Breastfeeding and Co-sleeping..

So I decided when Sky was only a few days old, to preserve my sanity I would give co-sleeping a go. For those of you not familiar with the term, it basically means to have your baby sleep in bed with you rather than in a cot or moses basket. It seems that everyone you meet has an opinion on it. I've had friends tell me that i'm making a 'rod for my own back' and that she will never sleep in her own bed, and been branded a bad mother on forums for apparently increasing her risk of SIDS.

However, since she was 2 weeks old Sky has only woken for 1 feed during the night and then slept until Sam wakes up in the morning, making both my husband and I much more able to function during the day. In the early days it meant she could find the breast herself and so I didn't need to wake up every hour to feed her, and I don't think I would have been so successful with breastfeeding had I spent half my night picking her up and putting her down again. 

Breastfeeding was something that had worried me throughout my pregnancy, after I gave up with Sam when he was just 4 weeks old. He would feed every hour and fuss with my breast for at least 10 minutes before finally latching on properly, meaning I would only get a couple hours sleep a night, and that was usually achieved by Joe taking him into another room and walking around with him to stop him screaming. So out came the formula and we never looked back. I have been carrying around my breastfeeding guilt ever since. So when Sky latched perfectly from the moment she was born, I was so relieved. She continued to feed well every 2-3 hours while we were in the hospital, and we were discharged after 24 hours.

Getting home was when the cracks started to show, she would feed constantly during the evening going from 1 breast to the other for 3 hours (which I later found out was cluster feeding) My breasts were sore, I would dread every feed and bedtimes were a nightmare, Joe would walk around with her trying to get her to sleep so my poor cracked nipples could recover but it meant we were both like zombies by morning and Sam would spend his day having to entertain himself while we napped on the sofa whenever Sky gave us the chance.

So that night she fell asleep next to me after a big feed, and I drifted off next to her. When I woke 3 hours later I immediately started to panic, and put my hand on her belly to check she was still breathing. She was fine and looked so comfy and cosy wrapped up next to me, so when she finished her next feed I let her stay there, but padded out the edge of the bed to make sure she didn't fall out. The time between feeds gave my breasts a chance to recover and I stopped dreading the feeds so much. Oh and for the record no matter how good the latch, it is normal for it to hurt like hell at first. I call it the 'toughening up period' my nipples obviously had to get used to being suckled for the best part of the day, and for any of you ladies suffering out there, I recommend Lansinoh cream, it's ridiculously expensive but it is amazing! (and make's brilliant lip balm when your done using it for your nipples)

Last night was the first night that Sky slept all night (well from 11:30pm- 7am) and I am a very happy Mummy!