dd will only nap with my nipple in her mouth

[MumToAPiglet]

my 17 week dd is entirely bf. until last week i could get her to sleep by rocking or feeding and once asleep i could unlatch her (but had to keep holding her for naps). at night she could go down awake after a feed and put herself to sleep. suddenly she has changed and will only nap with my nipple in her mouth for the entire nap. this is exhausting, uncomfortable and restrictive and causes her to eat too much and make herself sick. everytime i detatch her she wakes. at night this is the same although after about 45 mins of sleep she detaches and i can put her down. this is really getting to me as i feel she is on me all the time and i cannot relax. last night i was in tears and wanted to give up bf even though i loved it until now. dh points out that although she has lost the ability to put herself to sleep at night this has coincided with her sleeping 10 hours without a feed.

any ideas? i really do not want to give up bf out of resentment.

Have you tried a dummy?

My DD (5 months) won't take one, despite several attempts. However, she will sometimes suck on my little finger and once she is asleep I can remove the finger without any probs. Sometimes, if she is very fretful and nothing seems to pacify her, I just leave her and she sorts herself out after a few mins (sometimes sucks thumb) goes to sleep by herself.

My DS was similar to your DD in that he would comfort feed until he was sick but he grew out of it.

HTH and good luck.

i have tried a dummy but she won't be fooled, even if i wait 'til she is asleep and swap it for my breast - she still wakes up. she won't take my finger either. i cannot leave her to settle herself as he gets in a temper and can screan for a full hour (even when being rocked - if its not the breast and she is tired then she screams).

when did your ds grow out of it. did he suck for hours and hours?

have you tried her in a sling?

Try not to feed her every time she wakes up so she learns other ways to be soothed.

Has there been anything that you might think has triggered this change in her? I hope you get things sorted soon ((()))

a lot of babies do just grow out of this.

my dd was just the same, wouldn't take a dummy, a bottle or anything at all other than me.

it depends if you want to just ride it out in the hope that she will grow out of it..but that may take a while yet. otherwise have you seen 'th no cry sleep solution' by elizabeth pantley, very good book. lots of threads on here about it. she talks about what she calls 'the pantley pull off technique' where you gradually get your baby used to falling asleep without sucking.

Oh you poor love. I had this and in the end i just lost myself and let it carry on for weeks and weeks until ds naturally changed habits. He's 2 and a half now. They really do change overnight sometimes, although whilst its going on it feels like its forever! The only other thing that would get ds off to sleep was a walk in his babydan sling, so i just used to walk the streets for ages (better than the constant sucking) Although if you have a big baby, it could be the supply and demand thing, perhaps its a growth spurt and your dd is stimulating the supply of more milk for herself! 'Experts' say its not good to associate sleep with feeding (however i didn't manage to break this habit at night until about 18mths and what do 'experts' know) They seem so happy to go to sleep that way, obviously at night its not so bad to have a long cuddle with your baby and a rest but in the day, try the walking thing after the feed is over if she's just sucking for comfort.

MTAP - Yes, he used to suck for Wales!
Can't remember exactly when he grew out of it! But I bf til he was 14 months so it was sometime before then! He wasn't always sick, but comfort was his thing and like your DD, would often wake up if I removed the boob.
Agree with jinglybits - things can change overnight so persevere with the bf - I found it comforting to still be bf a few times a day when I went back to work after DS and hope it will be the same this time with DD (going back in Jan).
Have co-slept with both and this is great for ensuring fairly good nights - perhaps you could try this?

Oh you poor thing. I understand this totally. Try a MaM dummy or a Nuk Dummy. They are the 'closest' to a nipple. Dont go with anything silicone as its nothing like a nipple...lol. A clean finger is also good. I wore ds in a sling (didymos, Mei tai,ring sling, whatever) and had his dummy and snuggy with him at all the times he needed comfort. gradually he sought the dummy and snuggy for comfort rather than my nipples.
you never know it might work

Sam

Thanks everyone.

Squimlet - thanks for the summy tips. I will have a look for those breands. Can you get them in normal chemists or should I look online. All my friend's who use dummies seem to have no problem with daytime naps so I would like that to work.

Mamijacalays - I too would like to keep bf after i go back to work. i just feel abit put off because of how demanding of the breast she has been the past week. she was not so bad before and i have no idea what has triggered this phase. Luckily she has been good at night, 11 straight hours in the cot - so i am not going to try co-sleeping at the mo although we did at the very beginning and at times i loved it.

Dizzybint - i bought that book today so i will read it tonight...

Yuletidepaps - i have an american sling a friend gave me but everytime i put dd in it feels like she is very uncomfy and might fall out. it is a sort of ring sling and has no instructions. i might try it again though.

anyway dd is sucking away in her sleep now and she has not been too bad today (had 1 hour nap in the pram and 2 45min naps on me so far). i think maybe i just have to accept it as a phase and try and relax and stop worrying that she will be like this forever.

just read that last msg back. sorry for all the typos. dd asleep on right arm and obviously am not good at left hand typing. for 'dummy' read 'summy' and ignore the other mistakes.

hi there,

I know that Boots do the nuk and the MaM ones so you shouldnt have a prob finding them there. There is someone on ebay selling MaM dummies really really cheap as they are not the cheapest ones to buy iyswim.