@yoshinat0r My 1 y.o baby started using me as a pacifier at birth.
She still does. During week ends it's at least 3 hours a day.
Yes it's cute. But she's so attached to me, it's hard for me to even leave the house for an hour.
Full tantrums at daycare. Can't stay for long with her father.
So if I could do it all over again, I would not let her using me as a paci.
@yoshinat0r Just remember nothing is permanent, you can do this for now and change your mind in a year if you want. Your baby will grow and change. Once you want to change, there’s things you can do like, say you feed to sleep and you notice baby is slowing the suckling (comfort nursing). You can pop him off early. He might relatch, that’s ok, try again in a few. After a few days of this, it gets easier. Or baby wants to comfort nurse after a scare or small but painful accident (no need for medical attention), you could start cuddling and walking him around, eventually you can do that more and the nursing will gradually reduce.
@yoshinat0r It’s only a problem if it is a problem for you.
It might become a problem eventually if it’s the only way they can get to sleep (and hence, back to sleep in the night) or if they don’t develop other ways to soothe when your nipple isn’t available.
But - it also very well might not.
I’m a fan of not making things problems until they’re problems. Soothe your baby in whatever way feels right for both of you. I always let my now 3yo comfort nurse and I do the same for my current baby.
My 3yo is perfectly independent and well adjusted and weaned herself off the breast at around 10m (and did eventually become addicted to a paci anyway).
@step777 True. Thanks for this! I agree, its not a problem until it’s a problem. It’s everyone else’s inputs that makes me feel like there’s already a problem!
@yoshinat0r Do what works best for you and adjust when things stop working well for you!
FWIW, I have an 11 month old who never took to a paci. I do feed to sleep and comfort nurse. It’s still working well for us and I’ve had zero regrets. If things ever stop working for either of us, we’ll adjust at that time.
@yoshinat0r YMMV but my 2 year old still nurses, we brush our teeth 2x a day, and his teeth are as healthy as can be. No cavities, no decay (knock on wood.)
@yoshinat0r I was fine with being humanWe pacifier too. My LO is 1,5 years old now and still comfort nurses. Unfortunately, I need to go on medication that requires me to quit breastfeeding. There have been tears. Lots of tears.
@yoshinat0r I did this with my first and am doing it again with my second.
The only downside was that at a certain point, when my son was over a year old, it became daunting. I would be at my parents’ house for thanksgiving and while everyone else was having drinks and chatting, I was up in the room nursing my son to sleep. By the time I got him down, everyone else was tired and ready for bed. It made me feel like I was missing out on a lot.
But I comfort nursed (aka used my boobs as a pacifier) until my son was two. You can always stop sooner, and with my second child, I think that’s exactly what I’ll do. I return to work when she’s 5 months, so that in itself will greatly reduce it.
@justoounes Maybe sounds dumb (ftm to a 3 wk old here lol) but what's the alternative to nurse to sleep? That's how we've been getting our baby to sleep when we go to bed (around a two hr feeding schedule) and I never thought to just put her to bed "without" !!
I'm going back to work at 4 months but I haven't really thought about how this will change.. I was hoping she would be closer (if not completely) to sleeping through the night, i.e., so I'd need to wake up less and get more consistent blocks of sleep
@mdroid Drowsy-but-awake is the most commonly suggested alternative, where you put them in the crib once you notice early sleepy cues. Or you can rock baby to sleep, that’s what my husband does when it’s his night.
@mdroid we just held/rocked mine to sleep. we did the “eat-play-sleep” routine, which obviously with a NB it’s not much play lol. I never once nursed as a sleep aid or comfort. she’s been going to sleep independently since 7mos (we did shush & pat sleep training) and sleeping 12hrs thru the night since 10mos. she weaned like a dream; not one time asking for it as we dropped each session or after the last time nursing.
@yoshinat0r My first was a monster when it came to the boob, she could not get enough. Loved to comfort suck and always nursed to sleep. Ended up weaning at 2 because I was pregnant and just so done with breastfeeding. Luckily it took about a week of offering cuddles instead and redirection and she stopped asking. My second is almost one and she seems more indifferent about the boob so I’m hoping weaning will be just as easy.
@davis_steff My first was like that too. Got to the point where if we were in the same vicinity she wanted to be on the breast. I had to put my food down when she stomped her foot at 22 months and said “Mama, suck em booboos now!” It was three days of intense battle before the new order was set and then she never asked again.
My second took “not right now” as an answer and didn’t get fully weened until well over 2.5. One evening I said that we may not do boobs in the morning. The next morning he came in like usual and asked. I said “I don’t think so”. He walked back out and didn’t ask again.
@yoshinat0r It’s me! Hi! I’m the problem case haha. I have a nearly 6 month old and it wasn’t a problem till 1- it became her preferred method of napping and could suckle for like 40 min. It just was a lot of nap trapping. Which is lovely and also hard. 2- she starts to latch poorly when she’s really tired and just doing it for comfort and it’s been really painful at times.
We got her to take a pacifier which I wasn’t keen on but she clearly needs some extra suckling for comfort and I don’t want to prevent her from receiving it. But now the pacifier is an issue because when she wakes up she only wants to suckle me or I need to find the pacifier and put it back in her mouth. She’s gone from sleeping almost through the night to me needing to do that like, up to 20 times a night. I don’t think it’s all the pacifier. Her sleep changed at the four month sleep regression. But it’s been hard and honestly, I’m a bit lost.
@finnfierro Ugh that’s where I’m at. I don’t necessarily think the breast will be an issue for me, and I actually absolutely love being nap trapped haha. But things could always change.
But the pacifier….man I do not want to babysit that pacifier all night long. I know you can train them to find and put it back in themselves…. but idk. I’m a bit lost too.
@yoshinat0r I comfort nursed both my kids. They are 6 and almost 4 now. Both were sleep trained at some point, it helped at the time but didn’t last. Their sleep has gone up and down over the years but is much more tied to their personality than anything I did with them as a baby, imo. So I don’t think comfort nursing necessarily predicts anything to do with sleep.
@yoshinat0r It seems natural and healthy because it is. I’m on my third baby, none of them took to pacifiers well. My first two kids nursed to 2.5 and 3 years, and obviously nursing into toddlerhood is less about nutrition and more about comfort and connection. It was always a mutual thing that I enjoyed sharing with them too, and it was never a big issue as far as them asking for it too much or anything. We always had boundaries around nursing as they got older, like by 18 months or so the rule was no milks outside of the house. They weaned very easily without any drama and transitioned to sweet little habits like putting a hand on my belly for comfort. Both very easygoing, well adjusted kids now at 5 and 8.
I don’t think it’s a bad habit at all. If it feels like what your baby needs and you are comfortable with it, nurse whenever you want for as long as you want.
