Does anyone else have a baby who will only nurse when drowsy? When my 8 mo. old was about 4 mo. he started refusing to nurse out in public. Since then he will only do it in his darkened room before a nap. Even then it often takes quite a while for him to settle down to it (especially during the day when it is less dark), and I often have to hold him firmly while he fusses a little and winds down.
When he finally settles down he takes a full feeding or finishes off what he started and sometimes continues to suckle after he's finished eating. Obviously this has interfered with him learning to fall asleep alone in his crib. Before he was onto many solids it would mean that he'd go 6-7 hours between feeds. I hesitate to allow him to skip a feed (he takes 3 during the day, then whatever he consumes at night - usually 1, sometimes 2 feedings - he dropped his wake-up feed about a month or two ago) because when I have tried that he would never make it up after his nap. There have been other issues that have affected feeding and sleeping (reflux, gas, and occasional bouts of diarrhea or constipation) which have made it very difficult to be consistent in trying to get him to fall asleep on his own. Sometimes he is so uncomfortable that I just want to do whatever it takes to make him comfortable and to get to sleep. Other times he finishes a feed before he is asleep and occasionally I have been able to put him down almost asleep, but often he perks up and plays and by teh time he fusses again it is getting past late to get in a full nap.
Sorry for the long one, but does anyone have a similar experience? I plan to line his curtains with fabric to make the room darker during the day to see if that helps. I long for the time when I (or my husband - right now he is not very involved b/c of this) can walk into his room, put him down in his crib and leave him to it! Any ideas?
