Nursing Naptime

I nursed my son to sleep, then transitioned to a bottle... and then he went down for naps and bedtime either with a bottle or sippycup of warm milk until he was 4ish (our dentist was fine with that). He was a fast grower, he needed the nourishment (still occasionally wakes in the middle of the night to eat, at 7yo... he's also 4'10 & 65 lbs... probably will be between 6'4 and 6'6 as an adult), but I know some kids only eat for comfort.

Here were the things for US that went along with nap/sleep problems:

- Hunger
- Teeth (thank GOD for tylenol... my son never got cranky, he just wouldn't sleep, and THEN he'd get cranky)
- Overtired
- Dropping or needing to add a nap

First of all, you'd be surprised at what kids do when they go to a sitter, daycare, etc. I nursed my daughter to sleep every night from 0-12 months (she got a bottle during the day when home with daddy). Once she started daycare at 12 months, she was never rocked or given the boob for naptimes and she went down just fine!!

That being said, I think you should continue to rock her after she's done nursing. Sing to her or hum. Do not get up and walk around because it will only continue to hurt your back! I have never been an advocate of crying it out either!

I think she may be trying to go to sleep without nursing, but it is not easy for her. my daughter HAD to be nursed to sleep and then at some point, around 9 months, it just stopped working some of the time...it was like nursing was keeping her awake and making her frustrated and i was for sure frustrated. my husband was the one who first identified that he thought she didn't want the breast all the time to sleep. it was tough for her to fall asleep on her own, but we just rubbed her back and stayed with her (we all slept together) and eventually she stopped needing me to fall asleep and now she just lays down and goes to sleep on her own at 13 months...never had to cry it out. just try to comfort her through the transistion. do NOT carry her around if it hurts you, she needs to learn to accept a differnt form of comfort that does not hurt you. good luck!

Hi T., In my experience raising twins, it seems like she may just need more excersize time to wear her out for nap times...take walks, play ring around the posies, etc...give her plenty of fresh air and rigorous play and it just may be what she needs - her little body is so busy growing that it may be hard to deal with the new energy that it is finding as she gets older...

T.,

I was a Nanny for many years, and today I'm a Parent Coach. There is a book called Health Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth. I buy this book for EVERY new mom in my life. He teaches a method when children have sleep issues like your of slowly teaching your child to sleep on their own, I've used it personally, and IT WORKS.

It's a process of getting your child comfortable to sleep alone, first by staying in the room until they fall asleep, then slowly leaving the room prior to them falling asleep, spending less & less time in their room each day, until one day they will fall asleep without you.

I hope this helps, let me know if you have any questions.

R. Magby

it sounds like what my son started doing around that age and he was taking two naps as well. It took about two weeks but i got him to only take one nap and it helped completely. Your daughter might be trying to transition to one long nap a day. I wonder too if that nap might need to be pushed up a little earlier in the day? maybe she is overtired by the time afternoon comes. As far as the breastfeeding goes, I am of no help as i still BF my 16 month old son to sleep with little success in weaning him to fall asleep on his own. I have heard though, that if mom isn't around, the kiddo will fall asleep quite easily.

good luck!

Briefly, it is time to eliminate one of her naps (sigh), and maybe put her to bed a bit later. You could also increase her activity level a bit.