Any suggestions on breaking the nursing to go to sleep habit?

"Needless to say... I am exhausted! Does anyone have a better strategy?"

Top tip: just nurse your baby. Why are you putting yourself and your daughter through this?

I have learned that it is really best to just nurse your baby when he or she needs to nurse. It isn't just a form of nurishment for the baby it is way to obtain comfort. The baby won't continue this way for the rest of their lives they will wean themselves off on their own when they are ready. I have been told you can't overfeed a breastfed baby so I wouldn't worry about that either. My son wakes up now twice at night...and I nurse him and usually he falls right back to sleep after only 10 minutes! If I were to try to only rock him he would be awake for so much longer.

Enjoy these times...as they won't last very long. :o)

First you have to ask yourself this question... is your baby actually hungry? Some babies NEED to wake up to eat. However I'm with you on not wanting to nurse to sleep anymore. Try feeding your baby 20 minutes before bedtime. If she starts to fall asleep then wake her up. Then rock her to sleep.

Once she's down for bed if she wakes up don't feed her until it's been about 2-4 hours (however long she goes during the day without nursing). Just try to get her back to sleep some other way. Then if she's still waking up then nurse her. You can try letting her cry for 2 or 3 minutes when she wakes up then going in and patting her until she calms down then leaving again for 3 or 4 minutes, etc. until you get to about 10 minutes. A lot of babies will go to sleep. But that depends on if you're ok with letting her cry it out.

Keep in mind that it can take up to a week for a baby to get used to not nursing to sleep. Sometimes even longer. Good luck!

My girl is 2 months old and does the same thing, I asked around, talked to her pediatrician and family/friends and got mixed results, some say just let her do it and yes im exhausted also and some tell me to try a paci ( mine hates them to) and i have started giving her a bottle she hates it but sometimes tough love is the way to go. She sleeps with us or in her pack n play next to us so i just lay next to her and watch tv and let her feed and go back to sleep. I would suggest walking and bouncing, rocking, letting her cry it out for a few, she should be old enough to start self soothing, swing... whatever you can, i know its exhausting but you can do it. I have started walking her around the house and bouncing and letting her cry it out and she will go back to sleep and i lay her down, just pick something and stick to JUST that. Babies thrive on routine so stick to one thing and yes it will be tough but she will get used to it and it will be ok. Sorry if i didnt help but my advice is jsut stick to one thing and she will cetch on quick. She knows how to play you and we all get that from our babies and she is using it to her advantage. DONT LET HER DO IT! :) :) :)