I LOVE THE LAST SENTENCE !!!!!!!!!

http://healthlink.mcw.edu/article/901291677.html

Breast Feeding
 I have a one-year-old son who is not yet sleeping through the night
awakening only once. I get up, take him out of his crib and breast feed him
for about five minutes and he quickly falls back to sleep. He doesn’t do
this every night. Everyone tells me to just let him cry instead of getting
up to feed him. Is there something else I can do?


 My hat is off to you as a woman of great love and perseverance to
steadfastly breast feed your son for the past year. The advantages you’ve
given to him are many in addition to the bonding that the two of you have
experienced. Breast milk is the preferred form of sustenance for the newborn
and young infant due to its superior digestibility and ability to strengthen
the immune system. Breast-fed infants are less likely to experience
gastrointestinal infections, ear infections, and some respiratory
infections. I would also add that breast feeding has been shown to reduce
your likelihood of contracting breast cancer later in life.

As to your original question, it would be reasonable to assume that by now,
both you and your son would be sleeping through the night on a regular
basis. Before suggesting that you let him cry, you may wish to review his
schedule of feedings and the amount and kinds of food he is receiving during
the day. By the age of one year, I would expect that his mealtimes are the
same as yours and that you have continued to advance his diet.

There are many infant-feeding guides available for reference if you have
questions. I also assume you also nurse him before bedtime as well. I’m
somewhat hesitant to encourage a small but healthy snack before bedtime but
would offer that as a last resort.

You may also be unintentionally be reinforcing his behavior by picking him
up and feeding him, not a bad deal if you think about it. Rather than "just
letting him cry", note the time he awakens, even peek in his room to
reassure yourself that he’s okay and wait up to 10-15 minutes before
entering the room. Often, he will fall asleep again on his own and after
several nights, the behavior will be extinguished. At the same time, if this
behavior does not bother you and is not unreasonably disruptive, there is no
need to think that you are somehow spoiling your son by spending those few
quiet moments with him. In a blink of the eye he will be eighteen and gone
from your nightly embrace.



Russell G. Robertson, MD
9 March 1998

Cindy Curtis,RN,IBCLC
mailto:[log in to unmask]
http://www.erols.com/cindyrn

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