Can a baby suck while sleeping?

[iyaya]

DD is almost 3.5 months old and she is still eating every two hours (from end of last feed to beginnig to the next feed). I always let her suck until she stops sucking before I remove my breast but sometimes it seems like she is sleeping while moving her mouth. Can this be possible? I am always afraid she is not getting enough hindmilk so I try my best to pat her and keep her awake for at least 20 minutes on the breast. But sometimes I wonder if this is working eventhough her mouth is moving. Does any of your babies do this?

[Fife_Mum]

Mine can certainly snooze whilst sucking. This tends to be comfort sucking - I can tell with Arwen because if I get a second let down she wakes up coughing and spluttering  :roll:

I was told that it is rare for a baby to fall completely asleep whilst still attached but both of mine certainly can! I'm no expert but you do need to allow some time after active sucking has finished to give LO the hind milk but if you think your LO is comfort sucking after that then try gently removing them. They'll wake up and ask for more if they want it!

[cymonguk]

I think they can, certainly they do it as they drift to a deeper sleep, they can comfort suck from what i can tell.

[Erin (redstarfalling)]

Yup!

[DeannaB]

Sure!  I can go take a peek at my ds hours after being asleep and if he still has his paci (often not) and he is sucking on it gently while completely asleep.  When my ds used to fall asleep on the breat I could usually tell the difference with eating and just gentle sleepy sucks.  If baby isn't swallowing, then they aren't getting anything anyway. 

[iyaya]

So, does this mean I am nursing her to sleep and starting a bad habit? She almost always falls asleep on my breast and I would pick her up. Sometimes she would be wide awake after I pick her up but sometimes she would stir a bit and falls back to sleep on my shoulder or in her crib during the night. Is this bad?

[Erin (redstarfalling)]

Not necessarily - really depends on the baby.  If she's being nursed to sleep consistently, then she'll get used to it and may not be able to fall asleep without it. That's one of the great things about EASY - you do activity after eating rather than eating before sleep, so it's less likely to become a problem!