Little J has just recently fallen in love with nursing. Yes, it took him almost 5 months to decide that his one job was super awesome, but he's now finally comfort nursing and nursing to sleep. I haven't weighed him, but he feels a bit chunkier, and his diapers are looking a bit small on him, which relieves some nagging worries I had regarding his weight gain and fussy nursing.
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| Here is a photo of a nursed-to-sleep baby. |
I'm sure you've heard someone say "Don't nurse them to sleep! They'll NEVER learn how to self-soothe!" I'd like to point out how little sense this makes.
- "never" - I'm sure there are many parents, sending their kids off to college, who wish their 18-year-old still needed them to settle in for the night and sleep peacefully.
- "self-soothe" - What does self-soothing look like in an infant? Infants are designed for self-preservation, and they are very good at hollering when things aren't right. Even though you sometimes can't figure out what they need, and meeting their needs looks like pacing with a fussy baby, you can usually figure out what they need simply by holding them. You pick them up, hold them close to your chest, and very often figure out in the process that they have a full diaper or want to nurse. This is how babies soothe themselves: by demanding and receiving comfort from mom or dad. And sometimes, in the early months, dad "the boob-less" just doesn't cut it. Thumbs and pacifiers can sometimes be a momentary distraction, but whenever possible, nursing should meet the suckling needs, not a pacifier and not a thumb.
- "nurse them to sleep" - So it's time for baby to sleep. He is fussy, he is tired, and you know by the clock that it's most likely time for a nap. You cuddle him, sing to him, and pop him into bed. He drifts off to sleep all by himself, and you think you won the baby jackpot. A week later, maybe even a day later, you do the same routine, and instead of drifting off to sleep contentedly, he fusses and talks and screeches, so you try to cuddle them back to sleep. While cuddling him, he aggressively smashes his face on your boobs. Hint, hint, mom, can you guess what he wants? You nurse him to sleep, and he konks out hard, for a good solid nap. So the next nap, you try to put him down without nursing, and he again tells you specifically what he needs. And the next nap, and the next, until it's been a week and he's taking great naps, growing well, and nursing to sleep. You've had some good down time while he sleeps, he's been happy and reaching new milestones...and so what's the problem with nursing to sleep in this stage?
