Jo-Anne Elder wrote
> Absolutely, Virginia. I wake up many times every night. I have mentioned
> on Lactnet before that in my husband's Aboriginal culture being able to
> sleep lightly is considered a quality; it keeps the rest of the people
> out of danger....
> Pregnant (and menstruating) women are thought, in
> Aboriginal cultures, to have special access to such vision dreams.
> .... So light sleep may be a way of letting us wake up, remember the
dream, and tap into their
> special language.
>
> Remember, too, that the baby / child a mother *thinks* is sleeping
> through the night probably isn't.

    1) Your points on Aboriginal cultures certainly add some thoughtful new
(or ancient) perspectives to the discussion.
    2) To add to your comment about mothers' perceptions that an older baby
is sleeping through the night certainly reflects my experience.  I used to
live in a small town, little more than a village, where sounds carried on
the still night air.  I was staying up half the night, either studying or
writing new editions of a book, and so was aware of which babies of up to14
months were waking at night in our block.  The babies were waking,
irrespective of whether the mothers were boasting that "their" baby was
sleeping through, or expressing concern that "their" baby was waking (unlike
the others!)  I speculated that the mothers who incorrectly claimed their
babies slept through either (a) were deep sleepers and forgot or (b) were so
caught up in the societal expectation that babies "should" sleep through,
that they were in denial and treated the many nights their babies woke as
the exception.  I thought it was sad that the second group, who incorrectly
claimed their babies slept through, were reinforcing the concern felt by
Mums who admitted their babies woke at night.
     So much in the night waking issue comes down to perceptions, some of
them cultural, some of them wishful thinking.
      I'm going NOMAIL again later today, but can be contacted by email
privately.
            Cheers,
               Virginia
       in sunny Brisbane, where the birds are singing,
       but the little twittering birds now, rather than the
       prima donnas of the bird world which were such a joy

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