My daughter is 13 months old and I’ve been nursing her to sleep ever since she was born. It works for both of us. But I’m wondering when the inevitable day comes when she stops nursing to sleep. I’ll just go with the flow for now but can’t help but wonder what will happen next.
@lily_pad_96 We stopped night nursing around 18 months old and she fell asleep by cuddling/getting her back pat while laying next to dad or me. At around 3, she started being able to fall asleep by herself. She’s 4.5 now and can get ready for bed/go to bed completely independently, though we typically still cuddle for a bit before she falls asleep!
@pastorinny My son is 7 and it’s almost a ditto if the above comment except last year ruined everything but that’s an anomaly. He was the best confident sleeper by the time he was 4.
@lily_pad_96 With my eldest I used to lie with him in bed to nurse him to sleep and he started to nurse, then roll over and fall asleep without it. Then after a while he didn't want to nurse any more but he still wanted me to lie with him for a cuddle.
With my second I DON'T KNOW HOW TO STOP SEND HELP.
@lily_pad_96 We stopped all nursing at 18 months and she cuddles next to me until she sleeps. Cuddle = kicking my legs, kneading my breast with tiny sharp fingernails until she's tired enough to snuggle up to me and sleep lol. She's 19 months now and that's where we're at.
@lily_pad_96 We stopped at 2.5y old when I was pregnant again and it got just too painful for me. Little one then got attached to one specific book which we used to read her to sleep or I used to tell her little stories about animals falling asleep. We moved in from that specific book but still mostly read books with her to fall asleep. Oh and she then suddenly started eating sooo much breakfast!
@lily_pad_96 Mine weaned himself around 20 months. Sometimes he would want to nurse and I’d let him, other times he would snuggle up and fall asleep without nursing. Slowly his desire to nurse just faded and we snuggled to sleep instead.
@lily_pad_96 We transitioned to snuggling to sleep instead. My son is 5 now, and we only started putting him to bed alone about 7 months ago (because I had twins in October, and we knew we'd need both parents for infant bedtime). He nursed until he was 2.5 years old, for reference. After that and before twins arrived, he had someone in bed with him every night until he fell asleep. We gradually spent less and less time snuggling with him in his bed. We'd stay a few minutes, then leave for a few minutes, etc until he was asleep. Now, he gets put in bed, we put one twin to sleep via nursing or rocking, then one of us will stay with 5yo for awhile, either until he's asleep or a few minutes. Minimal crying since he knew someone would come back soon, or until he fell asleep!
@lily_pad_96 We stopped nursing to sleep around 26 months. She was used to taking a bottle for nap with Nana, so we did that at first. Definitely not a great choice teeth wise, but it’s soy milk so no sugars like cows milk so that made me feel a little better. We pretty quickly moved to snuggling to sleep. Which is really her flopping all over and rolling on top of me and eventually completely trapping me under her sleeping body. Great fun Honestly nursing to sleep was So Much easier, but I had to stop in order to try to get pregnant again.
@lily_pad_96 My son never wanted to stop nursing to sleep and probably would have happily done so until he was 35.
My daughter, at around 10 months old, just stopped falling asleep while nursing and instead developed a serious case of FOMO as soon as she was full.
In both cases, when we felt it was time, my husband took over bedtimes in order to ease the transition. With my son, he replaced nursing with reading books and rocking, and with my daughter he feeds her snacks and walks around the house until she falls asleep.
Idk, I feel like it is a total toss-up as to whether or not each child will self-wean or need to be pried off with a crowbar (just kidding, kind of) and it depends a lot on their personality.
@lily_pad_96 I stopped at a week before LOs first birthday, because she wouldn't stop biting me. Now, we do a bottle 30min after dinner, then brush teeth, then bath, then bed. It's been amazing to switch it. She sleeps deeper, way lower risk of cavities, and her dad and I get time together after she goes down. She doesn't wake up for night feedings at all either. Up until her first birthday, we nursed to sleep for every nap and bedtime.
@mikemu777 How did you stop nursing to sleep without your LO losing their mind? Mine gets so upset if I try just rocking him when he wakes up in the middle of the night - I haven't even dared to try to get him to fall asleep without the boob. He's 13 months and only nurses a couple of times a day, but his nursing to sleep association is SO STRONG.
@mynamejeff I didn't just stop nursing to sleep...i stopped nursing all togther. I went from every nap, middle of the night, to stop a tantrum, etc. To nothing. (I pumped when I was engorged but, in two weeks I was dry)...The third time she bit me she drew blood, I was like 'ok, your done'....it took 3 weeks of cold turkey bottle feeding...then after that she kind of made her own bedtime routine. I carry her around with music playing (she likes queen and david bowie) and I'll just walk her around like I did when she was little in her wrap... once she's drowsy I transition her to the rocker. Once she's asleep I put her in bed. Then her dad and I get some alone time and I read myself to sleep.shes in bed from 830-7 most days
@mikemu777 Wow - that is super impressive - nicely done! Mine won't take a bottle at all, but I think the walking around might work - I think he just gets too upset rocking because to him, it feels like he should be nursing (same chair, similar body position, etc...). We're not quite there yet, but I do feel like if he could stop needing to nurse to sleep, he would sleep much better at night (he still wakes up 3-5 times). I'll remember this for later - thank you!
@lily_pad_96 I stopped nursing my son to sleep when he was almost 2.5. We still snuggle to sleep almost every single night and he's 5 now. He will go to sleep easily for anybody else. It was a very rough transition, but one I needed to make for my own reasons. I gave him "hot tea" (warmed milk in a mug with a little salt in it) to fill up his stomach before bed and replace the baba milk. I told him the milk was going to sleep. He was confused but he got it in a few days. My milk supply dwindled shortly after (I started trying to wean at that point - the cabbage leaves really work). I could tell my breasts were emptier because he would suckle for a few minutes and then the breast in question would ache a bit.
@lily_pad_96 My 13mo old seems to be slowly weaning herself off nursing to sleep. She nurses after dinner, and now half the time when we cuddle to sleep she doesn't want to nurse. She holds a binky and has one in her mouth and just plays with them while we sing and cuddle. I still let her nurse if she wants to she just is getting fuller in the evening with having more solids for dinner. She stills wakes at night and nurses, but that is slowly getting less too. I don't think I'm doing anything besides offering more food for dinner so I don't know if this is much help, but she seems to be on her own schedule as needed!
@lily_pad_96 Hey I don’t have an answer but actually some questions, I hope that’s okay. When you say nursing to sleep, is that for naps too? My baby just turned two months and suddenly isn’t nursing to sleep at all, except in the middle of the night feeds. But for naps and the first sleep stretch of the night nursing suddenly isn’t working, I have to do a whole song and dance and rocking and bouncing and walking to get her to close her eyes. Did this ever happen to you? Is it just a period they go through?
but that’s an anomaly. He was the best confident sleeper by the time he was 4.
Honestly nursing to sleep was So Much easier, but I had to stop in order to try to get pregnant again.