https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Thu, 30 Apr 2026 01:38:41 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/why-is-nursing-to-sleep-looked-down-on#post-1001959 Thu, 08 Aug 2013 20:39:03 +0000 mrsjyw 1001959@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>we still nurse to sleep and a sometimes is awake after sometimes drowsy, he still falls asleep and has no trouble putting himself to sleep! he's slept through the night since 12 weeks and we are not going to change a thing! we do not nurse for naps and he most def falls asleep on his own. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/why-is-nursing-to-sleep-looked-down-on#post-1001939 Thu, 08 Aug 2013 20:36:09 +0000 shopaholic 1001939@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrbee: Thanks!</p> <p>@zippylef: @JoJoGirl: @Weagle: @Weagle: @Dandelion: I guess I never really thought about the day when nursing or feeding would no longer make her sleepy. I guess I will have to read up on when kids stop drinking milk before they go to sleep. I have a lot to learn still! </p> <p>@hilsy85: eek! Don't say that! 6 months is right around the corner! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/why-is-nursing-to-sleep-looked-down-on#post-998262 Thu, 08 Aug 2013 06:25:34 +0000 Dandelion 998262@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@shopaholic: I'm with you...I didn't know it was frowned apart 6 years ago. I nursed DS to sleep until it no longer put him to sleep...around a year, I think. Then I would just nurse him and then he'd go to sleep. We weaned at about 15 months. He has always been a really great sleeper, though.</p> <p>At 6 years old, I can confidently say that he's able to put himself to sleep no problem. In fact, he can pretty much close his eyes and sleep as soon as he tries. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/why-is-nursing-to-sleep-looked-down-on#post-998249 Thu, 08 Aug 2013 06:04:22 +0000 Weagle 998249@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Ditto to what @mrbee: said. For us, nursing to sleep was great! Until it wasn't. Around 6 months my LO would no longer fall asleep reliably for naps while nursing, and basically stopped napping. We waited a while, but eventually nap trained. Nighttime sleep was a totally different, mug easier process. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/why-is-nursing-to-sleep-looked-down-on#post-998225 Thu, 08 Aug 2013 05:34:52 +0000 JoJoGirl 998225@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@hilsy85: This exactly.</p> <p>It's just seen as taking away baby's ability to fall asleep on their own, which makes it harder for them to sleep long stretches AND fall asleep later when they are no longer nursing. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/why-is-nursing-to-sleep-looked-down-on#post-998222 Thu, 08 Aug 2013 05:32:57 +0000 hilsy85 998222@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I don't know about it being looked down upon but I think the main reason a lot of people advise against it is, as others have mentioned, that it can become a crutch that keeps babies from self soothing. Ferber compares it to going to sleep in your bed and waking up on your front lawn--another words, babies go to sleep under one condition: nursing, next to mama; and wake up at some point during the night while transitioning sleep cycles in a completely different condition--in their crib alone. That can be very disconcerting for some babies and leads to lots of crying, understandably. Other babies have no issue with the switch. So hopefully K won't have an issue! I think it usually starts to happen around 6 months when object permanence comes into play. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/why-is-nursing-to-sleep-looked-down-on#post-998197 Thu, 08 Aug 2013 03:56:14 +0000 erinpye 998197@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I nursed to sleep and it didn't cause a single problem when we stopped giving bottles before bed shortly after DD's 1st birthday. Milk has things in it that make baby sleepy--it's a great tool and naturally sleep-inducing, so why not use it? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/why-is-nursing-to-sleep-looked-down-on#post-998185 Thu, 08 Aug 2013 02:55:18 +0000 Kemma 998185@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think part of it is the whole "don't hold the baby too much, baby needs to be independent, you're spoiling the baby" rhetoric that still floats around in western culture.</p> <p>Personally, nursing to sleep has been a lifesaver for us since Miss A got active at six months even though she was previously quite capable of self-soothing and putting herself to sleep. Nursing down allows her mind to unwind and relax and I'm confident that we won't be nursing to sleep forever :-)</p> <p>@shopaholic: You might like this blog post about nursing to sleep - I have it bookmarked!</p> <p><a href="http://nursememama.com/2013/04/30/its-ok-to-nurse-to-sleep/" rel="nofollow">http://nursememama.com/2013/04/30/its-ok-to-nurse-to-sleep/</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/why-is-nursing-to-sleep-looked-down-on#post-998169 Thu, 08 Aug 2013 02:25:04 +0000 loveisstrange 998169@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Ditto @mrbee: . I think a lot of people see it as a crutch and preventing the child from learning to self-soothe.</p> <p>That being said. There will come a time when eating no longer puts baby to sleep, so then is as good a time as any to stop doing it. Just do what you think best. C is 16 months and still gets a bottle of water or milk before bed because she finds it soothing, </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/why-is-nursing-to-sleep-looked-down-on#post-998089 Thu, 08 Aug 2013 00:57:18 +0000 Mrs. High Heels 998089@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I agree with everything @mrbee: said! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/why-is-nursing-to-sleep-looked-down-on#post-998088 Thu, 08 Aug 2013 00:56:30 +0000 BoogieBea 998088@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think it's frowned upon depending on which sleeping technique you follow. I tried very hard not to nurse my first to sleep in the beginning but we ended up using the rock to sleep method which I'm not sure is any better. Eventually, I resorted to nursing anyway. Then we sleep trained at 6.5 months. With my second, I decided to just nurse to sleep from the get go because it was the easiest and fasted way to put her to sleep. When you have a baby and a toddler, you need to do everything quickly. She has always been a good sleeper though so that made the entire process easier. She dropped her night feedings on her own and no more wakings by 9/10 months. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/why-is-nursing-to-sleep-looked-down-on#post-998079 Thu, 08 Aug 2013 00:46:56 +0000 mrbee 998079@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It's not that it's looked down on... it's that it can be really helpful if your LO can learn how to self-soothe and fall asleep by themselves. Once they can do that, they are generally able to sleep better and for longer periods of time.</p> <p>That said, nursing to sleep is wonderful on so many levels... and each baby is different, so what works for one may not be what works for another. Following your baby's cues is a really important part of whole process, I think! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/why-is-nursing-to-sleep-looked-down-on#post-998073 Thu, 08 Aug 2013 00:40:01 +0000 shopaholic 998073@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I don't understand why so much sleep training has issue with nursing to sleep? I suppose it's a problem when LOs are older and don't need to eat before a long stretch of sleep? But not quite sure when that happens?</p> <p>I've always nursed K to sleep and haven't seen the issue with it. I think of it like tanking her up for a long night without eating. If she falls asleep after nursing for a good amount of time, why would anyone in their right mind want to wake LO up, stimulate with a book or play, and then try to put LO back to sleep? Am I totally missing a "duh" train of thought?<br /> Does DH feeding with a bottle to sleep count as the same thing? </p> <p>Also, I am quite unsuccessful with nursing to nap, so I don't see it as the same thing. </p>