Co-sleeping Made the Difference by Karen Dykstra
#4 in WBW series
I want to share that it took our Gregory until five weeks old to regain his birth weight. I was having nursing problems, which were primarily due to bad breastfeeding “advice,” and Gregory was sleeping in the crib which his daddy lovingly built. Although he was in our room and at the foot of our bed, we realized it wasn’t working. We had a very scary episode when he was 6 days old and literally “slept through the night” for over six hours without waking to nurse. He was dehydrated and his weight continued to drop.
To make a long story short, I read in Dr. William Sears’ The Baby Book that he recommended treating babies who were slow to regain birth weight with co-sleeping, carrying the baby in a sling, and breastfeeding on cue. This went against everything we had previously read and, of course, goes against our society, but we did it and it worked! Once we brought Gregory into our bed, and I nursed him whenever he wanted and carried him in the sling, he started to gain 1 and1/2 ounces per day!! Our pediatrician was amazed at the turnaround. (By the way, we were going to the doctor twice a week for checkups/weight checks during this difficult time.) Gregory had more than doubled his birth weight by 6 months old.
But, alas, we still have never told our pediatrician that we share sleep because when Gregory was 2 months old, he had me fill out a survey on crib-sleeping safety for some study he was participating in. I knew no other nursing/co-sleeping mothers at that time and lacked confidence, so I lied about our sleeping arrangements. 🙁
The family bed has not only made us better parents, but was essential to our son for his growth and development.
Tomorrow: Tuesday’s Child is Full of Grace
Sheila Kippley
Breastfeeding and Catholic Motherhood
Natural Family Planning (manual online)
www.nfpandmore.org