Please give me suggestions - other than the one that I had at 3:00 am - to buy a crib

[Victorian]

OK - here is the problem. First all let me say that I love co-sleeping. We slept with dd until she was 3 and at almost 5, she still crawls in from time to time.

The problem is with ds - 7 1/2 months. He really enjoys nursing at night and I dont mind since I can usually sleep through it. But a couple of weeks ago he started someting that is driving me crazy. He puts his feet up on my stomach, pushes as hard as he can and "walks" on my stomach. It hurts so bad! If I hold his feet he cries. If I more his feet up he cries.

I am at my wits end - which I know has to do with the fact that both dd and ds have been sick and I am up at 5:30 to work for a few hours each morning at a postpartum job. I am just so tired.

Now that I am writing this I realilize that this started around that same time that I started working. Could they be related? Any suggestions?

Victorian

[moss]

how bout putting a little pillow or a small stuffed animal beside your tummy? your dc can walk on that instead of on you.

or maybe try a different position?

hope you find something that works for you.:hippie

[lauraess]

I think it is not too early to start setting limits in the family bed. If we are going to learn to sleep together we have to do it with consideration for others. Maybe you will have to stop him firmly and saying "we can not do that" and/or " stop. that hurts." it will take some doing and time for him to get it but consistency and firmness is the key.
laura

[azyre]

My 11 mo has started doing a similar thing, she kicks me in the stomach - actually it's more like a whole foot poke. Or drags her toes up my stomach.

I wedge the doona between us. She gives up on kicking the doona, it's not as fun.

I know how it is tho - she went through a boob clenching stage and sometimes I'd let her do it because otherwise she was too unsettled. After a few minutes I could encourage her to stop.

I think if you can't come up with a compromise - somewhere to put his feet you both feel ok with, you might just have to bite the bullet and let him get frustrated and cry about it. He has a nice booby to comfort him once he has expressed it.

[buddernoodle]

My daughter at 4 months started kicking me in the stomach too. I use a king sized pillow and put it between my legs and angle it towards her at night. Works well.

[oceanbaby]

My son is almost 3yo, and has always done a kneading/rubbing thing with his feet on my stomach and thighs. At first it didn't bother me, but now it drives me nuts. When I can't get him to stop (sometimes he's asleep while he does it), I wrap my body in the blankets mummy style, leaving the top exposed if I wanted to nurse (we don't at night anymore though). This stops him from kneading me with his feet.

[thistle]

My dd was a kicker and I ended up moving her onto her own sidecar at about that age. Now she is 22 months and her newesr trick is to tuck her feet into the waistband of my undies! DRIVES ME NUTS!!

thistle

[davidspalding]

our dd did that for a while at 8 - 10 mos (if i recall), and naturally it drove dw ape@*#&. but it passed. dd grew, and now nurses at a 90° angle but we're trying to night wean entirely, so some struggle happens most nights.

i guess the consolation i can provide is that the struggles will continue, but will shift in nature. ("the water always changing, the river remains the same....")

i think dw used a pillow on her tummy to act as a shield. she's also used pill-shaped bucky pillows* under an elbow, on her side, et al, to support during horizontal nursing. web strap handles on both sides make it really easy to grab and scrunch. these things have a dozen or more uses for nursing and cosleeping - highly recommended!

* the Baxter (http://www.bucky.biz/eu/product/baxter.htm) (check www.stpost.com and www.rei-outlet.com** (search on "bucky") and the like to find good prices)

** (as of this writing, REI has some of hte "Utopia" (http://www.bucky.biz/eu/product/utopia.htm) pillows for $17. they're also handy for elbow support. they also have "TLC" generic back pillows.)