Laura Aldaz  shared that she had a 16 month old who nursed all night and was
not getting any sleep.
My experience as a mother of 23 years is that kids are good at get ting
thier point across . Thier actions speak louder than words. Part of our job
as the parent is to figure out the message as best as we can.
My bf babies would increase night nursing when they were going through times
of change or when I was too busy during the day.  I can identify with that
sleepless feeling.  I was able to stay home with my babies, but would often
get too busy .  The outcome was a child that needed more attention than
usual and when thier needs were being meet they were happy . Each baby had
thier signals and as a mom I learned to read them. Even today my 6 yr old
who was weaned from the breast because of my medical problems at  1 year
will become wakeful and needs to cuddle with me and her dad. She was close
to 4 years when she slept out of our bed.  I believe that weaning from co
sleeping is the same as weaning from the breast , every family needs to find
their own way, that respects the needs of the child and the  family members.
My point to Laura is what is your baby trying to tell you ? My very verbal
teenager often reminds me to rember that my priority is my children.  And I
do tell parents to enjoy your babies because you can 't buy that time back.
After all when you are on your deathbed will you say I wish I spent more
time at work. If Laura was one of my clients I would remind her gently that
her work life looks pretty busy and a bf baby will do their best to get that
nursing and bf time. In my experience reversed nursing is not uncommon in bf
babies with  mother who work  and are away much of the day  .
      Yes, we need paid maternity leave , on site day care, and flexible
hours, but we need to demand that as mothers the right to mother our
children and our children have the right to their mothers care. We should
not be penalized for our choices to be mothers. I am a firm believer in
sequencing our lives. There is a time for everything and we need to listen
to our hearts and minds.  I am not forgetting dads, but I am addressing this
from a mother's perspective. When I was in my 20s I was sure I could have
and do it all ,but my older children ,now in their 20s, tell me that it was
often at thier expense. They also say that  thier younger brother and
sisters had a better deal because they had mom at home full time when they
were little.  They are now school age ,teenagers and adults and I have
returned to work .  And  I still need to respect thier verbal and non verbal
messages that they need me.
       A practical hint for mothers of older babies,sometime babies are
happy to cuddle with Dad and stay asleep, so go to another spot in the house
and catch alittle private sleep time. I would awake early and have several
hours of  quiet time because our babies loved to cuddle with dad, I believe
this also would work to get a little sleep. Good luck .

Pat Gorman  CLE
Sublimity , Or.