Should You Nurse Your Baby to Sleep?
Is nursing a baby to sleep a good idea? Many experts discourage nursing or breastfeeding a baby until he or she falls asleep. It is even considered a sleep disorder. Some insist that when a baby is allowed to fall asleep while being nursed, he or she will never learn to fall asleep independently. Is it true or is it just another parenting myth?
Turns out, nursing your child to sleep is not really a bad thing. In fact, it has a critical role in your baby’s growth and development. As most mums would notice, babies easily fall asleep when they are being carried and breastfed. The mother’s breast is a great source of comfort for infants. For them, it is where they are most secured. The warmth in this place, the sound of their mothers’ heartbeat, and the nurturing milk they get are all very relaxing and sleep-inducing.
Importance of Nursing a Baby to Sleep
Babies should not be forced to sleep without comfort. It is in their mothers’ arms where they feel safe, relaxed and comfortable – three critical factors for quality sleep. Nursing and cuddling is the best form of bonding between a mum and her child. Young infants will seek this kind of closeness as a natural part of development.
Another thing, breast milk contains tryptophan, a sleep-inducing amino acid. Tryptophan is precursor to serotonin which plays a critical role in enhancing brain function and development. In 1982, a paper published in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood revealed that in early life, tryptophan ingestion leads to the improvement in serotonin receptors. Breast milk, especially when received by the child at night, is crucial in synthesising serotonin. Numerous studies suggest that serotonin has an essential role in cognitive processes, particularly in enhancing mood and regulating the body’s circadian rhythm. This is why it is very critical for mums to breastfeed their babies at night as tryptophan provides health benefits that extend way beyond promoting quality sleep.
Another concern of many parents is that babies who fall asleep while being nursed tend to look for the same environment in which they first fell asleep. This explains why most infants cry when they wake up in the middle of a slumber and noticed that they aren’t near their mothers’ breast. But for mums who share beds with their little ones, infants tend to learn how to seek for their mums’ breast. In another study conducted in 1997 and published in Paediatrics, researchers suggest that although arousals continue to be greater in bed-sharing dyads, such natural interaction is a soothing and simple way to show care and affection to infants as they wake.
Conclusion
Independence is a skill that should be cultivated at the youngest possible age. But allowing infants to sleep on their own may not be a good idea to teach them how to become independent. It is definitely good to nurse babies to sleep. Anyway, in the right time, when they are developmentally ready, they will learn to sleep on their own without anyone to teach them. For now, the warmth, comfort and affection they experience from being nursed and breastfed as they fall asleep are essential for their growth and development and for them to become loving and emotionally healthy adults in the future.
Dear Readers,
Do you agree that nursing a baby to sleep is essential for their growth and development? Share your insights by posting a comment below.
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