Breastfeeding to sleep issue

[pupa]

I after some suggestions

I have a 5 month old who is fully breastfed. She has slept beautifully through the night since she was born of coarse only to wake for night feeds which can be 1 -2 times per night now. When she wakes at nights she does not cry. She will just waits for me to pick her up and if this I take my time she will call for me. I put her in bed with me feed her (which we usually drop off to sleep together) and then when I wake I put her back in her cot. No problems. Sleeps 12 hours every night.

The issue I have is during the day. She used to sleep for 40 mins every hour. I used to wrap her put the Sounds for Silence cd on and she was out like a light in 5 minutes. It was magic until she turned 4 months and decided she did not want to be wrapped anymore.

So I can no longer wrap her as she gets frustrated and now she will only go to sleep maybe every two hours which does not bother me or seem to bother her. But no more cd and will only fall asleep at breast she wont even take a dummy. She has never liked it I must say. I tried for 10 days to put her in her cot to self settle but she just plays.

Any suggestions Need sanity during the day

[krysalyss]

If you are keen on a dummy - have you tried a few different types? My DS only takes the orthodontic ones but others prefer the cherry ones.
Also I dont think playing in the cot is too much of a problem. Sometimes when I put my DS down for a nap he just has a bit of a play. As long as he is happy then I don't mind. If he really looks like he isn't sleepy (maybe I misread his tired signs) then if I get him up he is generally a bit refreshed.

She will start to sleep a lot less as she gets older and will interact more with the environment and find more interesting. Often this happens all of a sudden and without much warning. Sometimes you just need to go with it a little bit.

Perhaps leave her up a bit more between sleeps and put her in when she is actually tired. At 6 months now my DS has two sleeps for 1.5 hours during the day and is up for three hours between. They are all different though so sometimes you just need to play around a little bit until you get the balance right (and then they change on you again. lol)

HTH

[pupa]

Thanks for your feedback

I must say that amount of sleep she has does not bother me so much but I have tried to go out a few times without her and she will just not sleep until I return. We had this happen just yesterday. I left her with mum (who has seen everyday since birth). She was fed, changed and ready for sleep. She had already been up for two hours. I was gone for two hours and she stayed up the whole time. Mum tried everything. As soon as I got home I put her on the breast and she literally flaked it in 1 minute flat. We were all laughing. As funny as it may be it really does possess a problem.

I would really like to detach her from the breast as a sleeping tool. She used to take the dummy but just does not want to know about it anymore.

[krysalyss]

Start to introduce other sleeping tools (eg music, a blanky, aromatherapy etc) when you are feeding to sleep and gradually try to emphasise those more than the breast so you can eventually do a changeover where she relies only on the new sleeping tools. Just a thought.
HTH

[Barb Glare]

Hi,

Does it matter that she has a breastfeed to go to sleep during the day? Many a mother of an older baby or toddler (OK, any baby, really) blesses the fact that she can apply a few magic "knockout drops) at her breast and baby is asleep in seconds. Many mothers find a feed, play, feed (just a little one usually to get them to sleep) routine works best, and babies thrive on the extra milk and are content for longer. some people worry that this will mean only mummy can put the baby to sleep. This rarely happens - babies know when mum isn't available and quickly make other arrangements. Granny lucked out this time, but with more practise she will get the hang of it - lots of rocking and cuddling are the keys.
Regards
Barb

[pupa]

Hi All

Thanks again for the feedback I know that its just a phase and she will grow out of it. I just dont want her to be grumpy when I am not around and she cant sleep especially if I plan to go back to work in the near future