A resource to inspire, inform and empower parents.

This Is How Co-Sleeping Can Support Breastfeeding – And How You Can Do It Safely

By Wendy Wisner, IBCLC

One of the things that surprised me most about breastfeeding was just how frequently my baby wanted to do it. I was told that babies needed to nurse every 2-3 hours, and would sleep a longer stretch at night. But that was not my experience at all.

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A Co-Sleeping Family of Four

Abby Theuring, The Badass Breastfeeder's co-sleeping family bed

Four heads in this bed. There are 4 heads that lie down to sleep in this bed every night. One of them is mine and the other 3 are the only heads that matter in this world. Before these 3 heads in my bed the night could be very scary. All alone with my thoughts. Growing anxious about work or family or friends. Coldness and loneliness all around. Things always seem worse at night. Now these 3 heads and their warm bodies surround me and protect me from the night. Even when the thoughts start to swarm or my worry about something keeps me up, these heads keep it in perspective. There is nothing bigger in my life than these 3. Nothing that can harm me as long as they are here. Last week something happened that really upset me. I felt scared and vulnerable. But that night I went to bed between these 3. My head was snuggled against 2 other heads that had spilled onto my pillow and this problem suddenly seemed so small. It shrunk in size right before my eyes. How can anything really be that bad or matter that much when I have these guys? I imagine they feel the same, the little ones don’t think of this as clearly as I do, but I know that they feel safe here.

Tandem Nursing Nighttime Routine

I didn’t think much about sleep before I was a mom, but it didn’t take long for me to learn that this was one of the most controversial topics in parenting. My husband, Josh, read a bunch of sleep books while I was pregnant, I didn’t read any. It never occurred to me that it would involve anything beyond lying a baby down in a crib and walking out of the room while they closed their eyes to quiet sleep. It’s what I always saw in the moves! Well, HA! [Read more…]

An Open Letter to Doctors About Birth and Breastfeeding

Dear Doctors,

I want to personally thank you for dedicating your lives to helping people maintain wellness. You have gone through a lot of schooling and gained a ton of experience to be able to guide people through sickness and to live healthy, fulfilling and long lives. You have literally saved the lives of family members. When I am sick or injured you are the first person I call. We would be in a terrible place without you.

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Teary Selfie

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Today I’m taking a teary selfie. After 3 hours of breastfeeding, crying, yelling and stress Jack finally fell asleep. You see, he has to share me now and it’s got us all turned upside down. Jack nurses to sleep. All the time. [Read more…]

When They Need You to Fall Asleep:  Self-Soothing and Other Myths

By Wendy Wisner

Does your baby or child need you to fall asleep?  Is nursing the only thing that does the trick?  Rocking?  Back patting?  Cuddling?   Holding hands?   Just lying there silently in the dark?  Have you been told you just need to leave the room at some point and let your child learn to self-soothe?  Have you been told you are doing your child a disservice by not teaching him or her this very important life skill? [Read more…]

Safe Co-sleeping With Multiples

by Davina Wright

Many parents choose to co-sleep with their babies and young children. It can be a wonderful way to be close to each other and to meet their needs, while maximising your own sleep. If you think that co-sleeping is right for your family, there are things you can do to make it just as safe as any other sleep dynamic. [Read more…]

TRIPLETS AND SLEEP…YES WE ARE FINALLY GETTING SOME!!

 By Davina Wright

Davina's tripletsMy first goal when we found out we were having three babies was to lower my expectation of sleep! I figured you couldn’t get upset with what you didn’t expect to have in the first place! When we brought our triplets (Willow, Connor and Summer) home after 3 weeks in NICU, it was a creative challenge to figure out how we would all sleep. Lots of people suggested keeping them on the NICU schedule, but it was a ridiculous schedule meant for a single nurse to be able to feed one baby at a time in a constant rotation and totally wouldn’t work in a real life home setting.  Others suggested putting them on a 3 hourly schedule where we would just wake them all up at 3 hourly intervals, feed them all and put them back to sleep.  This is what the majority of triplet parents do…they will tell you it is all about the schedule.  Unfortunately, most triplets aren’t breastfed, and mine were, which to me meant supply and demand, day and night, so no schedule.

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My Nursing Toddler Doesn’t Sleep Through the Night. Does Yours?

by guest blogger Wendy Wisner, IBCLC

Wendy breastfeeding and bed-sharing with her son.

I’m writing this as I lie in the dark at 9:30pm nursing my 14 month old back to sleep.  He fell asleep about two hours ago and here he is again, wanting to nurse. He woke up and I wasn’t there.  He let out a small cry, a complaint, and when I came into the bedroom, he was beginning to sit up.  Now, two minutes later, he’s rolled away from my breast and is back in a deep sleep. [Read more…]

Snuggle in Tight, That’s Right, Like That: Co-Sleeping/Bed-Sharing

Let’s begin with a vocabulary lesson. Co-sleeping means you sleep close to your baby. Maybe the baby is in bed with you; maybe she is in a bassinette or maybe in a crib, a co-sleeper or basket in the same room. Bed-sharing refers to the specific type of co-sleeping where the baby and you are in the same bed. There are many types of co-sleeping. Bed-sharing is a type of co-sleeping.