Have mom bring baby to bed.  Honestly, I see nothing abnormal about a BF baby waking 3X/night.  A lot of mothers find they are less exhausted with baby in bed b/c they don't have to get out of bed or even fully wake up to nurse the baby.  And sometimes babies actuallly will sleep longer beside their mother than alone in another bed/room.  Have you discussed the option of bringing baby to bed?  That would seem the easiest, most logical way to help with the exhaustion even if it doesn't change the sleeping pattern.  I would strongly urge her not to consider any of the "sleep training" methods available if she's feeling tempted.  They are not respectful of the baby's needs and My own opinion is that sleep training works by teaching baby that his needs aren't going to be met so why bother trying.  Are there any other issues going on for this mother?  While it can be tiring to have a wakeful baby (I should know - my first woke every hour until he was two; one of my daughters was 2 1/2 before she slept more than 4 hours at a stretch and I got blessed with #3 who has slept a 5 hour stretch since she was about 10 months old and is now sleeping 6+ hours with 2 or 3 wakings in the early hours (1, 3, 5 AM kind of thing), to be exhausted with waking 3X a night seems a bit extreme.  Is mother having any post partum depression issues or anything like that?  PPD can cause a mother to feel exhausted in circumstances where other mothers might be a bit tired but not exhausted.  Just wondering b/c having had babies who woke way more than 3X/night with my first two, I find it a bit extreme to be "exhausted" by this.  Granted, my babies sleep in my bed until they're about 4 years old so I have never had to get up and go to them or even completley wake up so perhaps the sleeping arranagement is the difference.

Margo

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