Will only nurse to sleep

I love nursing to sleep... I have never looked at it as a bad habit but a very calming and effective way to go fall asleep for my children.... I think it is completely normal and it is such an easy way to get our little ones to relax and fall asleep peacefully...

We practice CLW and it was the last session to go for ds#1 and the the only one left now for ds#2 though he is now skipping days at a time... I'll miss it when he weans also

In general I have no problem nursing Jack to sleep, it's a natural function of BFing and not a bad thing, BUT he doesn't know how to settle any other way, which means no one else can put him to bed. Hubby and I can't go out for an evening and leave him with my mum or anyone else and we need some us time. I don't mind nursing him to sleep as long as he also knows how to do it on his own as well. Plus, recently he started rejecting bed time and not falling asleep while feeding but would scream for a couple of hours anyway! Will try the extra swaddling, thanks

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CLW is Child Led weaning. not actively weaning and letting my children nurse until they no longer need it... I don't stop offering, and though I do delay at times when they are older and I am busy, I don't refuse and I will offer when I am done...

Ds#1 weaned around his fifth birthday... at that time he was nursing about 2-3 times a month... DS#2 will be 5 in a week and he nurses to sleep some nights but is more often falling asleep by himself (by his own choice)...

What I have experienced is that when mom is there is very different then when mom is not there... when my kids start walking I no longer bring them to meetings (homeschooling mom meetings etc) because I can't concentrate... so even if they nurse to sleep all the time if I am not there they have no problem falling asleep without me... I have never "trained" them and have never made them fall asleep crying...

My son is 19mo and still nurses to sleep. In fact, I think it's a good night when that's all it takes! Nursing is a natural and wonderful way to relax both the little and the mama, so I don't think there's a thing wrong with doing it every single night for as long as it's mutually desirable.

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I am not sure why you believe that at 5 months he is supposed to self soothe but this is not correct.

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I know of a lot of babies Jack's age who can settle themselves and Jack used to be able to. If he hadn't started waking an hour after going to sleep in obvious distress then we wouldn't have decided to change anything at this point. But shortly after this started he also stopped falling asleep on the breast anyway and would start crying when we tried to put him to bed awake.

We don't advocate CIO in our house, so he gets cuddled straight away but he starts crying immediately with no build up and it takes a very long time to calm him down. I have tried offering him the breast to soothe him but sometimes he won't take it and other times he will and will fall asleep but start crying the moment I move him.

I don't see the ability to self-settle as a bad thing, sorry if that contradicts the ethos of this board. I think everyone needs to do what feels right for them and this is what is right for us. DS is having trouble getting to sleep by any method, so we have to try something to help him!

This article is very interesting (I found the link in the CIO sticky on this very forum) http://www.awareparenting.com/article1.htm

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Its not CIO if they are crying in your arms. And some babies cry-you have nursed, rocked, rubbed, etc...and they still cry. My youngest dd is one of those-its stressful at times-but I am doing everything possible to soothe her-she is just crying in my arms She has always been this way-and is now almost 15 months. I am thrilled on the evenings that I can get her to sleep with nursing and rocking without her crying : It does happen every once in a while.

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I understand that there are babies who can self soothe at 5 months but this should not be expected.

One of the things that one must learn as parents is to not compare children. If your child cannot self soothe at 5 months that is perfectly OK. He will self soothe at some point.. I promise mama. But trying to force a situation that your baby is not ready for yet is not gentle and it causes grief for both sides.

Self soothing is a WONDERFUL thing!!! and something that we all learn at different ages, a 5 month old should not be expected or "trained" to do it. If they do, that is great... if they don't one should learn to accept our child for who they are... and wait.

My twins still nurse to sleep! I have gone out at night once and dh was able to get them down with music I used to nurse them to for their nap and sippy cups of rice milk. I agree that it is a lovely way to get babies and toddlers to sleep.

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Exactly the same with us. It's heart wrenching but there isn't much else we can do.

I tried NCSS but it wasn't working, DS would start crying right away, so there goes the no crying bit! But I'm sure it works wonderfully for many parents.

I apologise if anything I said was offensive, it certainly wasn't meant that way. We don't believe there is any other way to help DS sleep atm unfortunately and this has to be endured for now. We certainly aren't trying to force him to do anything he isn't ready for, we just want him to be a happy baby and get some sleep.

I am having this issue with 12 m/o DD. She was beginning to go for longer and longer at ight without nursing but for some reason is waking up and wanting to nurse back to sleep when I know she is full ... when she was nursing for hours and popped off. In the past I have rubbed her back, held her, etc. and let her cry a bit because she will usually lay down and go to sleep (with us, in bed, when I know she has nursed enough, etc.) Or, sometimes, I'll just nurse her back to sleep. But all of a sudden letting her cry a little is not an option- she just gets too upset- it's not the low-key whiny cry she usually gives, it's a very upset heartbroken cry of abandonment. Which is not okay! So though this is not very convenient and I would rather, at 12mo, she was moving in the direction of night weaning, I will nurse her back to sleep when she asks because anything is better than seeing her in such distress over something so trivial. I mean, that's what they're there for, right?? I was just getting spoiled with those couple weeks of sleep!

thanks everyone! Lots of good advice. I like to hear of everyone's ways. Keep it comin'.

DD, 25 months still nurses to sleep. I'm wondering if she will ever NOT nurse to sleep