[chrisnjeri]

My munchkin is almost 5 months. She is EBF and, most of the time, needs to nurse to fall asleep. Lately at bedtime, she has been latching on, pulling off, and then fiercely rubbing her eyes before rolling back to latch back on and begin the cycle again. I get upset because she rubs her eyes *really* hard when she's tired, but is resisting sleep. Also, the pulling off can make me sore and frustrated. I've tried backing up a little so she knows I'm still there, but she starts to cry when she can't get the comfort of nursing right away. I've also tried some gentle redirection of her arms so she can't rub her eyes so vigorously and can maybe relax enough to fall asleep - which hasn't yet worked. Sometimes, DH can walk her for a while so she relaxes and can then nurse to sleep, but sometimes she doesn't start until after he is asleep.

She doesn't do this during her daytime naps. Any ideas of why (I think she might be at a resisting-sleep-at-night-stage?) and how to reduce bedtime stress?

Any thoughts are much appreciated!

 

[howeberry]

She may be over-tired. Have you tried going to bed/nursing to sleep earlier?

I know the longer I ignore DS's sleepy signs, the harder it is to get him to nurse to sleep. At 4 mo he hit an easily distractible stage. Sometimes the only way I could get him to focus on eating was to cover us with a nursing cover or to become a ninja nurser and nurse while he had tummy time (talk about awkward!)

 

[Taos Mountain Mama]

My daughter is 4.5 months and does the exact same thing - not always at night, though. I think it's just because she gets distracted now that she is starting to notice so much more of the world around her. What works for us is going in the bedroom (where there is less to see - plus it's where she sleeps, so maybe she associates the room with sleep?). SUPER FRUSTRATING, though, and I feel your pain! I also agree with howeberry above - you might try draping a cloth across both of you so it's just her and your boob. Good luck!