Confinement Nanny encouraging nursing baby for comfort

Question

Hi mummies Have you been nursing your baby for comfort so that they can fall asleep? Whenever my nanny sees that my baby is slightly restless or can’t fall asleep after playing with her, she’ll hand baby over to me for comfort nursing. I’m on mat leave, and yes I can afford to do this but when i return to work, there is no chance for comfort nursing during the day. I’m worried it’ll turn into a habit. I’m also aware that nanny is only keen to put baby to sleep, so that she can manage other things..(can’t wait for her to leave). As such, I’m introducing pacifier instead, baby suckles well on that too. My concerns are: Will baby outgrow comfort nursing? Is it going to become a bad habit if I continue to let baby suckle for comfort and sleep? How do you put a tired baby to sleep?

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

I’m an EP mum, occasionally if I’m too tired at night I’ll let baby latch on. Sometimes she does look for the boob (on my husband’s lol 😂) then I’ll either offer her the pacifier or boob (if I haven’t pump). It really depends on your baby.. I wouldn’t say it’s a bad habit, they will eventually wean off. But if you’re about to head back to work soon then I’ll advise you to nurse once or twice for bonding and the rest bottke feed. If your baby is tired, actually after a few pats or shake they’ll be asleep already. For my LO, if I see that she’s rubbing her eyes or showing tired cues, I’ll put her on her bed and start patting. Don’t overtire the baby that he/she starts screaming or crying because they want to sleep. Definitely not the more they stay awake = the longer they sleep.