Patented womb-like bed that soothes even the most restless baby to sleep. Excellent for preemies and babies with colic and reflux.
Amby Baby hammock and motion bed for infants. Infant sleep aid helps babies with reflux, colic, and sleeping problems.
Miyo Baby Hammock
That seems to be a common concern/question many nursing moms have, with a lot of doctors and so called experts and grandmas discouraging moms from nursing their babies to sleep by saying “you have to teach them to get themselves to sleep or they will never be able to fall asleep on their own!!” When my second son was an infant , it was the first time I had to make a decision about nursing to sleep and I felt confused about why it should be considered beneficial to give up such an effective tool. Would I really ruin his ability to learn to fall asleep on his own? Would I end up with a child who fought bedtime and needed me to get up with him every time he woke in the night, forever?
I decided to ignore the “don't nurse your baby to sleep!” advice, and this is what happened.
During the first year I'd spend anywhere from twenty to forty-five minutes nursing him at bedtime. Usually that seemed dictated by his hunger level - he would stay awake actively drinking milk till he was satisfied, then he would drift off. I learned to be sure of the depth of his sleep before I put him down so that he wouldn't be awakened by the change of position. The advice given in the Sears' Baby Book was helpful - they remind mothers to wait until the baby's limbs are limp before putting the wee one down. If you fail to respond to this cue, you may wake the babe and have to start all over, and that is frustrating! In that year, we heard stories from friends with babies about their midnight trials walking the hall holding a crying baby, trying to get them back to sleep after a night waking. We could not relate, it didn't happen at our house!
At about the same time our son began crawling, we introduced a consistent bedtime routine in anticipation of the time when he voluntarily stopped nursing to sleep. We felt it was important to have non-nursing sleep associations already established so the transition would be smooth. A bedtime story and the same soft music every night during nursing made the bedtime hour pleasant and gave our son time to ease into sleep mode. These signals continue to be effective and relaxing to him as he nears five years old.
There were a few times when our son was an infant that I had to be away at bedtime, and he seemed to be well aware that daddy had no milk, and let daddy soothe him to sleep in his own way with the routine we had established.
Developmental stages like learning to walk as well as a food allergy were very disruptive to his sleep patterns at one point, and he began waking more frequently. While this was frustrating, having the ability to nurse him back down was the saving grace through that difficult period.
After he had learned to walk, my little one began to drift off less during his bedtime nursing. I noticed he was in a lighter state of dozing when I put him down. This happened gradually and not at a steady rate. Some weeks it occurred more often, some less.
At that point, he began to unlatch and sit up during our bedtime nursing session. I was confused and would encourage him to finish, not wanting him to wake hungry again in an hour. After a few days of this I thought, wait, he's telling me something - he's done and he's ready to lie down! From that point on I knew for sure that nursing to sleep was a phase he was going to grow out of at his own pace. He had shown me that he could let me know when he wanted to stop, and that he could now lie down without being totally asleep. Seeing him begin to respond to his own needs and beginning to mature in his sleep patterns was a big milestone and taught me that it really was going to happen with or without me!
The next development was that I could stop the nursing session myself without protest from him, and lie him down drowsy but awake. He would then drift off to the sound of his nighttime music while cuddling close to his lovey and blankey.
A few months later, I could put him down basically awake, but relaxed, after a few minutes of nursing. Occasionally he would let go and say, “I'm done” and I would lay him down. I anticipated the day that he was content to merely cuddle, refusing my suggestion to nurse. I knew it was going to happen sooner or later.
Eventually, he was down to only a few seconds of nursing before bedtime each night. He was still content to sleep in his crib next to my bed. During a spring-cleaning session I decided to set up the toddler bed in his room. I thought it would be a good place to cuddle and read. He asked about it and I casually said to him that one day he would sleep in it and it would be his very own cozy bed.
Within three days he insisted on sleeping in his bed. We never asked him to do it. When he wanted to we were really low key and just said “Oh, ok.” A couple of times he awoke and spent the remainder of the night in his crib but by the second week he had decided to stay put all night. This was a shocking enough development, but even more surprising was the effect this had on our nursing to sleep routine… he began to forget to ask to nurse at bedtime and would ask instead for cuddles.
As he nears five years old, our son continues to have healthy sleep habits. He doesn't fight getting into bed and doesn't get up after he's been tucked in. He sleeps well through the night and doesn't require any help getting back to sleep if he wakes to use the bathroom. All the negative things I was told would happen if he nursed to sleep simply never materialized.
It's true that not every baby can be nursed to sleep every time. Colic, over stimulation, overtiredness, growth spurts… all those things can and do interfere with baby's sleep pattern. If there's anything that stays the same, it's that a baby's sleep pattern is bound to change. Think of nursing to sleep as a parenting tool, and to use it to the full extent that it is effective for you. If it works most of the time, use it most of the time. If it works sometimes, use it sometimes. But do use it to make your life easier. It's not a bad habit, and it isn't permanent. It's just a really powerful tool that you will have for a short time in your child's life, so make the most of it that you can. Like my husband says, “Why would I use a mediocre tool when I have a first-class one right here?”
crying baby sleep
