Sucking Association

[Meshell]

We have been doing the No Cry Sleep Solution for a few weeks now and it's actually working! :hula: But only at night. His routine is bath, jammies, massage, books, nurse, in the crib. He does great. We can lay him down awake but sleepy and he will go to sleep on his own. Naps are a completely different story though. It's so frustrating! He insists on nursing to sleep. I have been trying to only nurse him every 2 1/2-3 hrs and trying my best to have those times falls when he is not taknig a nap or about to take one. Today has been a rough one. He hasn't taken more than a 20 min nap since 8am and it's almost noon. I gave in (I know, bad!) and nursed him. It had been 2 1/2 hrs since he last nursed so I thought he must be hungry and that was why he was so persistent. He of course started falling asleep on the boob so I pulled it out, he stayed falling asleep so I decided to put him in the crib. He was doing so well until I took my arms out from under him. He began screaming so loud like he never does. I couldn't get him back to sleep and I didn't want to give in and nurse him. Any ideas on how ot break the sucking to sleep association?

[Farah]

I don't know if the sucking to sleep thing is going to go away that easily. Charlie still sucks his thumb. What you could do is try a pacifier and then put him down drowsy?

Also, I would totally try the EASY method. A few girls have done it on here and LOVE it. Basically it stands for: Eat Activity Sleep You (while they sleep:hehe:). Do it on a 3 hr cycle and keep him awake no longer than 90mins-2 hrs. An example of a schedule would look like this:

7:00-7:45 Eat
7:45-8:30 Activity
8:30-10 Sleep (You)
10-10:45 Eat
10:45-11:30 Activity
11:30-1 Sleep (You)
Repeat until bedtime

It worked great when Charlie was about his age, so who knows it may help you out!:support:

[Meshell]

Thanks, Farah! I will try this today. We have the hardest time with a day schedule for some reason.

[Heather]

I agree with Farah about the schedule, and just know that it probably won't happen immediately and won't be super easy. You just have to be persistant. Cohen sucks his fingers to sleep, so I agree that maybe William just wants something to suck. I forget how old he is, but I think Cohen was probably 3 months old before he found his fingers to suck. As for nursing to sleep, if you follow the EASY schedule, that might help that. But if it's just a comfort nurse thing, it may be a little harder. I'm not sure b/c we never really nursed to sleep. I hope you figure it out soon! Just remember, lay him down for a nap after every 1.5-2 hours of wakefulness. Good luck sweetie!