mom confessions
Well, I hit the wall with the whole sleep deprivation thing. After a month of not sleeping more than 1 - 2 hours at a time, I was losing it. Seriously losing it! And the one night Nate did sleep longer, Scott was up sick all night. Acckkk!!!
So yes, our 4 week old is now sleeping in his crib in his room away from us. I've also started "topping him off" with formula after the last nursing session before bed and any nighttime nursing sessions. This has bought me more sleep--yay! (hopefully it will continue).
I went to my breastfeeding support group this morning and got some negative comments about the topping off with formula issue. I wanted to say for f's sake--I need some freakin' sleep people!! I was going insane and now I'm slowly starting to feel more sane. My child is not going to die from having a couple of ounces of formula a day! Formula is not evil!
Just had to get that off my chest. I'm curious how the pedi will respond on Friday when we go in for our one month check up (especially with the whole crib thing and SIDS).
Re: mom confessions
Well, if you need to confess then I should have to when DD was that age! Seriously, don't feel bad that your child is in another room. Mine was in her crib at 2 weeks old or I would have never slept. And, frankly, I would have had her in her crib on night 1 if I hadn't felt pressure from everyone that your child HAS to sleep in your room with you. Frankly, whoever came up with that "rule" needs to be punished.
And your BF group needs to get a grip. Formula is not the enemy. I'm tired of people acting like you are the devil if you give your child formula. I was given formula and I think I've turned out just fine!
ETA: My pediatrician didn't bat an eye when I said DD was in her crib.
If your mom's group flamed you for topping off I wonder what they would say about me putting my 4 month old in her bouncy seat and turning on the TV for her yesterday morning because she woke up 2 hours early and I wanted a tiny nap on the couch.
You're not evil and neither am I - we're just tired!! A well rested mommy is a happy mommy and a happy mommy helps ensure a happy family!
I hope you're finally able to get some sleep!
We moved Holly to her own room at 4 weeks too. We all slept better that way. I don't think there is a "rule" for that--it's more personal preference. But I don't know how people keep a baby in their room for 5 or 6 months. Honestly! I'd have never slept!
I don't understand why people think BFing has to be an all or nothing thing. But, as I also learned, many people do. Do what you need to do to feed your baby, while keeping what sanity you can. Happy mommy=happy baby. :-)
Extreme sleep-deprivation is way worse than some formula or a crib - which aren't bad at all! I have several friends who put their LOs into cribs immediately.
I hope you get some sleep soon!
My thoughts exactly!--You do what you gotta do!
yes yes yes! No sleep can seriously make you insane!
Not gonna judge either. I used to feel bad about giving DD formula as a supplement then I realized it's a perfectly healthy alternative. These days, she probably gets more formula than BM simply because her demand is exceeding the supply.
As for the crib...we had DD in her crib in the nursery since day one. At that time, she woke every couple of hours to eat plus we were hyper-sensitive to any sounds she made. We never considered having her in our room and the pedi didn't express any issues with it.
You do what you have to do.