found that the "human pacifier" thing is something that some docs and others who are not pro-breastfeeding say. It ends up discouraging moms who are feeling nursed out and tired. It actually is quite a strange statement when you think about it because a pacifier is a plastic breast imitation. So if expressions like that (or like "healthy sleep habits" or "I'm not a short order cook" or other unhelpful expressions) come up for me I try to rephrase it for myself. For me anyway, it helps think about it in a more positive light.

[mom2PJS]

I remember the frustration (and back pain) from this... We just did daddy time as I recall. After she was done nursing my DH snuggled her on his side of the bed. But we also used a paci from 5 until 18 months... and I don't remember when this problem was really bad, but I want to say it was 8 months or so...so she probably had a paci. Teething is a design flaw....