(Breast) Feeding to Sleep

[glasshalfsomething]

I keep reading that the best thing to do is to put baby down drowsy but awake, but unsure as to when to start this?

DS is 10 weeks. Concerned that at some point, feeding to sleep will cease working as she's not keen on lying in her basket or cot awake.

When did you stop feeding to sleep and how did you approach it? Any tips?

Also meant to add that we don't have space for the cot in our bedroom. We don't have space for a bigger bed either (we have a king size but we'd need a super king size to fit the three of us comfortably.) So outgrowing the Snuzpod does mean going into his own room.

My son is also ten weeks. At night I aim to feed to sleep. It usually works. If it doesn’t, or he wakes up on moving him I can often settle him with his dummy and rocking in arms or his basket.

Last night he woke up, wide awake smiling and telling stories when I put him down in the evening. After a dummy and some rocking he fell asleep. My OH was actually rocking the basket and stopped for a minute to find the TV remote and change channels and when he looked back baby was asleep.

So it is possible at ten weeks but not necessary at all.

I’m glad to know he can settle without feeding at this age as I hope that means he will do it more frequently when he’s older. But we will see!

I have from day one for all naps (unless we're out and ds falls asleep in his pushchair) and at bedtime. We've always coslept. Ds is 2yo now. Still bfing frequently in the day as well. But if he's with my DM for the night, he goes to sleep without it obvs, but still needs a cuddle and some company to go to sleep. I'm sure he'll grow out of it one day! He's never been the best sleeper but I'm a sahm so lack of sleep doesn't effect me too much. Kelly Mom has some good articles about feeding to sleep. My take is, if it works for you then carry on.

Fed to sleep for ages. Was still having a bedtime feed until 2.5 but by then wasn't needing it and would settle with food, story and cuddle from daddy. Will do again this time. I never "offer" milk only if she's niggling. Also using baby signing to ask if she's hungry and she usually responds if she is. Now 4.5m old.

Savage - do you just use the sign for milk? How does she show she is? Really interested in this?

If she niggles, I say "baby savage, milk?" while making the milk sign. If she does want milk she stops niggling and stares intently at the hand making the milk sign with her mouth wide open like an ape.... If she doesn't, she keeps niggling.
To get her used to the sign, every time she's fed I did the milk sign & said milk.

I worried about this too as everything I read (especially on here!) put so much stress on the importance of self soothing. I didn't want to do any of the cry it out/controlled crying methods and any advice said there really wasn't a way that involved some sort of crying. I refused to do this so carried on bf to sleep especially as it wasn't causing night problems as he slept through and could therefore settle himself back down during the sleep cycles.

My friend was in a similar situation but her DS was waking 4-5 times during the night but she also didn't want to do crying methods. However, at 16 months she put her DS down as she was desperate for a wee and he just rolled over and went to sleep!! He's been doing that ever since!

When my DS was 15 months he pulled off my boob one night (would always keep it there until asleep or immediately latch on again) and didn't try to latch again so I put him in his cot. He rolled around and babbled for a bit then went to sleep!! He's now been doing this for around 6 weeks and even let dh do it (cup of cow'smilk) when I went away for a weekend.

Sorry for the long rambling post but the gist is that they really do sort things out in their own time when they are ready. I still bf DS in the evening and the morning but not sure how long he will still want it for. You really won't still be bf to sleep when he's 5 which I was always worried about!!!!! I'm just enjoying the lovely closeness of those feeds and am so glad I waited and didn't force the issue.

I breastfed to sleep until he didn't want/need it any more, I can't remember when that was but certainly it wasn't a massive pain, he settled for others, in situations without boob etc.

He breastfed until 4 so I certainly was not stuck with a boob in his mouth all evening until that point! I'd never have lasted that long! :o

The drowsy but awake idea is an invention of baby book authors, there is nothing inherently wrong with it, but it doesn't come from a place of developmental science either.

In fact, I quite remember the horror when I realised that my handy instant sleep potion had suddenly stopped working they definitely grow out of it.

"In fact, I quite remember the horror when I realised that my handy instant sleep potion had suddenly stopped working hmm they definitely grow out of it."

:D Yeah, this. One day it's 'nom nom nom', pull off, smile and start demanding attention.... noooo, you're supposed to be asleep