Do you BF your baby(ies) before sleeps?

Hi everyone! Can you tell me what your sleep routine is/was like for your breastfed baby(ies)? I have a 16 week old singleton that I fear I am creating a bad habit. She will not settle to sleep unless nursed. She will not take a pacifier for me - though if someone else tries to give it to her, she will sometimes take it. I pumped for my twins and there was no problem with pacifiers (until it was time to take them away). My third son was BF and never took a pacifier but I don't remember worrying about his sleep habits. He found a lovey around 6-7 months and it was super easy from there.

Truthfully, I don't really have a problem that I am a human binky. It helps her settle and it only takes around 10 minutes to put her down for a nap (longer at bedtime). I have tried to force the binky, trying about 3 different types, but she is VERY resistant and VERY stubborn. I have read so many books on baby sleep (probably too many, I have information overload on the subject) and all the books say that you have to teach your child to fall asleep on her own and to self soothe. I have tried some techniques for teaching self soothing but it just takes too long to put her down... in the meantime, my other three kids are tearing up the house!!! I think right now she is just too young. Am I the only crazy person worried about this? Am I creating a problem where there is none? Do you ladies BF your babies to sleep? Thanks for your input!

 

With the twins, yes, I would breastfeed them and they'd fall asleep and I'd try to get them to their cribs that way. That was just the way I did it. Evan I was shocked at Evan's 2 week visit that the ped. suggested that he should be being put down awake and self-soothe. Umm... he had the right personality and has always gone to sleep on his own. I think it just depends on the baby really. Good luck. I did always breastfeed before naps & bed. Good luck!

 

The twins I didn't nurse to sleep but Emmett I have. By about 5 - 6 months though he was only asleep at the end of the nursing session about 50% of the time so we've expanded our pre-sleep routine to include some cuddling/rocking. All 3 of my kids have steadfastly refused pacifiers, to my extreme annoyance. The girls are thumb suckers but Emmett doesn't seem to do anything.

Honestly, I wouldn't worry about it. Do what works for now. If in the future it no longer works for you, then you can work towards changing it. BTW, Dr. Weissbluth of Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child advocates for nursing to sleep. :good:

 

I read that you shouldn't, too, so I didn't until I was out of my mind trying to get my boys to sleep. A friend looked at me and said why aren't you nursing to sleep??? Then I started and it was great. The boys wouldn't take a paci, either, and later on we did sleep training, but as long as it worked it was great.

Annabelle is a paci-a-holic and can and has fallen asleep on her own from the beginning. Shrug. I tried nursing her to sleep but she really isn't a big nurser.

 

I frequently nurse both of our six-month twins to sleep for the night. However, from the books/advice I've read and from what our pedi told us, they should be falling asleep on their own. So we are trying to break that habit and do some gentle sleep training. Honestly, sometimes I ask myself why we are trying to change something that has been working. But the girls, Adira especially, sometimes still wake up several times at night and won't go back to sleep unless they nurse. Both of them took pacifiers for a few months but now do not want them at any time.

So unfortunately I don't really have any advice for you - I am in the same boat wondering if I am continuing a bad habit. Maybe I will ask their daycare to sleep train them for us

 

Yes. I did with my singleton (all bedtimes until 14 months when it wasn't working as well anymore and all naps until he weaned at 21 months) and do it about 80% of the time with the twins (sometimes one falls asleep while I'm nursing the other and they did fall asleep a lot in their swings the first few months, but not sure that counts either since the swing did the work).

I had vowed I wouldn't do it this time because DS1 was dependent on the boob and I always thought his horrible sleep was because of his boob dependence (he nursed all night long until over a year old). I now realize that all babies are different. These two are not dependent on the boob, don't really comfort nurse at all, and they have slept way better than DS1 ever did from birth. But then it turned out I'm kind of lazy and nursing to sleep is easy.

It's kind of a gift being able to get a baby to sleep so easily. I sit in the dark with my kindle app and read a book while I do it. It's very relaxing and sometimes I just stay there in the dark with the second baby in my lap for as long as I want just to get a break. But I'm also becoming quite nostalgic about nursing coming to end in the next year or so... these are my last babies. If you had asked me with DS1 how I felt about nursing to sleep I would've shouted "don't do it all the time!" from the rooftops. I would've said, nurse to sleep most of the time if you want but maybe try to help them sleep another way too so they're not completely dependent on it--you could always try that if you're worried about it.

 

Thanks for the responses! I do feel a bit better about it now, though I know it will be a habit to break.

 

Easton is 14 months old and has to be nursed to sleep. I bf my twins until 28 months they were the same way. Once weaned they were excellent sleepers LOL! Neither twin nor Easton would take a paci either -believe me I tried! It is a hard habit to break but ya know the way I feel about it is that they grow up so fast and it won't be long and they will not need me as much so I treasure it. I have gotten great grief from family who think weird things about me breast feeding past like 6 weeks but I don't see how it is any of their business!

 

I nursed my singleton to sleep until she was almost two. I remember I changed pedi at her two week well baby because he told me to put her down awake. She also slept in our bed. I regret doing it so long, she ended up with multiple cavities and the dentist blamed them on the constant acid attack from nursing at night.

I swore I wouldn't do it with the twins. Now here I am
4.5 months later with two babies being nursed to sleep, sleeping in my bed and nursing through the night. We all get a good nights rest and I get bonding time with them to make up for being at work all day. I am hoping to break the habit sooner though...

I say you do what works! Just be cautious when the teeth erupt!

 

I nurse mine before nap/bed but if they are finished and unlatch before they fall asleep, (which is most of the time) I put them down. I learned the hard way with my older daughter and was not interested in repeating the same thing this time around.