Sleep and breastfeeding
Depending
on the way you approach sleep for your breastfed baby, there is really no
reason why you should not get a good night-time routine going. But many experts
recommend that you avoid breastfeeding your baby until he falls asleep.
The
reason for this is that your baby should be able to sleep without ‘sleep
associations’ such as breastfeeding.If you feed your baby to sleep every night
he’ll start to depend on it and won’t be able to settle himself if he rouses in
the night between feeds. However, some moms disagree that feeding their baby to
sleep every night is a bad thing, and are happy to establish this as their
routine. This is a matter of personal opinion and if, for example, you’re co-sleeping with your baby, breastfeeding can actually be a
wonderful bonding time that hardly disturbs your night anyway. At any rate,
night feeding helps to maintain your milk production.
On
the other hand, if your baby will take a bottle, your partner could give your
baby his night-time feed with a bottle of expressed milk, thus ensuring you’re not the
only person leaping around after midnight and giving you the opportunity to
catch up on some sleep. You will learn what works best for you and your baby.
Why
not chat to other moms about this, or other topics, by leaving a message on our
chat
forum. Alternately, if you want to meet other moms in your area
with similar age babies, visit our people section to find out what’s
happening in your area. If you have any unanswered questions, use our questions page to gain wisdom from other
moms or our resident experts for all those pregnancy or baby-related niggles.
Have a look at our kit section where we list our favorite baby gear.
The information in this feature is intended for
educational purposes only. If you have any concerns about your health, the
health of your child or the health of someone you know, please consult with a
doctor or other healthcare professional.
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Last Modified: 20/06/2007
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