Should I nurse my baby to sleep?

Should I nurse my baby to sleep?

Gary Feldman (Medical Director, Stramski Disorders Center, Miller Children's Hospital ) gives expert video advice on: Should I nurse my baby whenever he cries at night?; How do I know if my baby is waking up at night because he's hungry?; Should I put my baby on a nursing schedule to help him sleep at night? and more...

You must understand that if you nurse your baby or feed your baby until they fall asleep, then that's what they'll get used to. Now, certainly you'll have a lot of quality time, but there's going to be a trade-off, and the cost to that quality time at bed time is going to be increased risk of them waking up in the middle of the night, possibly once, twice, five times, eight times, wanting the same thing. So, if you want to have some more quality time in the middle of the night, which probably not going to be true, because you're going to be exhausted, it's going to become... you can create a problem for yourself. Now, I don't believe in saying that there's a yes and a no, that there's a right thing and a wrong thing. As long as you're aware of what could happen. It might be a trial and error type situation: "well, let's see what happens if I feed my baby at night until they fall asleep." But you've got to be reminded that they may get used to this habit and you may find yourself having a lot of night time problems, multiple wakings-up for them demanding to be fed again.