We took our midwives' advice, invested in comfy bedding and went in for the co-sleeping thing. Our pediatrician and my partner's relatives, including the physician father-in-law, frowned on the practice, which naturally made its advantages all the more apparent to me! nobody has to wake fully for hourly feedings, the baby feels safe and warm and learns to eat efficiently, and everyone passes the newborn season -- in our case, longer -- in a happy haze of extended skin contact. After a day or two, our son got in the habit of waking, eating, playing for a few minutes, then conking back of out and I shit you not, we never had one episode of nocturnal floor-pacing or, for that matter, diurnal fuss. People kindly gave us high and low-tech pacifying equipment, burping cloths, cribs, rockers, remedies for infantile intestinal discomfort and I can't even remember what else. We were able to donate it all to a shelter, still in its minty packaging, and had a grand and restful time.
Congratulations! Here's to an '06 full of wonders large and small!
-----Original Message----- From: lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org [mailto:lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org] On Behalf Of John Adams Sent: Monday, January 02, 2006 2:22 PM To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] Liza & Doug have a kid (Advice...don't bounce!!!!)
Congratulations! This is an insane venture, you know--I speak as a 47-year-old with a two-year-old daughter--but you haven't let that stop you, and that makes me proud to know you.
Now, I have something complementary, or possibly orthogonal, to Bryan's advice--this: http://www.babyhammocks.com/ was a lifesaver for us. It truly did rock the baby back to sleep automatically. It also travels easily--no worse than carrying an electric guitar and easy to set up
It's not too expensive--I believe ours came from eBay for about $150--cheaper than a crib, and durable--ours is currently passed on to a friend.
All the best,
John A
___________________________________ http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk