co sleeping and breastfeeding

[greeneone12]

Hi,

Any advice would be great! I am co sleeping and breastfeeding and I am guessing at night my Lo is using me as a dummy when I have dosed off. I am not massively worried about this at night but won't she come to expect the same during the day? She does fall does fall asleep during the day without the breast at the moment sometimes but falls asleep a lot when feeding anyway. Just so scared of creating bad habits.

She is 5 weeks old on Tuesday.

Thank you
Sarah

No such thing as bad habits at 5 weeks. Don't worry and keep doing what you're doing :)

I agree, you can't teach a 5 week old baby bad habits- that's what toddlerhood is for You sound like you're doing really well so don't worry if others make 'rod for your own back' type comments. Lots of suckling will help establish your milk supply so there's nothing wrong with letting her feed/suck as much as she likes.

If you're worried about not being able to get things done during the day then you could try using a sling to BF in so you've got your hands free for other things but at 5 weeks you should still be putting your feet up and eating cake

greeneone12 - I am surprised you are scared of habits, you must be so confident to cosleep and breastfeed, i put my DS (8wks) in bed with us when he is really whingy at night but i get so scared one of us will squash him i put a pillow either sde of him, i cant even imagine putting him on my breast and falling asleep!! Good Luck :)

drewsgirl I'm not sure recommending pillows is a good idea due to suffocation risk, I think cosleeping as OP is doing is perfectly safe if following sensible suggestions, she will not role on her baby.

I still cosleep with 20 month old and yes still double as a night time dummy but really don't mind, but each to their own!

I do the same thing - generally from 5am-7am he suckles and I doze. I was also feeding to sleep for daytime naps and it was fine, but recently (ds is 4 months) he started needing a nipple in his mouth throughout the whole nap - so I'd either need to lie in bed with him or sit with him on my lap for up to two hours So I've started feeding him til sleepiy and then switching nipple for a dummy so I can put him down.

Basically I think if it works, do it. Once it stops working for you then you change it.

Agree with EauRouge.

Some sleep experts think that night & day sleep is controlled by different parts of the brain, anyway. My 11 m.o. won't feed to sleep in the day any more (which I'm a bit :( about tbh), but he does still at night.

Like many on here, I spent too much time worrying about 'bad habits' and not enjoying DS when he was little. I didn't start co-sleeping till 4 months as I worried about the whole 'rod for your back' issue, but we've switched between co-sleeping & cot sleeping a number of times now without any problem at all.

Babies often get easier to settle in different ways after 3/4 months too.

And yes, putting a pillow near a baby is unsafe. The UNICEF leaflet on safe co-sleeping useful, as is Helen Ball's research on co-sleeping & bf.

I did the same thing when dd was young. People did warn me about bad habits, etc. In practice, it simply worked for us. She is now a very happy, settled 4.5 year old. For a long time she still slept with us, but then one day she said, Mommy I want to sleep in my own bed, I am a big girl now. And that is what she has done since. Sometimes she comes in our bed for a little bit and I do keep her in our bed if she is ill so I can keep a close eye on her. Good luck!

Drewsgirl re you rolling on dc I saw a great paed who told me about research on cosleeping which showed that mothers take up 'defensive sleeping positions' in bed with babies. This certainly chimes with my experience, I've always been a thrashy, twisty, turny sleeper but with dd in bed next to me I don't move at all all night. I would get rid of the pillow and sleep next to dc (you'll need to find a way of keeping the duvet out of the way too) - you're definitely more responsive than a pillow!

Hey OP

My DD will be 5weeks old on Wednesday, she is co-sleeping too some nights. I find feeding her laying down the easiest at the mo.

the past weekhas been difficult due to masitis, open wound, and cyst on my left. DD has a cold too so she's been demanding!

Question for you:

Does your baby fall asleep after every feed? since the last week my DD doesn't really, and is awake after feeds and only having a dummy comforts her otherwise she likes to just suckle on me.. which i think is the reason shes been sicky as she's taking in extra milk when all she wants is something to suck on!

She does fall asleep on most feeds but I do try and stop her before she has gone completely! So annoying but at least she is comfy and happy. I would love her to come off happy and alert but that never happens!

Hope Lo is better soon x