recently, I have problem getting my 4 months old baby OFF my breast. She needs to be breastfed to sleep. And if I took out my breast, she will start looking for it after 10 minutes. I've tried many many nights not to give in but she kept screaming so loud as if she's in so much pain (well I know she's not). I've try took the breast out before she sleep and try to pat her to sleep, still not working, she will cry after a while and wanna suck on the breast. That way, she will doze off very fast. But my breasts need to be there, "standby" for her when she suddenly woke up to look for her walking pacifier. Also, she rejects all kind of feeding method of expressed breastmilk, I've tried bottle, dropper, syringe, spoon... nothing work, she only want direct breastfeed. I can't go anywhere else because I am totally stucked with her demand.Is there any way to get her drink from the bottle and not sleep on my breast?
Usually if baby is used to mom being around she will obviously prefer the breast. Many babies (much younger than 4 months) will refuse a bottle if they are not used to it & particularly if mom is nearby. Do you really mind that she needs you there all the time at this stage? If not, this is a short phase of your baby's life & it helps meet her need for security if you are there. Later on, you may look back & treasure these times nursing your baby to sleep!
If you really want someone else to put her down to sleep or give her a feed, then it would be helpful if you remove yourself at least to another room.
Ask the person giving the feed to wrap your baby in a piece of clothing that you have worn so that your familiar smell is still there
Try initially introducing bottles at a time your baby is still drowsy - often before they are fully awake babies will start to suckle on a teat.
Put your expressed milk in the bottle.
Ask the person offering the bottle to hold baby close in a position similar to the one you use for breastfeeding.
Try rocking the baby while offering the bottle.
Some babies never take a bottle, but once they start solids in the second half of the first year you can try encouraging other drinks in a cup !!
Any tips from other moms with similar concerns ??
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7 comments:
Yes, my baby also wants to suckle to sleep...and now at 3 months, I just allow him to..sometimes I can managed to sleep on his own without suckling but it is not easy.
If I am tired, I will sleep in the other room and my hubby will be kind enough to room in with the baby. I find this way, my baby also sleeps through the night and all of us get enough sleep. I don't know whether this is the right thing to do.. When I sleep with my baby, he'll still wake up for at least one feed during the night.. Please advise..Thanks!
jessica, your baby can sleep through the night without waking up for feed at all at 3 months???? How did you do that? My girl at 4 months now still demand for feed like every 3 hour.
hi jessica and vivianz,
my baby is 7 months old and he still needs to nurse to sleep and STILL doesn't sleep through the night ha ha!
at around 5 months, i started co-sleeping with him and found life so much easier. i am rested and i sometimes don't even remember how many times i woke up in the night.
these couple of weeks, i've noticed that there have been a few occasions where my baby managed to comfort himself back to sleep without me nursing him at all. AND, i managed to put him to sleep just carrying him while we were in church.
so...i don't worry as much now about 'spoiling' my baby and i know that the day will come when he won't need me anymore so...i'll just let him nurse as often as he wants to while he still wants to.
OH my baby is 18 months and still wakes me up like 3 to 4 times a night!! She just wakes up for comfort sucking and won't let go. SO recently I've just tried putting my pinky into her mouth to break suction and tell her "sleep, don't disturb mama." Initially she cried, but now she'll let go and just turn around and go back to sleep. She still wakes me up often, only thing is that she doesn't latch on as long as she used to anymore, and if I break suction she just sleeps instead of cry. I guess, they eventually learn to go back to sleep on their own. It's a matter of when! haha... I think diff babies have diff timings.
Martha
Hi,
My baby just started on his solids about a month ago and I started off with just a tablespoon every breakfast and lunch time after a full nursing session. BUT, I've noticed that if I give more, he'll still finish it. How much solids should an 8 month old be having? Is it possible to give him too much and have it become a habit?
Also, my baby doesn't seem to know/want to drink from a bottle at all so I tried to teach him to drink from the AVENT sippy cup. However, he is not getting anything out of it and just ends up chewing the tip. Is there another type of cup that anyone can recommend?
Thanks for any help!
Hi vivianz,
My baby is 3 months old and I allowed her to comfort herself to sleep. When I know that she is no longer drinking but just suckling for comfort, I will pull away while she is drowsy and put her on the bed and pat her till she falls asleep. She cried initially but she began to learn to suckle her own fingers (its a form of learning to comfort herself) Eventually she can comfort herself to sleep when she wakes up in the middle of the night with or without feed.
And I put her to bed same time every night to create a routine for her. My husband and I will try to keep her awake after 5 every day by playing or reading to her, so that we can put her to bed by 9 and give her her feed later in the night before I go to bed at 11 or 12. Usually by then she will be tired and sleeps through the night. Now she seldom wakes up for night feed.
My boy has been on mom's breast for 3 1/2 months now. He has used the bottle ,but usually when friends/family babysat and we were out. He decided all of a sudden that he only wants the boob and completely refused the bottle. OK, now this means war. So it was a true battle of wills. It's hard to not give in, but he is spoiled-- NO DOUBT about it. He cried and wailed all day with our bottle-feeding attempts, but decided that he picked the wrong parents to test. The next day, he began drinking from the bottle again. Babies are all different, thank goodness this worked out for us.
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