> From: [log in to unmask]
> Date: February 26, 2008 10:28:06 PM EST
> To: Lactation Information and Discussion <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: fibbing
>
> On Feb 26, 2008, at 12:48 PM, LACTNET automatic digest system wro
>
>> She might like to know that this is normal behaviour, and most other
>> mothers who say baby 'sleeps all night' are just plain telling fibs -
>> and that's been researched (although I've never found the link.)
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> eek, do you recall the research actually portraying it this way -  
> that mothers are consciously misrepresenting how much their babies  
> sleep ? that seems like a very adversarial viewpoint to me ! if so,  
> it makes me wonder if the researchers had babies who didn't sleep  
> through the night for a very long time ! ;-)
>
> my 1st four slept through the night right from birth. and i'm  
> definitely not fibbing. i had the incredibly engorged breasts,  
> soaking wet sheets and panic attacks at 3 am upon waking to said  
> scenario (that my baby had succumbed to SIDS right beside me as i  
> slept) to prove it.  i would try to no avail to strip them and  
> change them and beg them to nurse. they all bulked up by feeding for  
> 2-3 hrs straight around bedtime and went through the whole night,  
> 7-8 hrs and then would cluster feed in the mornings.  we bedshare w/  
> all our babies from birth.
>
> i also found much to my dismay that this arrangement ensured the  
> return of my menses and fertility immediately upon cessation of  
> lochia. i'd get a break for 1 wk during week 7 postpartum and each  
> time i've had a period during week 8 ! i chart my cycles and it's  
> amazing how each baby's sleeping habits has resulted in the same  
> return to instant normalcy of my cycles.
>
>  this last baby is the one who's breaking the mold in every way he  
> can think of ! besides being a homebirthed breechling, he's decided  
> to be completely intolerant of and possibly allergic to even traces  
> of dairy. before this was diagnosed, for his 1st few weeks, he slept  
> through the night just like the others had. he slept most of the  
> day, too. and he lost weight. i got my period as usual during week  
> 8. then we diagnosed his reason for continuing not to gain weight  
> and i cut out every trace of dairy. and lo and behold, i have a baby  
> now who does not sleep through the night ! he nurses about 3-4 x's a  
> night, i think. i no longer wake up engorged and best of all, for  
> the 1st time in 5 babies and 8 yrs straight of nursing 1, 2 and even  
> 3 babies at a time, i am not getting my periods ! i haven't had a  
> period since 8 wks postpartum and he's almost 5 months old.  
> sorry,did i just crow in your ear ? (so thrilled about this latest  
> development, i can't even say !)
>
> in my working w/ mothers and new babies, i have run across quite a  
> few who said baby slept through the night really early on. at 1st i  
> thought i'd found a mother likely dealing w/ the same unexpected  
> issues as i and would ask about return of cycles and extreme morning  
> engorgement management. i was almost always puzzled to find these  
> mothers were experiencing cessation of menstruation and no issues w/  
> engorgement. then it would come to light that they were bedsharing  
> and hubby would recall baby nursing in the dark wee hrs of the  
> morning or mom would muse upon prompting that perhaps baby did just  
> roll over for a little midnight snack now and then. i would never  
> say these mothers were 'just plain telling fibs'. i think what  
> happens is mother and baby have gotten so comfortable in the nursing  
> relationship that the mother hardly wakes for night nursings and  
> barely registers them.
>
>  i know that elijah and i have finally gotten to this point. when  
> ppl ask me how the new baby is sleeping, it rises right to my lips  
> to respond, 'oh, great, he sleeps all night !' i think what is more  
> accurate is that he lets *me* sleep all night! and i think that may  
> be the case w/ many other (fibbing) breastfeeding, cosleeping moms  
> rather than intentional misdirection.
>
> i couldn't agree more wholeheartedly w/ advice for mom to try  
> bedsharing w/ this baby, preferably topless and w/ baby in just a  
> diaper ... a hot water bottle wrapped in a soft blanket against his  
> back or belly is also wonderful for helping baby sleep, a hot shower  
> or bath w/ baby before bed followed by a nice baby massage, a noise  
> machine at night w/ loud white noise or wave sounds and what works  
> wonders here is a ceiling fan set on low and a stained glass dim  
> lamp beside the bed for baby to stare at and become hypnotized by  
> should he wake and find it hard to fall back to sleep... and last  
> but not least, my 2 yo daughter still falls asleep almost instantly  
> upon being tucked in tightly, almost as if she were swaddled again.
>
> ~jacqui gruttadauria, bsw
> happy to finally have a cycle -stopping night nurser near detroit,  
> michigan !
> www.myspace.com/mummatowldthings
>
>


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