I am so happy to be back on lactnet after nearly a years hiatus in which I
began dealing with a more active toddler, went back to work, and got pregnant
with our second child.

We coslept with our first until he was 10 months old, then I read a terrible
"cry it out book" and began a process of getting him to sleep in the crib.
 We did some modified crying, although I still went into his room to nurse
him in the middle of the night until he was 15 months old.

Now our second is 2 months old and I am sleeping with him too.  I absolutely
love sleeping with him, the experience of cuddling and nursing at night in
bed together is wonderfully intimate, and easy!  My baby is superfat and
healthy, which I attribute to the frequent round the clock feedings. I am
afraid however that I am setting up sleep associations with nursing that will
have to be broken at some point, and that is more cruel than never getting
started with it in the first place.

I have looked to books for the answer.  There are two particularly popular
sleep books at Barnes and Noble (popular American bookstore chain).  The
first is Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems and the other Helping Your Child
Sleep Through The Night by Cuthbertson and Schevill.  Both advocate almost
immediate night weaning.  It seems that night weaning may be very dangerous
is initiated too soon.  Cuthbertson and Schevill advocate getting a breastfed
baby used to the bottle so that these can be given at night instead of the
breast.  Again, I fear these may set up problems with milk supply/ and or
nipple confusion.  Also it bothers me that there is so much emphasis on
separating the mother from the baby.  In the hospital they immediately wisk
the baby away, sometimes separating mother and infant needlessly for the
first critical hours.  Then when you get the baby home you are expected to
sleep in separate beds, get the baby night weaned as soon as possible, and on
that bottle.

I guess I answered my own question-I'll continue to cosleep!

You all may have discussed this to death already, I hope I haven't repeated
anything.

Great to be back,

Jennifer Coombs, PA-C (Physician Assistant in Family Practice)

P.S.
Looking for breastfeeding images in popular literature?  Check out the
cartoon of Madonna breastfeeding in this months Rolling Stones Magazine!
(Madonna the actress, not the mother of Jesus of course, you can see images
of her nursing everywhere!!)