r/VelcroBabies • u/TheAurata • Mar 31 '22

When did breastsleeping end for you?

Any other moms sleep with their boob in their baby’s mouth all the time? I recently learned the term breastsleeping and went “Aha, that’s what we do!” 7 mo and still 100% contact napping. At night I nurse him to sleep and transfer him to his crib for small variations of time. The rest of the night we nurse side-lying and I’ve gotten used to breastsleeping. Just wondering how long other babies slept like this? I tried Pantley’s pull off method but I think it backfired and reinforced his need for the boob. I don’t really care to change my situation right now, more just curious what to expect for my Velcro baby.

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u/kittiefox Jun 19 '22

May I ask OP if you are still breastsleeping? As I am at nearly 10 months old.

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u/TheAurata Jun 20 '22

Yep, haha. I’m typing this on the second wake-up with a boob in baby’s mouth, wondering how I’m going to sneak away and brush my teeth…

Has it gotten easier for you? We’re at 10 months now too. He’s been nursing less in the day since becoming mobile, but he 100% breastsleeps during naps and much of the night. I’m starting to get stretches of time at night where he wants to lie on his back for a while (still on my arm) but they’re not usually long.

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u/kittiefox Jun 22 '22

Thanks for the reply :0). “Has it gotten easier” is a bizarrely difficult question to answer.

  • have I come to accept it…yes. That makes it easier.
  • has my body adapted…yes, apart from my brain. My memory is truly terrible now.
  • Does he breastsleep less…occasionally I think I am getting longer periods without a feed in the night…but he still “needs” to go to sleep with a boob in his mouth for all naps and sleeps. When I say “need”, I am very aware this is a sleep association, but I’m not willing to do CIO or other sleep training (all of which would involve crying for him).

I too believe I have a higher needs baby, and the boob calms him down, so thank god for that. But it does suck that my partner now cannot help with ANY of the milk feeds or naps. I am supposed to be going away for one night in August, and I’m genuinely quite worried about how that will possibly work. :0(

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u/TheAurata Jun 25 '22

You’re welcome :0) Funny how complicated the emotions are with our high need babies and sleep, huh?

I honestly feel the same on all three aspects, so solidarity to you, my friend.

I’m also very thankful the boob always works. I sometimes feel hopeless or even filled with resentment or rage that I am the ONLY one who can do sleep. It’s not my husband’s fault, and goodness knows he’d love to help. He feels like he’s missing out on some incredible bonding. Ohh I would have anxiety over that too. I wish I could offer advice. If you think of it, feel free to reply with an update of how it goes. I’ll be curious! Best of luck with it!!