Should I nurse my baby to sleep?
While nursing to sleep seems like a healthy, enjoyable nighttime routine, it can lead to poor sleep habits that interfere with your baby’s ability to get a good night’s sleep.
All babies (and adults, for that matter) wake up a number of times throughout the night. Most of us simply fall back to sleep. If you regularly nurse your baby to sleep, however, he’ll need that same cue to help him fall back to sleep during the night. This is true whether your baby sleeps in a crib or shares your bed. Although it may be much easier to nurse during the night if you and your baby sleep share, it will result in more middle-of-the-night awakenings for both of you.
Several studies support what most nursing mothers already know: Breastfed babies take longer than formula-fed babies to develop a pattern of sleeping through the night. Why? First, because breast milk is easier to digest than formula, babies get hungry quicker and wake more often during the night. Second, because breastfeeding is comforting and calming as well as nourishing, it doesn’t take long for a baby to make a connection between nursing and sleep. After a few weeks of nursing your baby to sleep, he won’t know — or want — another way of falling asleep.
Does this mean that you should never nurse your baby to sleep? Of course not. Breastfeeding your baby to sleep can be a wonderful bonding experience, especially in the first month or two when you’re trying to establish a good breastfeeding relationship. But after that, be careful about nursing to sleep every night. Make it a once-in-a-while occasion. Another option: Make nursing a part of your bedtime routine, but do it early enough that your baby doesn’t learn to directly associate that part of his bedtime routine with sleep. After your baby has finished eating, read him a story, sing him a song, or change his diaper one last time. If you separate breastfeeding from the act of falling asleep, even by a few minutes, your baby won’t need to nurse to fall asleep.
If he already has formed this sleep association, don’t despair: It’s never too late to start teaching healthy sleep habits. Here are a few ways to get your baby on the road to falling asleep on his own * Nurse earlier in his bedtime routine, or cut down on the amount of time you nurse at bedtime.
* Breastfeed your baby earlier in the evening instead of making it part of your bedtime routine.
* Keep in mind that you need to make these changes only at bedtime. Once your baby starts falling asleep on his own at bedtime, he’ll quickly start putting himself back to sleep during the night.
Here’s something else for a nursing mother to consider: Are you getting enough sleep yourself? To help you get the rest you need, ask your partner to help out during the nighttime feedings or wakings. Breastfeeding doesn’t have to — and shouldn’t — make you the only middle-of-the-night parent.
Instead, consider these alternatives: Pump before you go to bed and have your partner get up with the baby to give him a bottle of pumped milk or formula. Or, when your baby wakes during the night, let your partner do the feeding while you pump in a separate room and then go back to sleep. After all, pumping may take only ten minutes, while feeding, changing a diaper, and lulling your baby back to sleep can take 45 minutes or longer. Find the system that works best for you and allows everyone to get as much sleep as they can.
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