When your LO is sick

Kat - posted on 02/03/2012

Thanks Ashley and Anna!



Sometimes i nurse him in the night. lately he wakes up once or twice.he is sick,teething,not eating much.typically he sleeps btw 7-10 hr stretches.yeah i try not to talk 2 ped about that stuff either esp breastfeeding seeing how at his 12 months he talked about getting him to drink whole milk. i believe human milk is better tha cow milk for as long as you can do it.

Anna Marie - posted on 02/02/2012

Our oldest nursed to sleep until after 2. I stopped only ecsuse I was pregnant and couldn't stand nursing long enough to get him to sleep. He is now 5 and falls asleep with just snuggles every night. As I think I've mentioned before, I think ;-), bedtime isnot always my favorite part of the day, but my kids will know that I am always there for them, no matter what time of day. The big one sleeps through the night, but the little one, (27 months) still nurses frequently through the night. I have decided to not ask our doc about a couple things: how long to breastfeed, where my kids sleep and how they sleep.

Trust your gut. He needs you and by filling that need now, he will be better adjusted down the road. He is definitely a 'normal' kid. Sleeping through the night technically means a 5-hr stretch. If he's doing that he's doing more than my little man! Keep it up, Mama.

Ashley - posted on 02/02/2012

Every baby is different and sometimes he may just wake up. If you are wanting him to sleep through the night, this new routine might begin weaning him from nursing if he isn't waking up to nurse anymore. The decision is always yours, and great job breastfeeding you little one!

Kat - posted on 02/02/2012

My son naps with me but recently seems to not want to de-latch from the boob without freaking out and then not going to sleep. I am thinking about trying to get him to nap in his crib and wonder if i should just cut him off from nursing at this point too so its a change and not having to do a change again. What do you guys think?

Heather - posted on 01/30/2012

You child isn't going to sleep through the night completely until they are ready to. Probably around age 2 or 3. You are totally find nursing him to sleep, or when he's sleepy, before naps, or whenever. Nurse him when you want to nurse him. It's not up to your child's Pediatrician, it's up to you. YOU are his mom. Your ped. doesn't live in your house, or with your son. He doesn't know what's going on with your son, hunger pains, growing pains, nightmares, etc. But you do! It is totally fine for him to wake up in the middle of the night, and completely fine for you to nurse him back to sleep! I did it with both of my children, and they are two awesome, well-rounded 4 and 2 1/2 year olds.



Follow your gut and do what your heart leads you to do, especially when it comes to nursing him. I didn't wean my daughter till she was 22 months old. She would have nursed longer if I let her, but I was done.



He will still want to nurse for a while before bedtime, and that's fine. That's totally normal. You aren't messing anything up, he is still a baby for the most part.



You can start giving him a sippy cup of milk before his naps if you want to, instead of nursing him! Then you can start to do this at other times when you are ready to wean him. White Milk, Vitamin D, whole milk. Not skim milk, not 2% milk, give him Whole Milk. It's good for him till he's at least 3 years old. Even though most peds. will tell you not to give it to him after he turns 2. If he isn't eating too well, and he is picky about his food after he turns 2, then whole milk isn't going to hurt him.



Anyways, I hate it when Pediatrician's say things like that.



I hope that you son isn't forward facing in his car seat? He should be rear facing until he's 2 years old now.

Ania - posted on 01/30/2012

I give my son tlenol when he has fever and when I see he is in pain, other than that I just give him comfort. Don't worry about anything, just be a mommy he wants at this age, when he can't communicate well yet

Kat - posted on 01/30/2012

Thanks Ania you are SO right!!! I get up and pee alot. yeah as of today he is sneezing like crazy and has a runny nose. darn cold season! He def loves to nurse when he is sick. do you ever give your LO tylenol?i just dont like the idea of giving it to him every night but i dont want him to be in pain either.

Ania - posted on 01/29/2012

My advice from my own experience is to do whatever is helping your baby. There is no such a thing as always sleeping through the night. MY son is 2years old now and sometimes wakes up because he is dreaming of something or wants water or is sick. Do you always sleep at night? I wake up almost every night to go to the bathroom etc. I stopped following the rules of sleeping books that would say that you have to be persistent with rules and never nurse to sleep or never enter the room once you left because that will lead to waking up and bad sleeping habits. It is completelty stupid. When the time comes your baby will sleep just like everyone else. For now they need our help and compassion and love that's why they have their mommies. Just follow your instinct - that was the best I did for myself and my baby