Will this lead to early weaning - Pantley's Sleep Solution

fennho

fennho

Registered User
I have always been nursing my gal to sleep at night and also if and when she wakes up in the middle of the night and i don't really mind it. Recently I bought & read the book The No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth pantley and I think its a great book for mommies like me who can't bear to put my baby thru a "cry it out" session. As I don't really hv a problem with nursing my gal to sleep, I was more into looking for ideas for her to somewhat be able to settle herself cos she gets cranky when overtired and sometimes doesn't get back to sleep at all even aft nursing.

So I read about her Pantley's Gentle Removal Plan of which she advises us to gently remove our nipple from baby's mouth once the sucking slows down so as to teach the baby to fall asleep WITHOUT the nipple in the mouth. I think this gentle way is great but I'm worried will this lead to early weaning? I mean, already now at 5.5months, my gal seems to show signs of being disinterested in nursing for long (I do hope its jus a phase!). I tried the Plan for abt once or twice and baby was very cooperative and fell asleep in my arms, but I was left wondering if this would actually "teach" her to not only not rely on my breast to fall asleep but also teach her to lose interest in nursing altogether and lead to early weaning??

any mommies who hv tried a similar way? Can someone (Sarah) comment on this too? I have come a long way in persevering with breastfeeding for my gal, so I'd hope to bf her for as long as possible. I'm already battling another issue of her daytime feeds of <5mins and worrying if this cud lead to my supply drying up. Shud I ditch this plan? On the other hand, I'd also like her to be able to settle herself somewhat becos at times I see her crying so pitifully when she's cranky & overtired (to the point of rejecting my breast) and she jus doesn't know how to sleep during the day (ironically she's fine in the night though).

Appreciate any comments pls. Thanks!!!
 
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I can not see how this will lead to early weaning. It is basically taking your nipple out once the baby has stopped sucking. If she shows that she still wants to suck and you took the breast away too soon then you can put it back. If she is happy to go to sleep without wanting more sucking then she's had enough.

I remember my third child often removed my nipple and then turned over with his back to me when he wanted to sleep. This didn?t lead to early weaning with him.

Best wishes,
SARAH
 
hi sarah

thanks for your reply. The taking nipple out is a first step towards encouraging baby to NOT sleep with a nipple in the mouth...which the final goal is to work towards letting baby sleep on his/her own. So my worry is, will this let baby lose interest in the breast when she is able to sleep on her own and refuse to nurse anymore thus = early weaning. Tat's how i see it. If it's not going to, then i reckon shud be ok....thanks for easing my worries...again. :)
 
Fenho, although I did start solids a month early it had nothing to do with K being difficult at the breast at the time. Trust me, we had a pretty bad patch from 4 mths - 5 mths. BFing was hard but as the now frequent adage goes persevere, persevere, persevere. He would bawl and scream frantically and get easily distracted. At times in a darkened room he'd do the same and I just let it go. I nursed on demand, and even when he was on for only 5 minutes I'd let him go knowing if he was hungry he'll let me know. I think it was harder for me to get into a different routine than for him.

Anyway, at 6.5 months, he's a happy camper, and even now he feeds maximum 15 mins at night and has sleeps through from 8.45pm - 7am (that is unless teething rears it's ugly head -- I was up 4 times last night)


For us, starting solids early was the right answer -- lots of babies are interested in food so dont worry it's not a sign that you'll be mixing up the baby rice tomorrow. K would do things like grab any fruit I was eating and try to suck on it. His behaviour changed a bit and he started waking up for more than one FEED (he was hungry after 6 feeds during the day) until he woke up four times one night and I just knew he was ready. I did have both my doc and a couple of midwives help me come to my decision though.

In any case, I know it's hard but try and relax -- baby will let you know when she's ready.

And another note - I kept LO on baby rice for a month so as to ensure he had the same amount of breast milk everyday i.e I'd offer one breast and hand express 2 oz to mix with rice. I started him on carrot a few days before he was 'officially' 6 mos. I preferred baby rice to topping up with formula but that's just me.
 
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