Wednesday, January 14, 2009

I never cease to be amazed by knitting. Isn't it wonderful that a sock is actually made up of a single piece of yarn?

Sleeping baby

Why does everybody ask if the baby sleeps through the night? It seems to be the question everyone (including random strangers at the grocery store) wants answered. I like to respond that he doesn't sleep through the night and he's not designed to do so. Sometimes I simply say No. Seriously, I'd like some insight about where this question comes from and why people expect a 4 month old breastfed infant to sleep for more than a few hours at a time. Who came up with that idea? It seems to be almost universal.
An old friend of mine has twins the same age as my little one. It seems his goal is to get them to sleep all night long. I guess the big difference between him and I is that I simply don't expect to sleep all night. My expectation is that I will wake up several times to feed my son. If I went to bed thinking that I wouldn't wake untill the sun was up I would be sorely dissapointed and probably frustrated. I would be a very disgruntled mama!
It was really satisfying to read Mothering magazine's articles "Who wants to sleep alone" and "The science of sharing sleep". I was reassured that I should expect to be woken up and it does make sense to keep my baby in bed with me. It was nice to see doctors and other professionals take an interest and provide some research. part of me want to send the article to my old friend with the twins but I wonder if it's value would be appreciated...