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Hi, this is my first post on any forum so hopefully I can help.

I have been nursing my little one to sleep since she was born (she is now 7 months old) and this has worked perfectly for her to sleep all through the night.  If she happened to wake up during the night for another feed, then so be it, I just see it as her being hungry.  She is an extremely happy, alert baby and I figure that I should just keep doing what works.

However, in the last month she has been teething very badly and now has 3 teeth through and I am finding it much harder to get her to sleep through the night.  I have introduced solids in the last month also.  She is growing a lot, feeding loads during the day (I breastfeed on demand) and eating 2 x solid meals a day at the moment.  I have a night time routine.  She sleeps 2-3 naps a day, never the lovely 2-3 hrs that all the books tell you about, but a consistent 40min most of the time with maybe a longer one every second or third day thrown in on one of the naps.  I am finding it hard to understand whether all the changes recently are what are making the naps and night time different from before, I am assuming so, as she is still happy.

I guess the hardest part is that she doesn't have exact times that she goes to sleep, only general ones (usually similar ones though) and that so many people have so many differing opinions.

I have tried the whole crying to sleep thing and it doesn't work for my little girl or me.  It makes us both worked up and as in your son, my little girl ends up rolled over, on her tummy, playing with toys or getting completely worked up over nothing, she never "self-sleeps".

I think that if your little one is settling when you give him a feed, then just let that work for a bit to give yourself the sleep you are so deserving of, particularly since it was taking you so long to get him to sleep before.  He is telling you something when he wakes and that is that he is hungry.  Surely, at such a young age, they cannot be manipulative. 

Anyway, those are just my thoughts on the matter and I hope that you stop feeling guilty about what is working for you and him.

Cheers

I notice this is an older post, but I thought I'd write my peice on this topic since there could still be curious georges out there looking for feedback on this topic. I'm no expert but I too have a son, eight months now, and he was exclusively breastfed the first 4-5 months. Then he weaned himself off, mostly taking in formula but loving the comfort of our nursing sessions. So I tried to supplement, do both, but he continued to want both, and I couldn't shake that nagging voice/feeling every breast feeding mom has out there (admit it) "did he have enough? What if he's hungry? Especially when he was hungry an hour later, or waking up … # at night. It was a hard decision, but I decided to give it up. A) He gained alot of weight - double feeding right and B) I couldn't continue to be his sleep aid! We had to help him figure this out on his own. We helped him find the right clothing, the right temperature in his room, the right blankets, the right noise, and the right "lovey" (you should see me pack when we have a road trip), and my husband has been great through it all, he's offered night time feeds, rocking and soothing, etc. and I've had to rock and sooth and not give in to breastfeeding (cause it does work like magic), it's amazing!

I just came across this forum, and joined – I'm a new member, but was also concerned with this topic (nursing baby to sleep – problematic or potentially become problematic?) when my son was 11 wks old…Looking back, he was just a baby and I was too concerned but we transitioned when he was ready, and when he was we helped him find sleep associations (create an environment) that would help him fall asleep on his own and feel safe in his crib.

Like so many advice out there, if it works for you and your child; it can't be wrong. Go with your gutt.

Last words though, I think they can be manipulative at this age…But I wouldn't use the word manipulative cause it sounds like they have a mean streak in them at that age, and that I don't beleive. They're creatures of our environments and they have related, yes at this age, cause and effect!

I also would love to hear any feedback or thoughts if others have time…