https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sat, 23 May 2026 07:07:40 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/linking-nursing-and-sleeping#post-587615 Fri, 22 Feb 2013 15:01:06 +0000 ShootingStar 587615@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was reading about the EASY method on Noob Mommy (<a href="http://noobmommy.com/2008/12/easy-routine-from-baby-whisperer.html" rel="nofollow">http://noobmommy.com/2008/12/easy-routine-from-baby-whisperer.html</a>) and it looks you could try it starting around 4 weeks, though she says the key is to be flexible. </p> <p>I'm not a mom yet but I feel like I see people start to mention around 4-6 months that they're ready to sleep train and it's really hard because the baby wants nurse to sleep at every wake up. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/linking-nursing-and-sleeping#post-587533 Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:42:54 +0000 sarac 587533@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I have nursed my 17 month old to sleep since birth, and we love it. The problems involved (needing to find something else soon, having daddy figure something else out) have been way less than the benefits involved for me. Ignoring all the advice against doing it has been one of the best choices I ever made as a parent.</p> <p>If it works for you, do it, and know that you made the best choice for you and your baby! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/linking-nursing-and-sleeping#post-587446 Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:26:01 +0000 honeybear 587446@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I always nursed my LO to sleep when he was an infant. If he wanted to nurse to sleep, we did. Then around 18 mos or so he started wanting to nurse and then have a back rub. So I did that. A few months later, he decided he'd just like the back rub, so I did that. Now he never wants to nurse before sleeping (at most he asks once a day, but he often forgets) and he's 2.5 years old. He still likes a back rub (who doesn't?) at night. He also goes to sleep fairly fast and sleeps like a rock through the night.</p> <p>My feeling is this: If you set up a "habit" of nursing the baby to sleep in infancy, you could be stuck with it for a while, but certainly not forever. (If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say around 2 years.) All human beings figure out how to go to sleep and stay asleep. I don't think that the biological need for sleep can be messed up by nursing an infant down, although you are taking on some "extra" duties for a limited time unless you're willing to break the nursing "habit" without LO's buy-in. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/linking-nursing-and-sleeping#post-587400 Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:15:51 +0000 mrs. tictactoe 587400@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I definitely wouldn't worry about it at this point. I did have to wake Liam up when he would fall asleep nursing in the early weeks to make sure he was getting enough milk as he was a little jaundiced, but no bad habits can be formed yet! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/linking-nursing-and-sleeping#post-587361 Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:03:56 +0000 mediagirl 587361@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Definitely don't worry about it yet! For her first three months, I let M nurse whenever she wanted - and she normally fell asleep after eating. Now she will eat before naps and bedtime but she will be awake after the nursing session. You have so much time ahead of you, try not to stress about this just yet. :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/linking-nursing-and-sleeping#post-587355 Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:02:08 +0000 winniebee 587355@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My son is 9 months old and still takes a bottle before naps and bed....and generally takes good naps and sleeps through the night. He can and does fall asleep on his own when needed.</p> <p>I wouldn't worry about it yet! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/linking-nursing-and-sleeping#post-587348 Fri, 22 Feb 2013 13:59:40 +0000 Kemma 587348@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>According to my midwife, babies don't really form habits until between four and six months old. At the moment it's hormones / chemicals like oxytocin that are knocking baby out while feeding and the fact that it's also hard work for a newborn! It really only becomes a problem if nursing is the only way LO knows how to go to sleep and it becomes a prop for them.</p> <p>At two weeks old you're still in survival mode so don't sweat it!</p> <p>ETA Enjoy those sleepy snuggles while you can, there's nothing quite like it and baby loves being close to you :-) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/linking-nursing-and-sleeping#post-587334 Fri, 22 Feb 2013 13:51:01 +0000 JessiBee 587334@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I have read on here dozens of times (at least) veteran moms cautioning against linking nursing and sleeping. I suspect there is an age where it becomes a problem, and that newborns are still too young to make that connection. (My DD is two weeks old (!!!), and she just about always falls asleep while nursing at the moment.) Is there an age past which it becomes problematic, not just "what babies do"? </p>