sleeping/nursing patterns

Hello All, I am the mother of an incredibly wonderful little boy who is
coming up on 15 weeks! I can't believe how much he's grown and changed
already. Anyway, he is being nursed on demand, and he sleeps with us in our
bed. Since he was born he has nursed every hour, sometimes even more
frequently, and will only sleep for more than 20 minutes or so if he is
walking with me in the Snugli. He will only sleep if he is at my breast,
otherwise he screams and works himself up into a royal fury. At night he
sleeps for about 2-5 hours then wakes up every 45 minutes to an hour after
that. I am usually perfectly happy with this lifestyle, I don't work and we
have a wonderful 3 hour nap together in the afternoons. However, when I am
really tired, I start to wonder how long this will last for! What are your
experiences with babies that need a little more contact and closeness? When
did they start to sleep for longer? Did they ever sleep on their own for
naps? Is there a gentle way to encourage that on occassions when I want a
break? I am not interested in letting him cry it out, and I normally love
having him fall asleep on my breast.... Perhaps just some words of
encouragement to help me make it through the next while.... When did your
babies get more independent? -sigh- I love this little man so much, but he
sure makes me tired. Good thing I don't have anything I need to do during
the days. : / As a very independent woman, this is really dragging me
down. I am speaking now as a VERY tired woman whose had about 8 hours of
sleep in the last two days. Has anyone else had troubles with insomnia?
Thanks for your advice/experiences in advance
Alicia

Hi Alicia! The only thing constant in your life with your little boy is
change. He will gradually become more independent, his tummy will get bigger,
and you will adjust too. And then he'll start teething -- but i'd better not
talk about that!

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"Jeez; if only those Ancient Greek storytellers had known about the astonishing
creature that is the *Usenet hydra*: you cut off one head, and *a stupider one*
grows back..." -- MJ, cam.misc

Alicia wrote:
Hello All, I am the mother of an incredibly wonderful little boy who is
coming up on 15 weeks! I can't believe how much he's grown and changed
already. Anyway, he is being nursed on demand, and he sleeps with us in our
bed. Since he was born he has nursed every hour, sometimes even more
frequently, and will only sleep for more than 20 minutes or so if he is
walking with me in the Snugli. He will only sleep if he is at my breast,
otherwise he screams and works himself up into a royal fury. At night he
sleeps for about 2-5 hours then wakes up every 45 minutes to an hour after
that. I am usually perfectly happy with this lifestyle, I don't work and we
have a wonderful 3 hour nap together in the afternoons. However, when I am
really tired, I start to wonder how long this will last for! What are your
experiences with babies that need a little more contact and closeness? When
did they start to sleep for longer? Did they ever sleep on their own for
naps? Is there a gentle way to encourage that on occassions when I want a
break? I am not interested in letting him cry it out, and I normally love
having him fall asleep on my breast.... Perhaps just some words of
encouragement to help me make it through the next while.... When did your
babies get more independent? -sigh- I love this little man so much, but he
sure makes me tired. Good thing I don't have anything I need to do during
the days. : / As a very independent woman, this is really dragging me
down. I am speaking now as a VERY tired woman whose had about 8 hours of
sleep in the last two days. Has anyone else had troubles with insomnia?
Thanks for your advice/experiences in advance

When was your little guy born. Mine is almost 15 weeks, too, and was born on August 11th. I
don't have your problem though. He sleeps in his own bed (by his choice) for 10 hours or so at
night. He can't sleep with anyone near him. If he falls asleep nursing (which doesn't happen
very often), I have to unlatch and run away so that he'll stay asleep! Sometimes, I wish he
were a just a little more needing of cuddling! He is very cuddly when he's awake, but he just
seems to be very independent (like his Dad). Sometimes it seems like he doesn't really care if
I'm there or not! He'll wake up in the morning sometimes and not even let us know that he's
awake, he'll just lay there and stare at his mirror and mobile... It does make for a very easy
baby, but for some reason it makes me feel guilty (I don't know why) that he's happy by
himself. There's always *something* that a mother has to feel guilty about, right?

Manda

how big are your breast now

"Alicia" wrote:
Hello All, I am the mother of an incredibly wonderful little boy who is
coming up on 15 weeks! ... However, when I am
really tired, I start to wonder how long this will last for! What are your
experiences with babies that need a little more contact and closeness? When
did they start to sleep for longer? Did they ever sleep on their own for
naps? Is there a gentle way to encourage that on occassions when I want a
break? I am not interested in letting him cry it out, and I normally love
having him fall asleep on my breast.... Perhaps just some words of
encouragement to help me make it through the next while.... When did your
babies get more independent? -sigh- I love this little man so much, but he
sure makes me tired.

Well... it sounds like you just need a break every once in a while.
Can your DH (or anyone, a grandparent, Aunt or Uncle, whatever) hold the
baby in the snugli for a few hours on the weekend so you can take a
long, uninterrupted nap? If the baby cries at first, well, in my
opinion there is a huge difference between a baby crying alone and
ignored, and a baby being held and cuddled but crying anyway. Sometimes
babies can't comforted, and it isn't our fault (or theirs!).

--
-- Vicki
Married DH May 21, 1995
Ima shel DS, born 11/16/99; and DD, born 5/19/02.
"Stay-at-home" Ima since October 2002.
An ounce of mother is worth a pound of clergy. -Spanish proverb
I may not currently be pregnant, but I look pregnant, does that count?

My baby (now 21 months) was (is) just like your DS. At around 10 months or
so, she started taking longer naps and sleeping longer stretches at night.
However, she continues to be what I would call high need and needs a LOT of
cuddle time during the day, likes to be picked up, nurses often still and so
on. I think some babies are just wired like that. Since I am a SAHM too, I
just sleep whenever she does if I feel deprived and when she would only
sleep on me, I just let her and let everything else slide. One thing I did
find helped (which coincidentally - or not? - happened at around 10 months)
was a sling. I found I could get a lot more done with that that the
snugli/Bjorn, she could nurse in it and if she fell asleep in it, I could do
stuff until she was really out cold and then gently lay her down in it.
Since the sling would be nice and cozy and warm and smell of me, she
generally wouldn't wake up. So, I don;t know if I have really helped you,
and YMMV, but that's my experience!! I comfort myself with the knowledge
that she won't be like this forever and I should enjoy her "passion" for me
while it lasts! (It's exhausting though).

CY
"Alicia" wrote in message
news:IeZub.440798$9l5.231131@pd7tw2no...
Hello All, I am the mother of an incredibly wonderful little boy who is
coming up on 15 weeks! I can't believe how much he's grown and changed
already. Anyway, he is being nursed on demand, and he sleeps with us in
our
bed. Since he was born he has nursed every hour, sometimes even more
frequently, and will only sleep for more than 20 minutes or so if he is
walking with me in the Snugli. He will only sleep if he is at my breast,
otherwise he screams and works himself up into a royal fury. At night he
sleeps for about 2-5 hours then wakes up every 45 minutes to an hour after
that. I am usually perfectly happy with this lifestyle, I don't work and
we
have a wonderful 3 hour nap together in the afternoons. However, when I
am
really tired, I start to wonder how long this will last for! What are
your
experiences with babies that need a little more contact and closeness?
When
did they start to sleep for longer? Did they ever sleep on their own for
naps? Is there a gentle way to encourage that on occassions when I want a
break? I am not interested in letting him cry it out, and I normally love
having him fall asleep on my breast.... Perhaps just some words of
encouragement to help me make it through the next while.... When did your
babies get more independent? -sigh- I love this little man so much, but
he
sure makes me tired. Good thing I don't have anything I need to do during
the days. : / As a very independent woman, this is really dragging me
down. I am speaking now as a VERY tired woman whose had about 8 hours of
sleep in the last two days. Has anyone else had troubles with insomnia?
Thanks for your advice/experiences in advance
Alicia

"Chookie" wrote in message
...
Hi Alicia! The only thing constant in your life with your little boy is
change. He will gradually become more independent, his tummy will get
bigger,
and you will adjust too. And then he'll start teething -- but i'd better
not
talk about that!


And then he will turn three and you will say.... where is my baby?

S