Nursing to Nap

She is well bonded to you. You respond to her cues like all moms should. And she will eventual grow out of nursing to sleep when she is weaned.

Don't over-think the situation. They all, in their own time, put themselves to sleep (think about this - if they didn't eventually sleep on their own then adults would need binkies and boobies to get to sleep from the day they are born till the day they die!). It is how humans are naturally wired. And for her, is it one-on-one time with mom and soothes her. Wearing her also frees you to spend time with your 4 year old.

Have you ever read about Attachment Parenting? It is basically what you are already doing now, but they have great sleeping advice. Attachment parenting advocates how humans have historically always acted with their young - babywearing, co-sleeping and breastfeeding.

Here is some info on sleeping from them: http://www.attachmentparenting.org/parentingtopics/babysl...

Well, first there's no reason to wean her ;)
But, lactivism and extended nursing aside, you can do whatever you did for her for bed time if that worked.

Every baby is different, just because she adjusted well to bedtime routine doesn't necessarily mean she will to naps, but hopefully she will have the same attitude & adjust to it in a short time. I also nursed my daughter to sleep - naps & bedtime. I worried about the same thing too. For bed we now lay her down awake - as soon as she's done with her feeding, and she goes to bed on her own.

She's 11 months now, but starting a couple months ago, she started waking every single time I put her down for a nap - no matter how deep asleep she was & how gently I layed her down! After about a month or so of this, I did have to wait until she was really ready for a nap, and put her in her crib to cry it out. She never cries very long or hard (5-10 minutes) then gives up and falls asleep for her nap.

I felt like I had to do/try this, as she started with the waking up every time, and even if it was 5 minutes of shut eye, would not go back to sleep even if I did rock her & nurse again. It would "ruin" that nap, and I'd have to wait several hours to try again...so I was needing back that little bit of time to myself. It was as if she didn't trust me not to put her down again ;-) A few times a week I still nurse her to sleep for her naps - usually her 2nd shorter nap, but only when I can relax & nap or hold her the whole time. They're only that young once ;-) I agree somewhat with the other posters, if it's working for you, it's hard to not just enjoy it. But I think with my next, I will try to get him/her used to naps on their own, for the most part.

You need to stop the nursing to nap now or it will only get harder once you wean. You can always feed her before nap with a bottle, but don't depend on that for falling asleep. They need to learn to soothe themselves and fall asleep on their own, or you will be in trouble later! Walking her around before laying her down is totally fine because she is not using your breast as a soother to sleep. Try and keep her awake while nursing and then lay her down. Your bedtime routine seems to be working great, so try that at nap time as well. The longer you allow something, the more routine and expected it becomes to your child and the harder to break out of it. Good luck!

If it's working, I'd just keep doing it. I did it with our son till he was over a year old....... And he napped just fine when I quit doing it! I just started a new nap routine at that time. (Said nap time, grabbed a stuffed animal for him to hold, carried him to his room, laid him down, turned on mobile, said good night, walked out!) Especially if she does well at night, I wouldn't worry. She will adjust to the nap too.

B.,

Thank you so much for nursing your daughter! I love that you tried a new approach with your daughter. That shows that you realize that different children need different things. Great job!

I have two kids and nursed each of them for a bit over two years. I literally asked someone how to get kids to sleep without nursing. Having been there myself, I have tons of advice. My first word of advice is to only listen to advice that feels right to you.

I believe in the approach that if it feels right do it, and when it stops feeling right, don't do it any more. Right now it works for you. You will only be able to hold her and walk her to sleep for a tiny bit. As you know, they grow up so fast. At some point, this won't work for your family and you can change it then.

You are concerned about her ability to take good naps in the future. I understand that, but again, kids change. Even if she is able to just go to sleep on her own now, that is no guarantee that she will do that in the future. The opposite is also true. My daughter stopped napping by the time she was 18 months, and my almost three year old son still takes a solid (and long) daytime nap.

Kids are adaptable and sleep will work itself out. Just remember that you are doing what works for your family now, and when it changes, you will adapt everything so it works again.