When my sons were born, I have to admit I would have done just about anything to get them to sleep. Nursing was usually the only way I could get them to sleep. I usually feel asleep right along with them, right there in the nursing chair. This is, of course, not recommended!
Here’s what our “resident” Mommy MD Guide, Rallie McAllister, MD, MPH, a mom of three, family physician, and coauthor of The Mommy MD Guide to Getting Your Baby to Sleep shares about her own experience nursing her babies to sleep:
I loved nursing each of my babies. I had my middle son when I was in my second year of medical residency. When I came home from a long day of working at the hospital, I couldn’t wait to scoop up my baby and nurse him. It was our special snuggling and bonding time. I wanted to hold him as long as I could before bedtime, because I knew I’d have to get up early for work the next day.
I made the serious mistake of allowing my son to nurse until he fell asleep most evenings. Sometimes I dozed off right along with him.
Before I knew it, I had created a demanding little monster. My son wouldn’t even think about going to sleep at night unless he was in my arms and nursing. He might be sound asleep, but whenever I tried to remove him from my breast and put him in his crib for the night, he would instantly be wide awake and start to wail. It wasn’t his fault; I had inadvertently conditioned him to associate nursing with falling asleep.
It took a long time and a lot of crying and missed sleep to reverse this pattern, but it was a very good lesson for me. When my youngest son was born, I was completing my final year of residency. I still cuddled and nursed him when I came home from work in the evenings, but I made sure that we both stayed awake.
As soon as my son had his fill, I ended his nursing session and put him in his crib to go to sleep. We still got to snuggle and bond, and we both slept better!
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