The Nursing Baby - Q&A

Sleepless in Weehawken asks:
My 5 1/2 month old baby is nursing almost every hour of the night (we co-sleep) and needs to be nursed down for most naps during the day. I don't think this is related to the six month growth spurt. I think she's learned to use me as her means of going to sleep and resettling into sleep at night. Help! What can I do to get more sleep, help her learn to settle herself, yet not compromise my milk supply or her nutrition?

Check out some of our older Q&A's:
http://www.nursingbaby.com/parenting/quest8.htm
http://www.nursingbaby.com/parenting/quest68.htm

Some babies learn to go to sleep by themselves easier than others. It is normal for infants to need moms close by and/or nursing in order to feel safe enough to sleep. Normal, but extremely frustrating for mom if she's a light sleeper! Your baby didn't learn to use you to go to sleep - she was programmed before birth to be reassured by her mother's presence, by your heartbeat, by the very scent of you. A newborn, just hours old, will turn toward the scent of his own mother's milk rather than another. Babies who don't need mom have sometimes "unlearned" to need their mother - and you have to consider whether that unlearning is in your baby's best interests (and it may be, if your interrupted sleep is so exhausting that you can't be a good mother during the day as well!). Others babies have an easy temperament and seem more independent as babies.

My best bet for you is to involve your baby's father - look in the Q&A's for the info on "father-nursing" and for putting baby further from you in the family bed. Dads and grandmas can be great at getting baby to fall asleep with a song or a rocking. My husband used to just put our son on his chest (in the middle of the bed where falling or entrapment with a couch isn't a problem) and the rise/fall of his chest used to put our son to sleep. When a baby has accepted this alternative means of going to sleep from someone else, they will be more likely to accept it from mom.

Hope some of this is helpful. Happy Nursing!

These tips are not intended to be medical advice. Please consult your healthcare provider if you have questions.

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