Serious Oral Fixation - and now must nurse to nap/sleep - Infant Care (up to 18 months old) Message Board

laurabelle1317 · 06-18-2006, 11:14 PM

DS has a major oral fixation. He is constantly sucking on his hand and now its like he has to nurse (just for a minute) in order to go to sleep for a nap. I am not sure why that is. He did well with going down for naps before. Now I am the only one that can get him to nap because I have to nurse him for a minute. And it is definitely a me thing. Because a bottle or pacifier won't help him fall asleep. Here are my theories:

- He got completely out of routine when we were out of town so is doing this for comfort
- While out of town got used to nursing at night before bed instead of having a bottle before bed like he would at home so now wants to nurse before naps too
- Is going through a stage (anyone's baby ever start doing this when it wasn't the norm?)

I'm not sure why he is doing this. It isn't hunger, because he nurses for juts a minute before drifting off to sleep. I am not sure if I should break this habit right now, and if so how. We move in 2 wks and will be staying with family for 1.5wks until our house is ready to move into but once we close on our house he and I go fly to visit my parents and then we move into our house. So there are a lot of changes coming up. Do I break this habit now? Or after all those changes? If I wait, will he get way too use to it? He will probably want to nurse for comfort a lot while we go through all these changes here pretty soon. So I am not sure what to do in the mean time. But I would like others to be able to put him down fo a nap too but for now, its just me.

1st4me · 06-19-2006, 12:01 AM

How old is the baby? I think as long as it isn't horribly inconvenient for you, you will have a much happier baby, feeling safe, secure and comfortable, if you let him nurse when he wants. Especially during major upheavals like you have coming up. There will be plenty of time to find a routine once you are settled. I just recently read that babies have a very sensitive pleasure spot in their mouths and that just having contact with the nipple can cause such a wonderful blissful feeling that it can send them right off to a contented sleep. Does't that sound like a wonderful thing to do for him? I think you are lucky that it only takes you a minute, mine can take anywhere from ten to thirty minutes ( he is a bit of a piglet!)

laurabelle1317 · 06-19-2006, 10:49 AM

Oh sorry...forgot to mention that he is 11wks old. I do think it is wonderful that he finds so much pleasure and comfort from me. But if this is the habit that develops then that means no one else will be able to put him down for a nap, not even DH. And then no one will be able to watch him for me fo a couple of hours if need be because they won't be able to put him down for a nap.

I do agree that there will be plenty of time for a routine when we settle in after moving. So part of me wants to let him do this until after we are settled in. But part of me feels like we should break the habit now, then if he goes back to it for comfort during the change time that is okay but then break it again after settling into our new house. Also, some routine now is good so we can bring routine into our new place so that in the midst of all the change there is some familiar routine.

debating · 06-19-2006, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by laurabelle1317

But if this is the habit that develops then that means no one else will be able to put him down for a nap, not even DH. And then no one will be able to watch him for me fo a couple of hours if need be because they won't be able to put him down for a nap.

Not necessarily. Babies are very intuative, and they know we're the ones with the milk, but when other people are around things can be very different.

My DD wants to be nursed to sleep when I'm around, but anyone else can get her down with a bottle of EBM. As they get older that distinction between you, the milk lady, and other people, becomes more clear to them. Your babe is still so young. It's normal for him to want only you, especially for sleeping. I wouldn't worry.