Source
r/AttachmentParenting•
red_bird87

Nursing to sleep and babysitters.

My son is currently 9.5 months.

I go back to work in 2 months, for 3 days/week. During those days my mom and MIL will be taking turns watching him. Right now he will only nurse to sleep for naps and bedtime. His sleep at night isn’t terrible, he sleeps in his crib with 1-2 wake-ups (with nursing back to sleep) on a good day. 3-4 wake-ups most days.

I’m concerned that the grandmas will not be able to get him to nap. I’m starting to add sleep associations, like reading, white noise, etc. So that I can eventually remove my boobs from the equation. So far no luck though. He just wails if you try to rock him for example.

He is formula fed (and solids). Nursing is only used as a sleep aid at this point.

He will occasionally sleep in his stroller or car seat. I’m fine with the grandmas taking him for walks to nap if there’s no other option but our winters are 6 months long so that’s not ideal.

Any tips? Success stories?

Thanks

Posted May 18, 2021, 8:24 PM UTC

28
SnarletBlack•

No magical tips I’m afraid but just to say that I was so worried about this when I started working again and my partner had to take over for naps some days of the week. My son had only ever fallen asleep on the boob. It took a couple days but eventually they just figured out their own thing - he’d usually fall asleep being rocked. A sippy cup helped sometimes too. Plus books, stories, darkness. I feel like he would be much more resistant to accept those as alternatives to nursing from ME, but it works for another person. Hopefully your little one’s grandmas find the same!

5
red_bird87OP•

Thanks for your reply. That puts my mind at ease.

1
jade333•

This might be a really stupid question- but have you tried a dummy? If he wont take it from you get someone else to try.

2
red_bird87OP•

Thank you for the suggestion. He doesn’t take a pacifier but I have not tried with another person.

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EnchantedGlass•

It turned out that my kid went down for naps pretty well for my partner when I started working weekends. It took a few days of practice for them, but they figured it out just fine. Be prepared for some poor sleep early on, but as kiddo gets used to the new routines things will smooth themselves out.

No specific advice though, it was mostly a matter of patience.

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red_bird87OP•

Thanks! I will prepare myself for some rough nights.

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cardinalinthesnow•

They’ll figure it out and find their own way to help him go to sleep.

I say this as someone who not only nurses her own toddler to sleep but also watches a same aged toddler who also gets nursed to sleep when with mom - but when with me sleeps just fine without being nursed since there is no mama. Took some work early on and he took his share of stroller naps, but now we just lie down, read a book, and goes to sleep.

His mom was super worried about it, but it wasn’t an issue at all (I also wasn’t expecting him to go to sleep on his own in a crib, and was willing to do what worked for him - hence stroller naps and reading and snuggling)

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red_bird87OP•

Thanks! That’s good to hear. These posts are making me less nervous.

1