I just have to jump into this thread, as it is so dear to my heart.  Both my
babies (now 16 and 19) slept with me, mainly because I needed a lot of
sleep, and I took them to my bed out of sheer exhaustion and delirium.  My
16 year old still comes to climb in when she is sick, and I LOVE it!  She is
at the developmental stage where I am truely an embarrassment to her,
especially with all the lactation aids in the back of my car!!!  But, when
she is sick, she wants to snuggle all night, and it just brings tears to my
eyes to know she still needs me, just in a different way now.

My oldest is a sophmore away at college, and just last week I got a distress
call at 4:00 am.  She was crying as she had the flu and was vomiting and
wanted me to hold her hair back, a mommy thing I always did for my girls.
Yes, there were endless nights where I was convinced that I wasn't cut out
for this motherhood thing.  But now, I wouldn't trade those nights for
anything.  They were "investments" in my children's future.  What would I
change?  I would have brought them into my bed more, I would have breastfed
them whenever they wanted to, instead of holding them off.  In short, I
would have loved them even more!  I am a happy mom of two daughters who are
the thrill of my life.

Linda J. Tandy, MSN, RN, IBCLC
Cedar Rapids, Iowa

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