Nursing while co sleeping?

Geralyn - posted on 08/09/2011

I am closing this conversation because it is from 2009. Thank you.

Kate - posted on 08/09/2011

Yep that sounds about normal, Sophia is 13 mths now and generally is ready for bed by about 7 -7.30, but will wake 45 mins to an hour later for another feed, then again at about 9.30, 11.30 and then hopefully she'll sleep til about 4 am and then cluster feeds till about 6.30 -7. Last night however she woke about 6 or more times through the time she'd been sort of sleeping through.. I can't work out whether she's getting a bit cramped in bed with us now... It was a bit warm last night so she may have been hot too, I just can't quite bring myself to put her in the cot... because that will also mean I have to get out of bed and at least now it's just a case of rolling over :)

KRISTINA - posted on 01/27/2010

My 12 month old is put down awake in our bed and just rolls over to sleep at about 7:45pm and stays asleep alone until about 11-11:30pm, then I go to bed and nurse her, she rolls over and sleeps about a couple of hours after that I have not a clear idea, she pacifies alot, not actually feeding, I have been buttoning up my shirt somewhere in the middle of the night to try to see if she just rolls over and goes back to sleep, to see if it's just out of habit, it's how I night weaned my first baby just slowly cutting back how available I was for BF at night, but still being right next to her....then once that worked, I noticed she slept longer and longer without waking for me...I also started sleeping with a pillow in between us and by 17 months she was sleeping in her queen size big girl bed (with rails, pillows etc) through the night....and she is now 33 months old...and a great sleeper...so I am hoping my 12 month old is similar....they are all different though!

Katrina - posted on 01/27/2010

My baby boy is 12 days old and only wakes up 3-4 times a night between 9pm and 9am... about every 4 hours. He was doing it more frequently, but it is rapidly moving to a more routine every 4-5 hours.

Kylie - posted on 01/14/2010

My first child was waking every 2-3 hours to nurse until she was around 20 months. My second has slept through the night a lot.. hes 14 months now and he wakes up to nurse 1-2 times at most.

Noreen - posted on 01/14/2010

First of all, every baby is different so each person will have a different experience even if we all did the exact same thing when it came to parenting :O)

Abagail is almost 4 months and only wakes up maybe once a night between 12am-6am (the times I go to bed and wake up). So to me, she is "sleeping" through the night since those are the hrs of sleep I get. She might be distracted during the day and not get as much nourishment and need more at night and that is why she is waking.

Alexi - posted on 01/14/2010

I have 4 children and they have all co-slept with me. I do train them in the cot fairly early and they start the night in a cot, but generally end up in my bed. My youngest, is my 9 month old daughter. She has both breast and bottle. I normally manage to settle her with a bottle in her cot, but she goes in awake, the she stays there untill about 3.15am, at which point she comes in my bed for a breast feed. Normally ti is only once or twice. But at the moment i have seperation anxiety issues!!! lol. I did try controlled crying last night...but it is not for me. My boys went into their own beds and slept through the night by age 2, so i anticipate the same for my daughter and i going to stop worrying about it. I am a single mum to 4, so me sharing a bed with the baby is no problem. :)

Bodine - posted on 01/13/2010

She also recommends not rushing too fast when you hear the first call when they wake up. They might just be making sounds in their sleep and you rushing to them is in fact waking them. I used to tickle his head or toes to keep him awake to feed a bit more. Although, I'm not really sure it worked, i did think it might mean he eats a bit more and might not wake quite so quickly.

Karen - posted on 01/13/2010

My 14 month old daughter wakes about every 2 hours or so to nurse. She only nurses for a couple of minutes and then rolls back over and goes to sleep again (if I don't go to sleep with her, she wakes up every 20-30 mins until I come to bed).
For those of you who've read "The No Cry Sleep Solution", does she suggest anything besides not nursing completely to sleep? My daughter rarely nurses all the way to sleep, she usually stops nursing and rolls over and then settles down to sleep.

Laura - posted on 01/07/2010

My daughter is 18 months and she rolls over to nurse about 2 to 3 times a night now on average :)

Amber - posted on 01/06/2010

Thank god I am not the only one I was feeling very lonley....... most people I know don't agree with what I am doing including breast feeding...crazy I know.. My baby is 2weeks and we don't have much of a feeding routine yet but during the night it is aprox every two hrs and a long fussy time from 10pm to about 1am where he just keeps the boob in his mouth the whole time which is why I co sleep otherwise I wouldn't sleep at all. I tried getting up every time he fed but it was way too much..i was falling asleep in the rocker and waking with a neck kink...so I just moved to the bed.

Sammy - posted on 01/02/2010

My LO turns a year old on January 15th and she wakes up anywhere from 2 - 4 times a night to nurse.
Try not to compare Amelia to other babies - they are all different and you're doing the best thing for her by breastfeeding :).

Aleeca - posted on 12/31/2009

My baby is 8 months and nurses at 7pm when i put her to bed, then she usually wakes at 9 to eat, then nurses again when I go to bed around 11 or 12. Then I'm like Bodine and have no idea how often she nurses while I am sleeping. I do know she wakes me around 5 or 6 and then nurses again before we get out of bed around 7.

Breanne - posted on 12/31/2009

My son is 14 mo and wakes about 4-5 times a night to nurse.

Bodine - posted on 12/31/2009

For day time naps, I use a sling. Works a treat. He sleeps really easily and then stays asleep while I can get stuff done (even though he is attached to me) It took a bot of practice but we got the hang of it now. Night time, If I'm out (very very seldom) he will sleep in the sling but for bed time he nurses. I also read the Pantley book and it seems very fair but it is not as easy as she makes it sound. I tried nursing him until just before he falls asleep and then pulling away and repeating until he fell asleep alone .... but he just didn't fall asleep. As soon as I pulled away he would fuss and cry.

Traci - posted on 12/31/2009

She's 23 weeks today. She would take one for a minute or two as a newborn, and will sometimes take one in the car (our last resort weapon against screeching) She has been getting at her fingers and hands, as well as blankets and other fabrics since she was a couple weeks old. We also have a multitude (and I do mean MULTITUDE) of plush animals, rattles and other small sucky things around her play areas.

My husband didn't want me to have to chase the paci around everytime she spit it out, and didn't want to have every photo with a plug shoved in there. On those two fronts, I am glad we didn't. (Seriously. Chasing that paci around for just 10 minutes makes me batty) but I wish she'd have some other form of sucking comfort. As far as sleeping, I am doing my best to implement the things Ms Pantley says in "No Cry Sleep Solution", such as introducing a lovey and other things. We will see how this goes.

Oh, and I finally learned the 'magic hold' that puts her to sleep in minutes. I cannot possibly attempt to describe it, but she loves it when she's tired. This has helped with not nursing her to sleep for naps, but we are still looking for options at night time.

Bodine - posted on 12/31/2009

Hey Tracy how old is your daughter? My baby won't take a pacifier. I tried for the first 5 months but he seemed quite happy with me as his pacifier. I don't want there to be problems of course, but how can I avoid them? Crying isn't an option and I don't see any other solution

Traci - posted on 12/31/2009

Quoting Bodine :

Its very comforting to hear all you speaking about nursing to sleep so casually.

I have to tell you, if I didn't nurse her to sleep, I don't think she WOULD sleep. My husband was adamant about not giving her a pacifier, so she had no other way to soothe herself to sleep except for on my breast.

This, of course, is presenting a problem as she gets older, but we are working on it...

Bodine - posted on 12/31/2009

Its very comforting to hear all you speaking about nursing to sleep so casually.

Bodine - posted on 12/31/2009

My baby is 8 months he goes through stages good and not so good sleeping. But normally he wakes 3 or 4 times between 7pm and midnight when I go to bed and afer that I have no idea ... I sleep through it all. I think when he goes through a clingy stage he must stay latched on nearly all night!!!

Brenda - posted on 12/30/2009

Quoting Leanne:

Quoting Brenda:

5-9 here but sleeps from 11pm to 1pm. 7 months.

11-1?!?! How did you get so lucky?

 

My son would wake up all the time. He'd keep the boob in his mouth most of the night just to have it there.

Well, I don't know how lucky I am.  He only takes two naps during the day, usually 30-45 minutes.  My older son did it too, slept a lot at night, but gave up naps at 20 months.  :)  Of course, some days its later, it all depends on whats going on with him. 

Michelle - posted on 12/29/2009

Quoting Traci:

Wow. Reagan is 23 weeks old and sleeps easily from 8pm to 5-6 am without waking to nurse. Of course, I load her up good before bed... Guess I'm lucky?

Yes.  Yes you are.  :D  *jealous*

Traci - posted on 12/29/2009

Wow. Reagan is 23 weeks old and sleeps easily from 8pm to 5-6 am without waking to nurse. Of course, I load her up good before bed... Guess I'm lucky?

Michelle - posted on 12/29/2009

My kids are older now, but when we were cosleeping/nursing, I don't even know when one feeding officially "ended" and one began. We had a pretty good system, and for the most part I could just sleep through it. MUCH better than getting up, out of bed, getting a crying kid, nursing in a chair, trying to extract myself from him, putting him back down, trying to go back to sleep, and then doing it all over again a few hours later.

I loved those times. Well, maybe not so much then, but I look back fondly now. I miss the warmth and cuddle time.

Leanne - posted on 12/28/2009

Quoting Brenda:

5-9 here but sleeps from 11pm to 1pm. 7 months.

11-1?!?! How did you get so lucky?

My son would wake up all the time. He'd keep the boob in his mouth most of the night just to have it there.

Emily - posted on 12/27/2009

Almost-4-month-old wakes 1-2 times a night to nurse.

Nicole - posted on 12/26/2009

I can't even count- phoebe pretty much stays latched all night while I sleep.

Marcy - posted on 12/23/2009

Lucy-
I have a 3 and 1/2 year old who still nurses. He started sleeping through the night when he was 2 1/2 yrs old. Up until then he nursed at the "all night boob buffet" about 5 times per night and then when he was about 2 yrs old I moved him from our bed to the pack and play next to my bed and the feedings dropped to 1-2 times per night. When he was 2 1/2 we moved him to his big boy bed and the first night he slept throigh the night and has pretty much done so since...

Its very exhausting but it does end and you are doing an amazing thing.....

Brenda - posted on 12/22/2009

5-9 here but sleeps from 11pm to 1pm. 7 months.

Geralyn - posted on 12/22/2009

Oh, definitely. If I include the nursing to sleep and the nursing as waking, definitely in that ball park. Sometimes he'd sleep with the nipple in his mouth ready to nurse! As time went by though, especially as solids during the day increased, he'd nurse for a shorter amount of time at times....

Theresa - posted on 12/22/2009

DD is 9 months and wakes 4-6 times a night to nurse.