Is this normal for a BF baby - napping on me?

[Rosebud1302]

Hi everyone,

My DS (15 weeks) has always been EBF. From day 1 he has never been able to nap on me without nursing. If I try and hold him/rock him/pat him etc he screams blue murder until he is nursing. I have no problem in theory with this as I love BF him. But he doesn't actually deeply sleep when he is nursing as he still moves/twitches etc and if I gently try and take him off he jolts awake instantly and starts rooting and getting upset again so he doesn't get a proper sleep on me. Again I love BF him but I can't help but feel slightly upset that we can't just sit and have a cuddle and him drift off to sleep on me rather than acting like I'm torturing him!

Just wondering if this is normal for BF babies or if anyone has any tips about how I can maybe make this easier for him?

Very normal! The only other way DS would nap was in the sling, do you have one? You could also try popping a dummy in just as you take your boob away after bf to sleep-i never mastered this but it's a manoeuvre worth trying

Yes it’s normal.
My third is a year and despite weaning we are sometime still in this stage.

Interesting to hear this is normal! I would love to have a sleepy baby cuddle I must admit. Yes I do have a sling but wouldn't that mean having to walk around for his whole nap? I'm pretty sure he would wake up if I sat down!

I used to be able to nap with baby on me as she'd go off in the sling then I would sit in a nice rocking nursing chair and rock a bit, it held me upright but I could actually drift off with no risk to baby - there was nowhere for me to slump to and baby was held in the sling so I couoldnt drop her and due to both our posture, wouldn't suffocate her. You'd need right sort of sling. And right sort of chair.

I get mine to sleep in the sling then lie on the sofa watching Netflix and eating cake.

Very normal. It’ll stop when they lose interest in bf and want to stop feeding - between about 14 and 18 months for mine.
After we stopped bf we cuddled to sleep then I sat by them and stroked their hair/back as they got older.
I couldn’t bare children crying themselves to sleep!

Thanks everyone. At least it is normal!! There is a very odd occasion when I can gently take him off the breast and he will stay asleep on me and those are just my favourite moments. Want to make the most of these cuddles before he gets too big and disinterested 😂❤️

Totally normal

Mine would all fall asleep on dh but not on me. I think its the smell. Once they get they are off nuzzling.