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Sleep

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Original poster

Is feeding to sleep so bad?

37 replies

Fetacat · 21/06/2014 22:23

Just want to know if anyone has fed to sleep after 6 months and not ended up with a sleep nightmare situation? Stopping just seems like such hard work... And the PPO just makes me laugh every time I say it out loud...

OP posts:

whereisshe · 21/06/2014 22:29

I can't help but watching with interest as I'm in the same situation ...

callamia · 21/06/2014 22:32

I do, and my son is 8 months.
It doesn't take long to put him to bed anymore, and I can't really see that I need to stop. It's nice for us to have some cosy down time together. He can go to sleep if I'm out, but if it's me, then feeding to sleep works for us.

Singsongmama · 21/06/2014 22:33

Watching with interest....

5madthings · 21/06/2014 22:36

I did with mine and they all grew out of it :)

Thye are little for such a short time, empathise snuggly sleepy fneeds whilst you can :)

Sleepysheepsleeping · 21/06/2014 22:40

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

tomatoplantproject · 21/06/2014 22:44

I fed to sleep dd until she was 1 - having given up all if the other feeds around 7 months. We both loved it. She now loves warm milk, cuddles, books and then bed. We had no problem with the transition.

McPhee · 21/06/2014 22:45

I fed to sleep for nearly the first year. It got to the point where dd just sorted herself out. Now, at nearly 2 she is a dream sleeper

Don't get hung up on what you think you should be doing....just enjoy it!! Before you know it, they are grown. Enjoy every cuddle and snuggle.

Toptack · 21/06/2014 22:50

Yep, as other have said, I did with my first and he just grew out of it at around 18 months. I worried about it a lot at the time, but it honesty just sort of came to a natural end. Am now feeding DC2 and am a lot more relaxed about it!

13Stitches · 21/06/2014 22:54

I fed DS to sleep. There were times I tried to put him down awake, but it was a disaster so I gave up and fed him to sleep. Much easier & quicker all round.

He eventually just grew out of it. I can't remember when. But one day he just didn't fall asleep, so I put him in his cot and said goodnight, and he slept!

CottonbudCatastrophe · 21/06/2014 23:02

I EBF DD until 6 months, then bottles, always used to feed her to sleep as she was an absolute nightmare to get to sleep otherwise. She's just turned 2, & still has warm cow milk at bed time but rarely falls asleep on it now. Slept through from 4 months. We never did sleep training as we just couldn't leave her to cry. She now sleeps wonderfully & settles quite quickly, has to be carried up to bed but that's a small price to pay as she is very settled & happy.

dashoflime · 21/06/2014 23:08

I BF to sleep untill 18 months. When I stopped BF I cuddled to sleep instead for a few weeks. Then moved to putting him down sleepy but still awake. It wasnt a problem.

Pompatrol · 21/06/2014 23:11

I could have written McPhee's post.
Enjoy!

gamerchick · 21/06/2014 23:17

No it isn't.. feed to sleep, Co sleep and again if they wake up in the night.

The result is the same.. All teens need tipping put of bed on a morning and funny they all went onto their own beds naturally.

I've never known this sleepless night stuff I keep reading about. Wake up, check bum, stick on the boob and go back to sleep.

claraschu · 21/06/2014 23:20

I fed all three of mine to sleep and also co-slept with them. They are teenagers now, and I look back on those days as being one of the happiest times in my life. We never had any problems with their sleeping, and they became extremely independent quite early on.

MadameJosephine · 21/06/2014 23:29

DD is 19 months and BF to sleep most nights. She can self settle if I feed her and then put her down awake but often she's so shattered she nods off during the feed. She still wakes in the night but she's right next to me so a little cuddle and a 5 min BF and she's off to sleep again, easy peasy! Her brother was the same until he self weaned at about 21 months and now he's one of those teenagers who would sleep the clock round if I let him

Poosnu · 21/06/2014 23:29

It's absolutely fine if it's not causing problems for you!

It was causing us problems as DD2 was waking every 45 mins through the night - even cosleeping didn't give me enough sleep - so we had to work break the feed to sleep association.

DD1 was sometimes fed to sleep, sometimes not, and slept well regardless.

caeleth84 · 30/06/2014 14:15

DS was fed to sleep as long as he wanted to really. It was such a blessing to know that I'd always be able to get him to sleep if necessary (planes, visiting people, staying over other places than home).

He grew out of it by himself.

TeaAddict235 · 30/06/2014 22:24

really encouraging accounts here ladies, you've all given me support from what you've written.
why are HV so against feeding to sleep then?

Mumyum1 · 01/07/2014 17:28

Am so glad I stumbled across this thread!!!! DS is 7mo and until 6mo was EBF but now also fruit/veg ... I nurse to sleep especially when I put him down initially, he then wakes every 3-4 hours to feed and perhaps once or twice in between if there is massive wind/gas. I am happy to wake up for him, but I do occasionally have the thought that I haven't slept more than 3 hours at a go for 7 months and then I wish he would sleep through sometimes. Mother dearest then tells me to have patience as I will look back on these times as such special moments as the kids go up so quickly. But it is good to hear other peoples stories as well, very encouraging. I worry sometimes that I am creating a monster who expects mom to magically appear every time he opens his mouth to yell, and I really don't want to be that mom.

feeona123 · 01/07/2014 21:12

Glad I saw this post!

I was getting a bit worried about feeding my 14 week old to sleep all the time. Thought it might cause bad habits!

Glad it's worked out well for everyone!

museumum · 01/07/2014 21:17

some babies who feed to sleep get so they won't sleep without a nipple in their mouth and become really reliant on it any time they stir in the night.
But I think that's quite rare.
However, HVs see more people with this issue because they don't really see people with no issues so I guess they worry.

Koothrapanties · 01/07/2014 21:23

Tea

Koothrapanties · 01/07/2014 21:26

Sorry phone had a moment. Tea are you the op?

Dd is fed to sleep, she's nearly 9mo and it's not a problem for us. It really helped recently when we went on holiday as the routine was the same even though the place was different. She fell asleep no problem. She wakes once in the night hungry, but otherwise sleeps for 11 hours total. It works for us!

Trooperslane · 01/07/2014 21:29

Any thoughts about when they have teeth?

Dd sleeps for 12 hours overnight daytime is a different story but now she has 2 teeth I'm worried about continuing this.

She was 90% bf til 7 months and ff for the last 3.

Sorry for attempted thread hijack op.

Hope we all get some answers

vichill · 01/07/2014 21:37

I bf to sleep until 7-8 months. She's 1 now and has a bf, grizzles till I stand up and rock her to sleep which takes about 5 mins. Still hasn't learned to self settle..shes a shit sleeper but very gradually becoming less of a battle. Once I gave up torturing myself with reading advice on sleep training (knowing I was far too soft to ever see through) I felt much less stressed.

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