Breastfeeding to sleep

[M24L]

DD is 8 weeks old and has been fed to sleep since day one I'm a first time BF so I thought this was normal until a visit with the HV the other day. I was telling her how our BF journey is going as we had a very rocky start and one of her comments was "its OK to feed to sleep sometimes" it never really sunk in until she had left and it's played on my mind since.

So a few Google searches to find out if "it's OK to breastfeed your baby to sleep" the information is so mixed in opinions.

So I'm looking for some real life experiences, who's fed to sleep and has it been OK when did it stop, how did it stop etc?

As mentioned my DD is 8 weeks old she wakes for a feed between 5am and 6am and she will feed to sleep then throughout the day she cluster feeds she will be on the boob for about an hour then come off coo and smile away then back on feed and sleep her nap will last no more than 20 mins and then we sort of repeat the process of feed, play, feed and sleep. DH jokes and says she's never got the tit out her mouth. This carrys on until around 8.30pm when she's settling for the night, she will feed to sleep normally sleeps for 9-9.30pm and thats her right through the night.

I enjoy feeding her to sleep as I wasnt aware there was any "issue" with it and to me it gives her the security but with the HV mentioning it I would be grateful to hear other people's experiences.

I fed to sleep every single time. I couldn’t do anything else! When my eldest was that young he always fell asleep while feeding anyway.
I’ve never had any problems.

I always fed my daughter to sleep because that’s the only thing that settled her. That might be what the lady was getting at? But there was literally no other way of settling my child, she screamed murder to the point our neighbour sold up and moved. No joke.

What I will say is that my daughter had to have 4 baby teeth pulled at age 3 because the milk had completely ruined her teeth, they were literally crumbling. I did brush her teeth before bed every night but there was no way I could be up every half hour brushing her teeth through the night (that’s genuinely how unsettled she was!) and her teeth had to pay the ultimate price.
But that’s probably due to how often she’d use my boobs as a pacifier. It was a hard time.
Also, just want to add that her teeth are fine now.

Good luck!

@Nuffaluff this is what I thought to be honest I was told when BF DD would come off herself when she had enough and she never unlatches until she is sleeping so I've just went along with it.

How does your LOS sleep now?

Feeding your tiny baby to sleep is 100% normal. Plus, you have an 8 week old baby that sleeps through the night? I'd say you are winning at this parenting thing!!

@Vallmo47 thank you, at night time she is fine she feeds to sleep between 9 and 9.30pm and thats her right through till the morning but during the day she's stuck to me like glue, I think its more to do with not knowing exactly how much milk she's getting during the day so I'm letting her stay on and as you said she's probably feeding them switching to using me as a pacifier which then begs the question should I remove her when she seems to be sleeping and try rocking or do I continue to let her do as she is 🙈

Always fed ds to sleep. The alternatives of rocking, patting etc were not very appealing! Around 6 months I decided to stop feeding to sleep as I read that it might help reduce nighttime wake ups. It was convenient as dh could put to bed but makes absolutely no difference to sleep.

I fed to sleep until it stopped working. For both mine that was around 9month.

It worked so saw no reason to upset that

@Alfxn the last few days she's slept completely through the night, she was being topped up with formula after a rocky start to BF and since reducing her formula intake and putting her on the breast more shes sleeping between 8-9 hours now. With the formula top up she was sleeping between 5 and 6 hours and napping more throughout the day with a 2-3 hour nap around 2pm but now shes only having about 3-4 20 minute naps throughout the day.

It seems to good to be true though so I'm not counting my chickens just yet

@rosesandsalvia out of curiosity how did you stop feeding to sleep?

@Twizbe did it sort of stop naturally for you? Like LO still fully awake after a feed.

I would carry on as you are Op, that sounds absolutely amazing that she can sleep for that long without waking. Mind you, she will go through growth spurts where this might go out of the window. Just go with it and do what you have to do to maintain your sanity and get some sleep yourself. Sounds like you’re winning to me! Congrats on baby, bet she’s adorable.

Always feed to sleep! Why wouldn’t you really - much better than rocking etc.
Just do what works for you.

She’s 8 weeks old! Feed the little mite to sleep bless her. It’s such a short time don’t make things difficult for either of you.

@Vallmo47 it would be amazing if I could enjoy the sleep with her but motherly instinct kicks in and I'm up checking on her hourly. I have a DD who is 8 who was FF and as much as she was a great sleeper she never slept as long as DD2 so I'm fully expecting it not to last but I suppose I can enjoy it for just now. Thank you so much, shes turning into a little character 💗

@Silvetmoon @Lou573 this is exactly my thinking I enjoy feeding her to sleep I dare say it brings both of us comfort hence why I was confused by the HVs comment as I thought the way we were feeding to sleep was completely normal, to be honest I didn't even know "feeding to sleep" was a thing.

My 3 year old fed to sleep until 16 months, when he self weaned and I just popped him down awake from then on. A very happy and secure baby.
My 6 month old dd still does and I love every minute of it.
It's so handy to be able to just get her straight back off if she wakes.
You're doing great. HV have literally 2hrs breastfeeding training unless they choose to have more, sadly most don't, I'd nod and smile and carry on as you are.

My youngest who was EBF slept through my night from 8 weeks old too. She had her moments when going through a spurt or teething, but mostly she was regularly doing 10-5 with ease. I called her a unicorn baby - the type you hear about but never actually meet lol.

But yes, to answer your question, around 9 months feeding them didn't send them back to sleep. We sleep trained at that age then.

@M24L
Well now they aren’t so little! They are 11 and 6. They’ve always slept really well, but that is down to luck!
The youngest sucks bus thumb though, so we need to deal with that now his adult teeth are coming through.

Your tiny baby takes comfort from your closeness and your love. She feels safe and happy with you.

Don’t listen to the ‘professionals’. Do what YOU want to do

@maryberryslayers it's one of the things that helped me stay determined and push through the difficult breastfeeding start we had because I loved feeling the comfort of knowing DD went to sleep in her sort of safe place iykwim.

@Twizbe unicorn baby is a perfect name lol, maybe my luck is in then lol DH has been like she is sleeping amazing and I'm like I've never heard of a baby as young sleeping through the night so don't get too excited it won't last maybe shes another unicorn baby haha.

@Nuffaluff their little comforts 💖 my DD1 loved playing with the tag on a blanket to get her to sleep when she was a baby and tbh 8 years on she still reverts to the label on a top or jumper etc if she's feeling sick, shy or tired lol

@Kindertonguehappierlife yes! This is exactly what I feel. She doesn't know any better other than being fed and feeling safe and loved so it was quite a shock to me when it sort of sunk in what the HV had said.

I’d always say keep feeding to sleep, we did it with our first and doing again with our second.

All it took was a few nights holding his hand and singing to him and he switched to going to sleep on his own. So we had 8-9 months of a way of getting him to sleep in exchange for a few nights of holding hands/singing. The benefit definitely outweighed the negative ime.

@FTEngineerM aww how sweet 😢 I enjoy it so much so 100% going to keep doing it until DD decides otherwise. They grow up far too quick and before you know it they no longer want to be cuddled etc so I'm planning on making the most of it while she's still young lol.

Hmmm, I BF mine to sleep until about 1 year (she's 14 months now). She's always been a terrible sleeper and I would be feeding to sleep multiple times overnight too. Towards the end it was taking hours to get her to sleep so we had to stop and teach her to self settle which has not been an easy task! Of I had another I would try to get her used to falling asleep without feeding from early on I think. No idea how you manage that though!