Hi girls

My LO only tends to get to sleep by feeding, but I want to be able to put her in her crib awake & her get herself to sleep. I don't see how I can do this tho as she will only go asleep at night when she is full, and ALWAYS falls asleep on my boob when she's full, so I don't know how I can break the habit? She also uses my boob as a dummy, she can sometimes be on the same boob for an hour.

I know I can start trying to put her down at a certain time every night & see what happens (as she will go asleep herself sometimes - by sucking her thumb) but I don't know when to do it as I don't know when she will have had enough milk to be able to sleep for the night (she normally sleeps between 6 & 8hrs, altho slept for 12hrs last weekend) as some nights she only has 1 feed off each boob after her bath & then goes asleep, but others she can be feeding constantly for hours, having 5 or 6 feeds.

I've tried her with a dummy as I think that will help get her asleep (or keep her asleep when she's fallen asleep on me, as sometimes she wakes up when I put her down) but she doesn't keep it in her mouth, just messes with it with her tongue (like she does the bottle - she will occasionally have EBM from a bottle but more often than not just plays with the teat & doesn't suck )

I want her to be able to get to sleep without me so that if I ever go out (if she'll take from the bottle....) I don't have to worry that her Dad/grandparents won't be able to get her asleep.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!!

Theakstons the same but recently has started coming off the breast still awake and then quickly falling asleep in my arms, he also sucks his hand to get back to sleep in the night if he's not hungry. I didn't do anything though, he's just done it by himself so maybe your LO will ease off too? Sorry I've got no advice!

Katie occasionally does that - I hear her sucking her hand in the middle of the night & I think she's gonna wake up, but then she goes back off to sleep.

I could have written that! Ilana does sometimes come off asleep and go to sleep but is is rare as like Katie she needs to be full to sleep through and she usually nods off at the boob then!

I do try to make bathtime the same every night and then have her asleep by a certain point - she has her bath at 5.30 and then feeds from 6ish until 7.30-8pm. It's very rare that she's still feeding past this point. If Katie is similar, maybe try always putting her down at the same time even if she's awake, and then once she's used to that making it 5 minutes earlier every day/every couple of days? I think I'm going to try that.

Have you tried keeping her awake when you feed her? Tickle her toes or play with her ears. Then put her down as soon as she is finished and winded.

If it has become a habit with her and you are looking to break it, you can espect some tears. But she will get the message quite quickly.

Abby brings her hand to her face and either sucks her fingers or just strokes her face. You could maybe encourage her to do this by helping her find her face with her hands.

Olivia just grew out of falling asleep on the boob and comfort sucking at around 5 months but I may just have been one of the lucky ones.

Perhaps try rousing her slightly before the end of the feed as suggested above? Sorry cant offer any more advice xx

I've got no real advice for you, sweetie. Otter does the same thing. Lots of comfort sucking and falling asleep on the boob. However, I know Nonnie gets him to sleep for his naps just fine during the day (when Otter wants to cooperate!). She usually rocks him to sleep, sometimes using a dummy. She does a lot of singing and humming, too.

Does Katie fall asleep for naps without the bb? How does she do that? Can you try to translate that into night? As for knowing when she is done, I agree with the other lady. Can you judge when she is about to go to sleep, wake her, burp her, then put her down?

I've thought about waking her but TBH when it's getting late I'm scared of doing this for fear of getting no sleep!!! I will try it tho.

TL she will go down for a nap during the day if I'm lucky (this child doesn't seem to need much sleep!! ) like today she fell asleep on the boob so I put her down, but she woke up straight away, I left her & after about 10mins of whingy cries she fell asleep sucking her thumb, and 3hrs later is still asleep but normally when she does that she only lasts about an hour or 2 so I worry that if she does it at night she will be up again very soon after, will give it a go tho. I have tried it a couple of nights ago but she just ended up screaming the place down.

Hi Elliebank,

From what I understand, the controlled crying/cry-it-out method of sleep training is not recommended for babies under six months (and I personally wouldn't recommend it at all under a year or more).

Why is it a problem if she nurses to sleep? It sounds like she is getting lots of sleep at night, so it is obviously contenting her and allowing her to sleep well. I guess I don't understand the point of nursing her to sleep THEN waking her up to allow herself to cry herself to sleep. I would bet serious money that she will rapidly cease to sleep such long stretches at night if you do that. Maybe if you don't look at her nursing to sleep as a 'bad habit which she must be stopped from' and instead look at it as an important part of your mothering of your little girl -- she loves you and she loves her boobie, and she is very happy to fall asleep nursing. IMHO, a baby of three months is too young to have a habit, but rather only has needs, including falling asleep in a warm, loving embrace.

Jack always nurses right before bed. Sometimes he will rouse a little but we put him in his crib and rub his belly and stroke his head and he falls asleep for 6-8 hours at night. He will also fall asleep on his own during the day for naps by sucking his fist or sometimes while he's having a cuddle or a feed. His grandma and dad can both put him to sleep by rocking and singing to him (at least when he's not hungry) or, like I said, sometimes he falls on his own. I'm not worried that, when the time comes, he will be able to fall asleep with a bottle of EBM and some cuddles/rocking, but until it's necessary, I'm content to feed him at night.

I don't begrudge him nursing and pacifying himself on my boob as I know a) I'm his mother so I'm the most comforting thing in his life and b) he is making sure my supply is regulated for his growth/development needs to come. Especially since nursing has resulted in his excellent sleep patterns (so far, anyway), I wouldn't change a thing.

I think the trick is to avoid her falling asleep in the first place. Let her get to the drowsy stage but not asleep.

You can still offer comfort once she is in her bed, using touch and a soothing voice.