# Nursing to sleep AND pick up/put down?



## talimelle (Jan 7, 2009)

Currently, my 5-1/2 mo DS is being nursed to sleep for most naps and when he wakes up every 1-3 hours at night. The only other way he'll fall asleep is in the stroller or car, and very occasionally, DH can get him to sleep. I really love nursing him to sleep, and don't really want to stop. My problem is that during the day I have a lot of trouble putting him down for naps, unless I'm lying with him. He basically sleeps with the nipple in his mouth, and does this a lot at night as well, so that some nights he's latched for hours. This wouldn't be a problem except that my back is killing me from lying in the same position all night so I'm not sleeping well either. I think the problem is that he has trouble getting himself back to sleep between sleep cycles. Even thought The Baby Whisperer has a lot of bad advice in it, I am intrigued by the pick up/put down technique of teaching the baby to go to sleep on his own. But the way Tracy Hogg teaches it, you avoid nursing or rocking baby to sleep and always put him down awake. I don't want to stop nursing him to sleep, but I want him to learn to stay asleep or go back to sleep on his own. Has anyone done a modified pick up/put down technique and still nurse to sleep?

thanks, Natalie


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## dmpmercury (Mar 31, 2008)

My son was like that he didn't take long naps and wanted to be latched on all night and woke constantly. His long stretches were 2 hours but usually he woke more than that. It was seriously affecting me and I wasn't functioning during the day because I can't sleep like that. I didn't want to do something abrupt or CIO but I had to do something.

The first thing I did was try to settle him down without nursing in the night the times he was only really sucking to get back to sleep and not taking full feedings. If he only fussed a little I put him back to sleep by patting him.

Around 7 months I had him start the night in his crib. At first he went down asleep but as he got used to being in there I nursed him and just after he fell asleep I would put him down in the crib and he usually would wake up while being transfered. I then patted and shhed and sang and rubbed him and if he was more than fussing I pick him up and rock him and when he got himself calm and stopped crying I put him back. I did wait until he stopped crying. If he got hysterical again I would wait until he was nearly asleep and really calm before I put him back and then I pat him right away. He was falling asleep with me patting him.

I eventually started trying to seperate the nursing completely from sleep by nursing before his pjs and in a room with lights on. I then do pjs and rock and sing to him and put him in the crib and pat him and sing. Then after he got used to that I stopped the patting to get him to sleep and just used it to get him tired and calm and just sang him to sleep standing next to the crib. I would bring him in my room at the first night waking. I recently started nursing him in the room and putting him in the crib because as soon as he gets in bed he gets really restless and if I just move a little he is up wanting help getting back to sleep.

Thats where I am right now and he isn't perfect yet but his sleep has improved so much from where we started. More often now he will sleep a 6-8 hour stretch and he doesn't need to be nursed until 4 or 5 in the morning and then he will sleep another 2 hours or so.

For naps if I caught him just as he was waking and pat him and shh or sing he will fall back asleep and eventually he stopped waking for those. I still nurse him to sleep for naps because it is harder to get those in. I did have to seperate the going to sleep nursing for the nightime sleep to get better. Even now if he falls asleep nursing a few nights in a row if I had a busy few days he will wake more often.

I didn't do exactly the pu/pd method. I read that and did something similar but took it slower and did wait till he started crying to put him down so it didn't take 100 pu/pd like it said it could. I also used tips in the no cry solution like making sure he got naps in and catching him before he wakes up from a nap, happy time in the crib so he got used to it and the pantley pull off. I don't like the baby wisperer for other advice at all but I think the pu/pd is pretty good gentle advice when you need to make a change.


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