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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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Original poster

Feeding to sleep-normal?

20 replies

twizzlestix · 21/10/2012 15:54

I have been bf my 6 week old on demand and she generally goes around 2 hrs between feeds however she more often than not feeds to sleep. I have to then hold her for about 10mins at night before putting her down but she refuses to sleep in basket in the day and wants to be held the entire time! I put her in the basket but she wakes up! My DM said its because i feed her to sleep so she's having hugs and therefore will expect it the entire nap! I've been using a baby carrier to free up my arms and get things done but I'd love her to sleep in the basket.

What can I do? If I don't feed her to sleep, how else am I supposed to get her to sleep? Do most babies at this age feed to sleep? if yours do, will they sleep in their cots/baskets?

TIA for answering all my questions

OP posts:

louloutheshamed · 21/10/2012 15:57

I fed my ds to sleep until he was 18m. I stopped and he fell asleep himself. Don't worry about it, just enjoy the cuddles.

aimingtobeaperfectionist · 21/10/2012 16:04

I wouldn't worry when she's only 6 weeks old. Do what's best for you. When she's a bit bigger you'll either stick with it if it works or find another way. 6 week olds love cuddles! I wouldn't listen to MIL.

aimingtobeaperfectionist · 21/10/2012 16:05

Sorry...DM.

peeriebear · 21/10/2012 16:06

Just like me! :)
My 6wk old DS is EBF, feeds to sleep every time and wakes up when put down. He will only sleep with me, either being cuddled, in the sling or co-sleeping. I feel like a mother koala!
I'd like him to sleep without me so I can do such luxuries as washing and preparing food but he's so tiny, and growing so fast, I've just resolved to enjoy the snuggles.

applecrumple · 21/10/2012 16:19

Same here op! We've bought one of those cots that attach to the bed & my 6 weeker will sleep in it at night as long as she's asleep when I put her in it! She doesn't like sleeping in the Moses basket during the day but she is better than she was. Some things that might make it easier:

Make a nest for your LO out of a rolled-up blanket covered with a sheet & put your baby to sleep in it. He will feel more secure & less likely to wake up

Cover the nest with something that smells of you - I use a muslin that I used for BF & left to dry

I find putting my baby down to sleep on her side helps but I wouldn't recommend it unless your baby has good head control

Other than that I think it is something your LO will grow out of do for now just enjoy him!

EauRouge · 21/10/2012 16:21

Normal, normal, normal! Babies do not 'get spoilt' or 'get used to it' or any of that stuff. They are tiny and helpless, of course they need to be held and snuggled. They are perfectly safe in a cot in a nursery in a semi in the suburbs but they don't know that. Instincts haven't caught up with our lifestyle so for all they know they could be eaten by a bear as soon as you leave the room.

They do grow out of needing to be held all the time, some quicker than others. As your baby gets older you'll figure out what she likes and what she needs and you can figure out what works best for you. 6 weeks is titchy though.

MumOfTheMoos · 21/10/2012 17:12

It's normal and a lovely thing to do! Enjoy it!

SwivelHips · 21/10/2012 17:26

I used to walk DS round the house to sleep but now at 20 wks I can't - too heavy - so I now feed to sleep when we're at home. He does fall asleep much easier now than when he was little...still a cat napper unfortunately :(

Asmywhimsytakesme · 21/10/2012 18:28

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

twizzlestix · 21/10/2012 19:09

Thank you all for the lovely comments

OP posts:

needsadviceplease · 21/10/2012 19:19

6mo DS never grew into sleeping in the basket! Even now he'll only nap either in the sling or fed to sleep, lying on the bed. To be fair I never really pushed the issue so don't know whether/when he would have managed it. I decided to be as lazy as possible and master an impressive array of one-handed tasks instead. I love the feel of my baby asleep on me, although some days now I miss him being a little titchy baby asleep on me! If you're happy to, I'd just enjoy it.

ImogensMumJess · 21/10/2012 19:50

I love this post and am doing exactly the same! My 8 week old daughter (is this DD - I haven't worked out the initials thing?) will only sleep on me by breast feeding her, or otherwise she sleeps on the move - in the sling, pram, cars eat etc.
I'm not quite sure how this works into a 'routine' - I hate the word and really don't want to live by the routine, but I understand she needs sleep during the day for more than a short while. I'm just playing each day by ear at the moment, but am thinking how do I get anyone else to put her to bed (I'd love a night out before Xmas), and also it leaves her dad feeling a little left out....

flipflopson5thavenue · 21/10/2012 19:55

Totally normal. I feed my 13 week old to sleep at night and his for morning nap. Other day time naps I have to walk him in his pushchair as its the only way he'll sleep. For weeks I was worried I was making a rod for my own back but already he's getting better at falling asleep on his own. I think they 'learn' to sleep on their own as they get older, but 6 weeks is still so little. The feeding to sleep is such a short part of their life in the grand scheme of things. Enjoy it while it lasts. Wouldn't you love to drift off to sleep being cuddled and with a warm sweet drink??

nextphase · 21/10/2012 19:56

I was gutted when at 9 months, DS1 stopped feeding to sleep, so at 6 weeks, I wouldn't worry.

We did have more success with transferring to sleep not in my arms when after they had fallen asleep wrapping a blanket round them, so when put down, they didn't get put on a cold sheet.

Or beleive my friend, who claims babys only sleep in Mummy's arms so the bf mother has to sit down and rest for a large portion of the day!

Astr0naut · 21/10/2012 19:56

Just do it. It makes life so much easier.

I fed Ds to sleep until he was about 9 months old and refused boob. He still used to fall asleep on the bottle though.

DD is almost 1 and is still, generally, fed to sleep - although she can go down herself.

A wise friend of mine told me not to even think of a routine before 3 months. I didnt, and found that they do kind of work themsleves towards a routine, which you then gently reinforce. At the time, it feels like you're never going to settle down to watch post-watershed telly again; but it happens sooner than you think.

Both mine have had 7pm bedtime for a long time now, and dc2 seemed to slot into the dc1's routine on her own volition.

mamawharton · 21/10/2012 20:05

make the most of it.... you will miss it when it stops

spiderlight · 21/10/2012 20:10

Perfectly normal - I remember this stage so well. They do grow out of it and it can be a bit suffocating at times, but you'll miss it! My DS fed to sleep for a long time but it didn't do him any harm at all and he's a fabulous sleper now.

I used a kari-me wrap to free up my hands when my DS wouldn't be put down, and I also found - completely by accident when I had to put him down for a second to deal with something - that he was happier going down on a warmed and slightly bumpy/uneven surface. Obviously you need a tight sheet and no suffocation risks, but my theory was that being on a surface that was a little bit lumpy felt more like being in arms and helped him to feel secure - I just used to stuff a thin blanket between the mattress and the sheet, bunched up a bit, but nowhere near the head end. You can get a thing called a Snugglenest that some babies love but i didn't discover them until ours was too big. Running the Dyson right next to his basket also helped - that was our instant knockout trick for months and the only way I ever got to have a cuppa or go to the loo when DH was at work!

Enjoy these days - they're very intense at times, but you're building a wonderful bond and sense of security that will repay you a thousand times over as she grows. You can't spoil a baby and you're not making a rod for your own back or any of that rubbish - you are easing her transition into the big loud scary world and that's the most important thing you can do

LittleBallOfFur · 21/10/2012 20:13

I fed my ds to sleep too, for naps and at night - I forget when he stopped feeding to sleep during the day but I also found he'd nap well in his pram/pushchair so he liked the rocking motion, otherwise he would just nap on me. Could you try rocking her in her pram indoors? That's what I did for some naps with the extractor fan blaring!

I did fret about making a rod for my own back and all that jazz but he started to self settle on his own at night from around 1 year old, without any intervention from me (just stopped feeding to sleep so I chanced putting him down and after some wriggling, he did it). At nearly 2yo he sleeps beautifully, 7-7 although I do have to sit and sing him to sleep never did nap in his cot though.

I miss all those cuddles now!! So in a long, roundabout way, I'm also saying enjoy it!!!

StarlightMcKenzie · 21/10/2012 20:14

I put a mat/blanket on the floor and feed to sleep on it, then, when baby is asleep I roll away and go about my business quietly.

DW123 · 23/10/2012 13:53

Have just fed 18mo DTs to sleep (and do most days). Its easier than anything else...

ImogensMum - as they get older they cope without you and will go to sleep for other people. Took mine (well me actually) a while but others find it easier.

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