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ACTIVITY => E.A.S.Y. Forum => Topic started by: Tabathagucci on February 19, 2016, 15:01:52 pm

Title: How to transition away from nursing to sleep for 1 week old
Post by: Tabathagucci on February 19, 2016, 15:01:52 pm
Hi!  I did EASY with my first and fell into it quite easily (no pun intended).  He's 4 now and I have an 8 day old.  She was 6 lbs 7 oz and slightly jaundiced so I'm feeding every 2-3 hours mostly on demand but waking her when needed.  She still falls asleep during every feed so I've been changing diaper between right and left sides to wake her so she gets s full feed, however she is then sound asleep once we finish.  She has a major oral fixation a lot of the time and wants my breast for comfort (mainly sleep). I've been trying not to give in but with a 4 year old and a busy household, I do give in sometimes.  My question is how can I gradually transition away from nursing to sleep?  I don't want to do anything hard and fast because she's so little still but I also don't want to continue encouraging a bad habit.  Would rather start gently now than wait till it's harder!  TIA!
Title: Re: How to transition away from nursing to sleep for 1 week old
Post by: michaeljacknnugg on February 19, 2016, 21:10:25 pm
She's still tiny and I really wouldn't worry about it for now. Just gently ease her into eat-play-sleep as she becomes more wakeful.
Title: Re: How to transition away from nursing to sleep for 1 week old
Post by: lily_layne on February 20, 2016, 02:21:12 am
She's still tiny and I really wouldn't worry about it for now.
I wholeheartedly agree! I worried about my DS nursing to sleep when he was tiny but as he got older and more awake he managed to stay awake through a feed on his own and wasn't dependent on nursing to get to sleep.
Title: Re: How to transition away from nursing to sleep for 1 week old
Post by: Tabathagucci on February 21, 2016, 23:46:06 pm
Thank you!  Trying to maintain a balance of indulging her and slowly introducing good habits.  😊 Emphasis on the slowly!  At some point I need to stop rocking her to sleep too but I will worry about that later as well and try to enjoy it for now!
Title: Re: How to transition away from nursing to sleep for 1 week old
Post by: michaeljacknnugg on February 22, 2016, 07:53:16 am
Absolutely enjoy it, it goes far too quickly the second time around!
Title: Re: How to transition away from nursing to sleep for 1 week old
Post by: Scottishmummy on February 23, 2016, 07:35:53 am
Absolutely enjoy it, it goes far too quickly the second time around!

This exactly.  Newborns are too tiny to worry about "good" or "bad" habits, IMO.  As your baby grows she'll get less sleepy and be able to stay awake on the feed and after.  Lots of newborns need help to sleep & aren't ready for SH-pat or other sleep training until they are a little older.  Try not to worry and just follow her lead and meet her needs for now xxx
Title: Re: How to transition away from nursing to sleep for 1 week old
Post by: Tabathagucci on February 23, 2016, 14:58:58 pm
Ok I have a follow up question.  In the past couple of days she's been increasingly hard to get to sleep even when I hold her.  It often takes me 45-60 mins of holding her, even more.  She falls asleep fast and easy but jerks awake after a few seconds or minutes.  I am swaddling tight to help with the startle reflex but doesn't seem to help much.  She literally keeps startling awake every few seconds or minutes for an hour. Then I have to hold her for 15-20 mins more before putting her down and then it's a crapshoot as to whether she stays asleep or not.  I can soothe her back to sleep fairly easily at that point at least but that's after an hour plus of getting her to this point. I've been able to indulge her because MIL is here big MIL leaves tomorrow and I have a 4 year old year look after.  Any advice on how to handle this would be great.  She's 12 days old now. Do I just wear her and let her figure it out while wearing her?
Title: Re: How to transition away from nursing to sleep for 1 week old
Post by: michaeljacknnugg on February 23, 2016, 19:23:40 pm
Yep, I'd wear her for now and let her mature a bit. You need to get to know her, she's brand new and likely very different from your other lo.

I've found that wearing my guy has helped us to establish a routine and now he's getting more consistent I can think about sleep training him. He's 15 weeks.
Title: Re: How to transition away from nursing to sleep for 1 week old
Post by: lily_layne on February 24, 2016, 01:48:10 am
I would wear her for some naps if you need to. I also found the swing helpful in the early days.
Title: Re: How to transition away from nursing to sleep for 1 week old
Post by: Tabathagucci on February 25, 2016, 00:06:07 am
Thank you!  I was able to rock her till she was almost asleep yesterday and put her down but have been unable to do it again.  Seems like she's overtired/overestimated and is having a really hard time settling.  Guess she/we will get used to it!
Title: Re: How to transition away from nursing to sleep for 1 week old
Post by: lily_layne on February 25, 2016, 01:49:03 am
Sounds like a typical (and sometimes frustrating newborn) - never doing the same thing twice! Have you tried putting her down a bit earlier or later to see if that helps?