Do I need to teach DD to fall asleep alone?

[Rooandtwo]

My DD is 6 months and is fed to sleep 95% of the time (she sometimes has a pram nap or very occasionally has fallen asleep on her dad whilst he’s dancing around the kitchen with her for too long 😂 she wakes one or two times a night and will have a full feed (EBF) if she does. She has 3 naps a day and most of the time she has them on me. The vast majority of the time this is fine by me, but I worry about if she will learn to nap without feeding to sleep before I go back to work next year in April if I don’t teach her.

I could start trying to put her down at least. Although this is harder in the day I think it could be achieved at least for the first nap of the day most of the time. But when it goes wrong it tends to throw the day off. What we are doing works and I love the cuddles. Do I need to start worrying about this transition now or might she just learn to go to sleep herself as time goes on? How many more months could I wait and see? She has learnt to link sleep cycles entirely herself and we have seen her resettling herself in the monitor in the evening before I’ve come to bed. Part of me thinks it could just come with time and the other part worries I need to push it forward. But day to do the first nap comes around and I think it’s just easier (and nicer) to stick as we are.

Bump

Gosh no, enjoy the cuddles and do what’s easiest - feeding to sleep!
I fed to sleep til 16 months then did cuddling in bed etc. all sleep fine now

Cuddle her for as long as you want to and don't ever feel guilty about it

Goodness no, enjoy all the cuddles while you can. Fed both my children to sleep for a long long time and they had all their naps on my chest. Eldest is now 13 and what I'd give for her to cuddle on the couch now.

Part of me wants to say savour every moment and enjoy it whilst you can. The other part of me has a 2 year old DS who is night to get to bed at the minute. I thought I'd weaned him from
Boob at bedtime but 3/4 weeks later I can't get it in fast enough of it helps him sleep and tonight he screamed at me for 15 minutes because he wanted to go to bed in my bed.

It's a nightmare, he wakes several times over night and I rarer get more than 2/3
Hours sleep.

I wouldn't trade the time we have when he was tiny for anything but somewhere along the line k can't help but think we should have got a bit tougher sooner.

I’d be working towards it gently. Babies do need to learn sleeping.

I don’t mind if the feeding to sleep at night continues (says this now full of naivety) but I worry it’ll add to the challenge of her being cared for by others when I go back to work if she can’t nap a bit more easily. I am wondering if anyone has experienced a baby learn to settle to sleep on their own and what this could look like? I suppose I need to start by feeding her at a time when she’s not due a nap.

Absolutely keep doing what you’re doing! If it was true that babies needed to ‘learn’ sleeping they’d wake up every time a sleep cycle ended and they dont!

Aw she's six months I thought this post was gonna be about a 6 year old! Keep doing whatever feels right.

One day she will learn, but 6 months old is still tiny so I really wouldn't worry about right now.

I remember worrying about feeding to sleep, it seems silly now. Kids are now almost 2 and 5 and go to sleep on their own pretty much every night, sometimes the youngest needs company and cuddles to drop off, but hardly ever.

Enjoy the cuddles, that stage passes so fast, even if it doesn't feel like that just now!

If something is currently working then don’t change it due to fear of the future. They change so much without us doing anything it could be a total waste of your time. And you’d be amazed what nursery staff/childminders can do when it comes to napping!