Jan Barger wrote:
"Many parents are told not to let their babies fall asleep at the breast -- a
"bad habit" that they won't be able to break.  How much of the painful
screaming we hear so much about is the pain of separation?"

Without going into my diatribe against this particular piece of 'advice' I
will simply report a curious item from a lecture I attended yesterday on how
to increase one's tolerance for stress.  It was part of a very good talk about
management responsibilities in the health services and in general, by a man
named Sten Iwarson who has written several books on the topic, in Swedish.

Iwarson feels very strongly about the need for adults to have good sleep
habits.  That doesn't mean 8 hours a night, and this talk was certainly not
directed at new mothers, but at those of us who ruminate after waking at 5
a.m. or who just can't hit the sack before 2:30 because there is just one more
thing we have to do first...  It means using nights primarily for sleeping,
and taking care of oneself enough to allow time to do just that.
If you wake up and are unable to fall back asleep immediately, he suggests
getting up, fixing some warm milk and drinking that, possibly with something
to eat.  I don't think he would be averse to nursing a baby to sleep either,
for mother's AND baby's sake.  He is quite aware of the effects of oxytocin
and prolactin.

Enjoy your nighttime feeds!
Rachel Myr

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