Human Pacifier?

I have been a Full Time Moo Moo for almost 3 weeks already. Is very tiring to be always ready for 24/7. But what to do, this is still the best for Baby ReAnne.

The thing i always worried is, it seem that Baby ReAnne like to treat me as a human Pacifier!

I'm so scared is a bad habit that will be difficult to cut it. Alfred keep telling me that she wants a real pacifier. But me, being a thumb sucker for so many years in the early years, I very anti pacifier! So hopefully I can continue to resist the temptation of giving her that! And trying my best to stay her fingers away from her mouth!!!

Comfort Nursing?!

Many moms feel guilty for nursing their baby to sleep. Nursing your baby to sleep is not a bad thing to do! It’s very normal and developmentally appropriate for babies to nurse to sleep and to wake 1-3 times during the night for the first year or so. Some babies don’t do this, but they are the exception, not the rule. Many children, if given the choice, prefer to nurse to sleep through the second year and beyond. Nursing is obviously designed to comfort baby and tohelp baby sleep, and I’ve never seen a convincing reason why mothers shouldn’t use this wonderful “tool” that we’ve been given.

Am I creating a bad habit by allowing baby to nurse to sleep?

Your baby’s desire to nurse to sleep is very normal and not a bad habit you’ve fostered. Don’t be afraid to nurse your baby to sleep or fear that you are perpetuating a bad habit. Baby often will seek the breast when sleepy or over-stimulated because it’s a comforting and familiar place to him. To associate the breast with wanting to relax enough to go to sleep makes perfect sense. As adults, we also do things to relax ourselves so we can go to sleep: we read, watch TV, get something warm to drink or a snack, deep breathe, get all snug under the covers, etc. Nursing does the same thing for your baby.

For many babies at the height of exploration or distractibility, nighttime or naptime can often be the ONLY time the baby will nurse well. Allowing him to nurse at these times when he is more focused on nursing and less intent on other things helps ensures that he gets enough milk, that your supply is maintained, and that the nursing relationship goes on. Don’t be afraid to nurse at these times or fear that you are perpetuating a bad habit. Instead, take advantage of these times for better nursing.

My baby sometimes nurses for comfort, when he’s obviously not hungry.Is this a problem?

Comfort nursing is normal. If baby were not comfort nursing he would need to be sucking on his hands or on a pacifier. The breast was the first pacifier and the one that all others are modeled after, so don’t be afraid to allow baby to use it in this way. There are studies that show that comfort nursing is healthy for your child, too. All babies need to suck – some more than others. It ensures that they survive. If your baby seems to be comfort nursing *all the time* and this is more than you can handle, keep in mind that this will probably ease some as time goes by. In the meantime, you may find that carrying baby in a sling or a carrier on your body will lessen his need to comfort nurse so much. He may just need to be close to you at times and seeks out nursing as a way to do that.

Comfort nursing serves a purpose, too. Studies seem to indicate that this type of sucking overall decreases a baby’s heart rate and lets him relax. It seems to have a very positive effect on his whole physical and emotional well-being. Don’t be afraid to allow this type of nursing. Breastfeeding is more than just imparting fluids and nourishment. It’s a way to nurture your child as well.

Comfort NursingA common concern of new nursing moms is whether their babies are nursing because they are hungry or “just comfort nursing.” Formula-feeding moms and those who are not familiar with breastfeeding will cluck at a nursing mom and shake their heads if a nursing mother rushes their crying baby to the breast. Nursing moms are hit with such comments as, “You know that baby isn’t hungry yet…she just nursed an hour ago.”

But this is one more way that nursing is so very different than formula. Nursing, by its very nature, is comforting. All nursing is comfort nursing. Whether nursing is needed nutritionally is not, in my opinion, something that a new mom should worry about. If a successfully nursing baby really, really doesn’t want or need to nurse, they will turn away from the breast or decline to latch on (please differentiate this from babies and mothers who are having nursing challenges and still need assistance or time to nurse easily or successfully). If the baby nurses…they “need to nurse.”

Breastmilk, a perfect food for babies, digests more completely, easily and therefore quickly than formula, so it is not at all strange that breastfeeding babies nurse more often than their formula-fed counterparts. Plus, let’s face it, from a baby’s perspective, breastfeeding rocks! Guaranteed time with mommy, warmth, skin-to-skin contact, suckling satisfaction, full tummy, cuddled and tucked away in mommy’s arms…what’s not to love about that sort of comfort? So while a baby may not cry out wistfully for a cold bottle nipple full of reconstituted powdered nutrition given by any old person with a free hand unless their tummy truly is empty, a baby suddenly out in the world will call for nursing both for nutrition and that wonderful comfort.

There is absolutely no reason not to nurse a small infant whenever they seem to want it or need it, within the limits of your own sanity. That’s not to say that you are damaging your child if you finish your shower and actually dry off and get dressed while they wait (impatiently) with another loving adult, or if need be, in a safe spot. That’s not to say that you have to hop to and pull out a breast every time they whimper. You find a balance for these things. But you are *not* spoiling your baby by comfort nursing. You are *not* irreparably yoking yourself to this baby at his every whim. But by nursing on cue, you are doing all the right things for your milk supply and your baby’s development, confidence and attachment.

So should i be less worry now?