It's 4am, do you know where your nursing mother is?

[Love_My_Bubba]

I'm pretty sure this should be on another board but it's 4am and people are listening so here I go.

I would love to co-sleep with my son (who is a bottle snob and won't take one, darn lucky husband) topless so he could drink at the divine tap all night long as he pleases but I just can't. My 17 pound 5 month old Andrew is a World Champion boxer in training at night while sleeping with mommy and daddy and my boobs are his speed bags:. So he woke up for a feed at 3:15, ate for like 5 minutes and is back to sleep. I, on the other hand am laying on the couch at 4:29 with my laptop screen bent over so I can type in the dark so I don't disturb husband or said baby. While in his crib he sleeps like a serene little, still, angel. So since he's got to sleep in his crib I've got to cut out this night time feeding because most nights I can't get back to sleep.

I've got post-partum thyroiditis (a thyroid condition that effects some women with thyroid problems like mine after giving birth and takes about a year to normalize) which makes you so tired you feel like you're in a perpetual first trimester. So I'm sure you can guess what state of sleep deprivation I'm in.

I'm not in favor of CIO and won't do that and I know he can go all night because he has done it multiple times, for up to 12 hours. DS is too good about going to bed and I refuse to make his crib a scary place where he knows he'll be left to wail.

So what do I do? How can I help him go just another few hours without leaving him to cry all alone in the dark? HELP!!!!!!!!

Thanks in advance.

Sleepily Yours,

[heathermr]

I was going back in time to look for possible reactions to the 20/20 show last week and noticed your query. I am so sorry that no one was able to offer you any suggestions sooner. I hope that you see this, and that it helps you. I understand about getting woken up and not going back to sleep. I often was in the same boat with my first ds--now two and a half. "Sleep when the baby sleeps" was always said with a derisive tone in this house! A book that really helped us was "The No Cry Sleep Solution." My son went from world's worst sleeper (on a reverse feeding schedule nursing every two hours up to about 13 months reacting to my absence at work) to world's best sleeper (12 hours solid) largely thanks to this book. It is recommended by Dr. Sears, and supportive of co-sleeping, attachment parenting, etc, but by no means will you feel pressured to co-sleep since that obviously doesn't work for you. She has another book now aimed at toddlers and older children that we are considering buying. My ds is back to waking up once or twice every night since the birth of his baby brother. I am sure she will have good advice for us again. Now to be honest with you it did take a while to implement the plan that the book helped us develop--it was not an overnight solution.

Any reson DH couldn't take the 4 am wakeup and have ds learn to just cuddle dad back to sleep, if he doesn't need a feeding?

Good luck and know that there are others out there who know your pain!

[~Megan~]

That sounds really hard! I think 5 months is too young to expect no nursing at night though.

[Love_My_Bubba]

Originally Posted by mamao'two

That sounds really hard! I think 5 months is too young to expect no nursing at night though.

Even though he sleeps through on other nights? I just figured that since he has done it on his own that he was ready for no night fedings. I really don't know because I tried to not let literature sway me on feeding, BF or solids (which he won't get for at least another month). I just let Andrew tell me what he's ready to do. I just feed him on demand and will continue to do that and take the advice of my FABULOUS ped. Thank you for responding!

[BurgundyElephant]

I think babies go through a growth spurt at around 5 months, hence the waking up again.