# NCSS: Suck-Sleep Association -- HELP!



## kristen1978 (Dec 27, 2006)

My DS Curran is 5.5 months, EBF, co-sleep full-time.

Curran is (partially) waking about every 45 minutes to latch on and suckle for a few moments until he falls into a deeper sleep again, and he does this most of the night. I wouldn't mind this at all, except that I have a bad back and cannot get completely comfortable on my side (with him attached, at least) to get good sleep. Therefore, I'm waking fully each time and I often wake due to pain. No configuration of pillows solves the problem. The bottom line is that I NEED to sleep on my back, and in order to do that I NEED to get Curran to sleep without my nipple in his mouth for much of the night.

I've tried Pantley's advice in NCSS, and the issue isn't getting better. If I could consistently unlatch him as she suggests, it probably would break the sleep-suck association, but I'm usually so exhausted that I half-sleep with Curran latched on so that he will sleep, even though I am in pain.







: In the middle of the night this seems better than a crying baby. But, my back is worse every day, and with a 20 pound baby that I wear most of the day, my back HAS to have the opportunity to recover over night. Also, more than 45 minutes of consecutive sleep would be nice, too







.

What should I do? How else can I get him to stay asleep without relatching every 45 minutes all night long? Pantley says thta some babies are stubborn and have to be moved to another bed or even another room in order for the association to be broken . . . . I REALLY do not want to do that!! But, I'm getting desperate. Please help!

Any similar experiences? Advice?


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## Amberoxy (Dec 20, 2007)

Have you tried a pacifier? I am using the NCSS and am also working on breaking the suck sleep association but I'm trying to first substitute the paci for the breast since that seems easier and will allow me to get more sleep at night. Someday, if I ever don't need any sleep for a week - I can then try to remove the paci - hopefully before DS is 18









What I do is keep the pacifier close to us in bed. As soon as DS starts to stir, I usually wake up. I wait a moment to see if he is going to fall back asleep. If not, I try the paci. That sometimes works, but not always. If not, then I offer him the breast. When he starts to slow down, I try to remove the breast. If that doesn't work, I offer the paci. That will usually get him back to sleep with the paci in his mouth instead of the breast and is quicker than getting him to go back to sleep with nothing at all. However, sometimes he will go back to sleep without either the breast or the paci.

I'm not sure if this is a good recommendation or not since this is my first baby - it is just what I kind of ended up doing to try to get enough sleep. I work at home but regular office hours so need to be as awake as possible during the day or I end up not doing well at being a mom or an employee. Hopefully, I won't regret it later when it is time to take the paci away.

Good luck!!!


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## ed_tricia (Feb 12, 2007)

Is it possible to let him suck for a few min., break suction gently, and then have DP rock or pace with him until he gets into that deeper sleep? That sometimes worked w/ DD.
Has he done this consistently, or is it a fairly recent development? I noticed DD would do the suck-sleep thing more if she was teething, sick or getting sick, reaching a new milestone (sitting, crawling, etc) or had not napped well. I don't know how to fix it, but if it is something like that, it may improve on its own soon once the tooth, illness, developmental stage, passes.
Good luck! I know it's tough.


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## amandaleigh37 (Jul 13, 2006)

no advice here, but we're in the same boat so i feel for you!


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## PPK (Feb 15, 2007)

DS is 6 months and did pretty well w/the pull-off when I was consistent, but I had the same issue of falling asleep as well. What finally got things to change was when I went back to work recently and dh had to take care of his nightwakings. The first night was rough, ds cried in dh's arms for 30 minutes, after that, it was 15, 10...etc.

Its been a week and he can usually fall back asleep after dh gives him a bottle of EBM and rubs his chest. To be consistent, I decided to no longer nurse in bed lying down. Its really tough to pull myself up at night, but its really helped tremendously.

During the day I nurse him on the living room couch, and at night I sit up in bed with him. At naptimes I feed him on the couch, then bring him onto our bed, swaddle him, and close my eyes and lay w/him and rub his chest and he falls asleep between 2-5 minutes. Tonight I didn't even lay w/him, I just sat there and rubbed for a minute and left! Other times, he fusses for about 2 or 3 minutes while I lay there and rub him till asleep. The first few times he was crying and was upset for about 5 minutes, (but I was laying there and in contact the whole time, also I knew he was very well fed before laying him down, so hunger wasnt' a possibility). So, the first two days he was really mad a few times, otherwise, and since then he's great.

Its really, really helped everything. I noticed he isn't waking as frequently either, don't know if its a result of this, or because half the nights its dh who comes in to take care of him









For us it had to be done. Since I'm back to work at nights, I didn't want ds to go through confusion and upset everytime he woke. I miss not cuddling with him nursing and laying down at the same time, but it was the best decision I feel to help him be more at peace when I'm not there, kwim?


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## kristen1978 (Dec 27, 2006)

??


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## wondertwins (Oct 12, 2007)

Have you tried nursing while lying on your back? I actually prefer to sleep on my side, but I co-sleep with twins and am not comfortable turning my back to one. They also tend to wake at the same time to nurse. Laying on my back I pull each one right up under my armpits, they lie on thier sides and prop their heads on my arms. They're able to nurse and we all doze off in this position.


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## PatchChild (Sep 1, 2006)

I'm taking notes here. I'm in the same boat with my 9mo.


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