Anyone else breastfeed their baby to sleep? Am I going to regret this eventually???

[papaya]

ds is nearly 5 months, sleeps through the night and feeds every 2 hours ish through the day. At night he is happy to be put to bed awake, he then goes to sleep of his own accord. In the day however, he pretty much always needs my boob to go to sleep for his naps (unless we are out and about and he will nod off in buggy/car etc)

Am i making a rod for my back?? I just wondered if maybe he will grow out of needing my boob to fall asleep in the day. Would love to hear from anyone else has done this and what has the outcome been when they get older!!!

tia xxx

i BFed my DD2 aged 10months to sleep for naps, if im here. If Im not she will go down without. I think he he willl go down at night awake, he will do the same for day feeds, in the end, especially when he doesnt need to many when he is on solids. hth

I wouldn't worry too much if he goes to bed at night no problem and sleeps through.

If he goes to sleep on his own at night, that is the biggest battle won. I'd just enjoy the sleepy breastfeeding during the day while it lasts. As he gets older and needs less daytime sleep this will undoubtedly resolve.

yes

no

at sleeping through at 5 months

can I second !!!
I bf my DD2 to sleep, but we have NOT got bedtime cracked. If you want to feed to sleep less, you could make sure you're out and about at sleepy times, but TBH I'd just enjoy it. As fluffy says,daytime sleep only gets less so it'll fix itself later.

My DD was fab at going to sleep on own and grading liked to go to sleep for naps on the boob - this then started to be what she wanted at night, I realyy regret doing it in the day as I feel (rightly or wrongly) that this is why she needed it at night.

YES, although it is understandable that you may hear that over and over and still choose to do it

my dd1 is 3.5 and still doesnt fall asleep on her own, she falls asleep in our bed every night (unless she crashes on the sofa from being so tired)

while dd2 gets in her bed and goes to sleep when she feels tired

now it is ok since she is older and quite self sufficient. from around 9 months till about 18 months it was really really difficult and energy draining to help her fall asleep each night

It depends what you think you can cope with long term. I fretted about this with ds (now 2.9) on and off when he was younger and eventually realised that actually I could handle it and didn't mind enough to stop although at times it felt like a bind. He gradually grew out of 'needing' milk at bedtime and into wanting it. In fact it's only recently that he doesn't always have "mummy's milk" last thing at night but the change could have been encouraged earlier on if we wanted to and we certainly had times of dh getting him to bed from around a year onwards but I won't pretend that was always smooth.

I don't like the notion that you are 'making a rod for your own back' because babies and children are always progressing and you can manage changes in behaviour at different stages - there's no set pattern.

Sorry, re-reading my post - when I say I could handle it, I dont mean it was easy. As girlsallaround says, it can be truly energy sapping. I'm certainly no supermum with infinite patience (hell no) but I found that once I stopped worrying about the next month or six months and just took each stage as it arose, the pressure eased. Dh very supportive of b/feeding which helps esp when you need lie-ins!

"I don't like the notion that you are 'making a rod for your own back' because babies and children are always progressing and you can manage changes in behaviour at different stages - there's no set pattern."

Hear hear!

thanks!

I have the opposite going on with DS, 19 weeks - seems to fall asleep ok by himself during the day but have to breastfeed him to sleep at night which can take hours as he wakes up the minute I put him in his cot. Exhausting, annoying and all the books advise against it but it's often the only way and I'm so tired I am going for the path of least resistance! Occasionally rocking to sleep works but boob is most effective.

I have the opposite going on with DS, 19 weeks - seems to fall asleep ok by himself during the day but have to breastfeed him to sleep at night which can take hours as he wakes up the minute I put him in his cot. Exhausting, annoying and all the books advise against it but it's often the only way and I'm so tired I am going for the path of least resistance! Occasionally rocking to sleep works but boob is most effective.