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| Education and Support for Nursing Mothers |
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| Sleep Issues |
| Common Concerns p. 6 |
| Sleep Issues |
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| One of the givens of parenthood, especially in the early months, is that you'll be sleep deprived. This goes for whatever choice you've made in feeding your child. Unfortunately, you're also likely to be bombarded by questions about how long your baby is sleeping at night, and if your baby is a "good baby." Seeing as how I don't believe any baby is inherently evil, it's hard for me to understand what folks mean by "good baby." It might not hurt to look over this information on normal infant sleep. You may also be told not to nurse your baby to sleep or your baby will develop sleep problems. Babies are supposed to fall asleep nursing, at least sometimes -- nursing acts like a natural tranquilizer. If you continue to nurse your child into toddlerhood, you'll really appreciate the tranquilizing effect of nursing, when many of your friends who are no longer nursing (or never did) have to jump through lots of hoops to get their toddler down for a nap. It is also false that nursing at night will lead to early childhood cavities (carries). Brush your child's teeth before bed, since any other food the baby is getting can feed the bacteria that lead to cavities -- but go ahead and nurse even after tooth-brushing. The bacteria that cause cavities will not grow in breastmilk! And rest assured that nursing lying down also does not lead to ear infections. |
| Co-Sleeping |
| Many new parents -- especially parents of a breast-fed baby -- find that they actually get a lot more sleep by keeping the baby close by at night. Sometimes the baby will start off the night in his crib, only moving to Mom's side at the first awakening, and sometimes the baby starts off the night with Mom. There are many advantages to co-sleeping, although it isn't for everyone. Not only are you likely to be less sleep-deprived, but consider the evidence that co-sleeping actually reduces the risk of your baby succumbing to SIDS. (It wasn't called "crib death" for nothing.) Also, consider from an historical perspective, human infants have through almost all of human history always been in close proximity to their mother at night. The links below will inform you on the advantages of co-sleeping, and how to co-sleep safely. Please remember that you should not co-sleep with your infant if either you or your husband consume alcohol, or drugs of abuse, or smoke. A water bed is also not a safe co-sleeping arrangement. |
| The Family Bed from Kelly's AP Site Co-Sleeping: Yes, No, or Sometimes? from AskDrSears.com Sleeping in the Same Bed: The Breastfeeding - Co-Sleeping Connection by Gwen Morrison |
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| Sleeping Through the Night by Katherine Dettwyler, PhD The Cosiness of Co-Sleeping by Dr. Sarah Buckley Ten Reasons to Sleep Next to Your Child at Night by Jan Hunt |
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| Nursing the Baby to Sleep |
| If you choose to co-sleep, you will, of course, often nurse your baby to sleep. However, even if you do not choose to cosleep, you are likely to find that your baby often falls asleep while you are nursing. You are not creating a monster and this is not a bad habit. Nursing is a soothing activity, biologically designed to soothe both mother and baby to sleep. This does not mean that it is bad if your baby goes to sleep other ways. In fact, it is very nice and convenient when a baby learns to fall asleep other ways than nursing. However, this doesn't mean you need to try to "train" (or force) your baby to fall asleep without nursing. In fact, I strongly caution you to beware of sleep training your baby, either by the Ezzo method, the Ferber method, or any other type of method that involves leaving your child alone in distress. If you are uncomfortable always nursing your baby to sleep and would like to look for other solutions, I would encourage you to look into one of the good books on sleep issues listed on this site, such as Elizabeth Pantley's No Cry Sleep Solution. |
| Normal Infant Sleep |
| Many infant "sleep problems" are not sleep problems at all. They are, rather, a modern misunderstanding of what is normal for infant sleep, especially as normal infant sleep may interfere with our modern, busy lives. Actually, if you really wanted to keep getting a good night's sleep any time for, oh, the rest of your life, maybe you should've thought a bit more about becoming a parent in the first place.. |
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| Last Updated February 2, 2004 |
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