If the soother works I say go for it! I am sure the mom will just be happy that you are not going to terminate For the nursing, it is not the nursing that causes the problem, it is using the nursing to get the child to sleep. I nursed my daughter until she was 2, but I always put her down awake (except for newborn stage) and she learned to put herself to sleep. Maybe you should talk to mom about saving the nursing for awake times and keeping it separate from putting the baby down for sleep. Ie. nurse, but don't allow the child to fall asleep while nursing...put the child to bed awake.