Any ideas on what to do about my DD who will only sleep at my breast?

[Cassandra27]

I'm sure it's totally normal, but my 5-week old DD will pretty much only sleep if she's snuggled up next to me with my breast in or near her mouth. She'll start nursing and give it a really good go (20 mintes +), but then she dozes off and won't stay asleep if I put her down on her own. I'm becoming a slave to my rocking chair!

My goal is to have her nurse for as long as she needs to, and then allow me to put her down for the remainder of her nap. As it is, I tend to let her sleep at my breast for 15 minutes or more (for fear of waking her), and then if put her down in the Pack N Play she wakes up wailing after less than 5 minutes. DH has found that she'll sometimes take a pacifier and go back to sleep, but he has to hold it in because lets go and then starts crying again, so that's not much of an alternative.

I go back to work next week, and to save my emotional sanity I would like to have broken the two of us by this habit by then. Will this tendency just work itself out on it's own? She'll be taking bottles of EBM during the day with the nanny while I'm at work, so maybe that will ge her used to other ways to fall asleep? Has anyone found a successful way to deal with this? Or is this all a part of new parenthood that I just need to grin and bear it for now?

p.s. I posted when Jenna was just a few weeks old about how she wouldn't latch on and would only bottle feed. She was a preemie, and I was in tears about how my whole plan to breastfeed was a failure. Several of you replied to my post and made me feel so much better, and to my disbelief, she latched on that night and has never let go since! :) She is doing great, and is gaining weight like a little oinker. A special thank you to everyone who replied to that post.

Cassandra
mom to Jenna, born 02/03/04

[Jacksonvol]

Cassandra,

I have felt your pain. For me, it got markedly better at 6 weeks and really good at 3 months. In the meantime, I spent a lot of time catnapping in the rocker or on the couch. It did seem to help if we swaddled her really well so those little limbs could not flail around and wake her up. Also, she seemed to resist the p-n-p, but would sleep in her swing. It did not even have to be moving and we thought she just like the "closed in" feeling as opposed to the crib or p-n-p. When I just got too sleep deprived, DH would give a bottle of EBM and hold her while I slept. This too shall pass.

Lisa

[ethansmom]

My 5wk preemie stopped doing this at 10 wks. I did find I could nurse him on the bed, lay down with him when he was finished, let him fall asleep, then gradually ease my arm out from under him. He would then sleep for about 30 heavenly minutes.

I also had Grandma hold him so I could sleep!

This too shall pass, this too shall pass, this too shall pass....

Hang in there!

[kijip]

We had a lot of luck with swaddling. I would swaddle my son and then feed and then was able to put him down. I am not sure if you are swaddling but if you are not, it ia worth a try! Our son did not outgrow swaddling until 4-5 months old.

[spu]

Hi Cassandra,

My babies were exactly the same way - (and sometimes even now at 19 mos, they are still fussy about sleeping...) I found a wonderful book called "The No Cry Sleep Solution" by Elizabeth Pantly. It's a warm and nurturing book full of lots of ideas and suggestions to help babies sleep. Charlotte + Else would literally sleep all night latched on for the longest time, so I was desperate to try something so I could at least roll on my side to sleep and we didn't use pacifiers of the CIO method.... Here's what I found to be a smal miracle for us:

When she's done nursing and just about drifting off to sleep, you'll notice her sucking patterns changing from a deep slow suck with swallows to tiny little motions, almost like quivers or chews. You'll also notice her breathing will become more deep and regular and her belly will rise with each breath. At this time, gently insert your pinky into the corner of her mouth and remove your breast without moving her. If she starts to fidget or search for you, put your breast back in her mouth before she comes to a fully wakened state. Wait another 10 seconds or so until her breathing becomes deep and regular again and try again. Eventually, you will be able to remove yourself from her mouth and she will stay asleep. It might take 10 times or so. My advice at this point is to get up v e r y s l o w l y or she'll wake just at the movement of your body.

The goal is to get her used to being alseep with nothing in her mouth. With nursing (or a pacifier) it creates pressure in the mouth that they like. So when you remove yourself, gently place your fingers underneath her chin - kind of like where her tongue would be - this tiny bit of touch helps them feel their own tongue in their mouths and helps them settle.

I hope this helps. And if it doesnt work right away, it may be nature's way of telling you to enjoy every moment of snuggling and nursing and napping and sleeping together because it goes by way too quickly! And congratulations on the breastfeeding success!


susan

twin girls 7.20.02
charlotte + else

http://sunger2.home.comcast.net/bash/nonflash/year.html

[TraciG]

At 4 months old Sydney always falls asleep comfort nursing and for some reason the first 2 weeks she would sleep in the pack N play when we stayed at my MIL's but as soon as we came home that changed she would scream when put down alone so we tried the car seat didn't work out to well either one of the problems was she always wanted to suck & then I always thought she was still hungry ( never took a pacifier) I was so tired every night that she ended up sleeping with me & now she still does !! It might be different since she'll have no choice when u go back to work, for the daytime the swing is all Sydney sleeps in, u could try that.

good luck

[jerseygirl07067]

Swaddling worked well for us. In the early weeks we also found that DD slept better in her car seat, I think it gave her a snuggled up feeling. We even swaddled her and had her sleep in her carseat!

Just make sure to give Jenna as much tummy time as she can tolerate when she IS awake. Also, now that I think of it, DD liked to occasionally nap on her belly too, and I allowed this as long as I could keep my eye on her.

Mary