I agree with Sue that when discussing night waking we need to help the
mother learn how to do what feels "right" for her. For some mothers, their
sleep deprivation is taking such a toll on family life that anything feels
OK as long as it eventually results in some sleep. For others, listening to
the baby cry is excruciating (as I believe it should be, but I  try to keep
that judgment out of discussions<g>) and strategies such as Farber suggests
aren't appropriate. Even though I come from the school of meeting the baby's
needs as completely as need be, including during the night (and have
survived over 7 years of not sleeping through the night), I've also realized
that not every woman and every family situation can handle this. So...I try
to be flexible in discussions, but trying to help the woman understand how
the baby might feel about being left to cry. It's a delicate balancing
act--helping a mother survive nightwaking (however she can) vs instilling
guilt over the need to help the baby regulate night waking somehow.

**Leslie**
Leslie Ayre-Jaschke, BEd, IBCLC
Peace River Breastfeeding Clinic, Peace River AB Canada
e-mail <[log in to unmask]>