After we have dressed the baby in a few warm layers of clothing, we make sure that we don't take the baby into any other room. We keep any conversation and other noise to a minimum, keep the lights as dim as possible and I take the baby into my bed for a long breast feed. After a long bath and relaxing massage, the baby inevitably falls to sleep while filling her belly with milk, setting herself up for a nice long slumber.
I know that some people discourage feeding a baby to sleep as they say the baby comes to depend on it, and becomes unable to fall asleep any other way. I would say that the main objective at this early stage is to set the baby up for a nice, long night-time sleep. The baby and the parents will be much happier for it. So, there's really no point in worrying about the long term consequences of such a simple routine. In any case, with each of my babies, I have continued to feed them just before their night sleep (and before their day time sleeps) up until they have reached toddlerhood. At that stage, they have all been fully able to fall asleep without any external aides or enncouragement, so we have not had any problems with this.
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