
It’s natural to let your baby fall asleep while nursing or drinking from
her bottle. But this is a habit you should not encourage. If you do,
you teach your baby to associate feeding with sleeping so that she
cannot fall asleep any other way. Of course you want to give your baby
every comfort. But by allowing her to fall asleep as you feed her, you
may be sending her the consistent message: “You can’t go to sleep
without me and your bottle.” That message interferes with your baby’s
ability to sleep through the night. Try not to use the breast or bottle
as a sleep pacifier. If your baby needs the extra comfort of sucking
to fall asleep, help her find her thumb or give her a pacifier. Don’t
worry, more than half of all thumb-suckers stop before their first
birthday. For advice on nighttime feedings or questions about sleep,
talk with your pediatrician.
The above script is part of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
radio series 'A Minute for Kids,' which airs weekdays on WBBM-AM in
Chicago, IL.