Nursing  your baby to sleep may seem like a healthy and enjoyable bedtime routine. However it can lead to poor sleeping habits  that can hinder your baby’s ability to get a good night sleep.

All babies wake up a number of times  throughout the night. Most simply fall back to sleep. However if you always nurse your baby to sleep, you may need the same cue to help him fall back to sleep during the night.

Several studies have suggested that it takes longer  for breastfed  babies to develop a pattern of sleep  during the night than formula fed babies. This may be due to the following :

• Breastmilk is easy to digest and  as  result baby gets  hungry quicker and wake up more during the night.
• Breastfeeding is comforting , calming and nourishing. It wont take long for the baby to know the connection between nursing and sleeping. After nursing your baby to sleep for a few weeks, he wouldn’t want any other way to fall asleep.

However this doesnt mean you shouldnt  breastfeed your baby. You should just be careful about nursing your baby to sleep. It can be done once in a while but don’t make it a habit of doing it every night. If you want to make nursing a part of bedtime routine, do it early so that the baby doesnt associate it with sleep. After the baby is done feeding, you can change his diaper one more time or read him a story.  Separating nursing  from bedtime routine  by a few minutes will help your baby not associate it to sleeping.

What to do if your baby is already in the habit of nursing to sleep.

There are a few steps you can take to break the habit of nursing to sleep

• Nurse the baby earlier in his bedtime routine.You can also cut down on the amount of time you nurse at bedtime.
• Breastfeed your baby earlier in the evening instead of making it part of  your bedtime routine.

These changes are only for bedtime. Once the baby starts  falling asleep on his own at bedtime, he will quickly start putting himself back to sleep at night.