breastfeed and bed share and no training!

by Lucy
(Southampton, England UK)

My toddler, Rose, is 17 mths. Since birth she has been co-sleeping with my husband and I. We have a bedside cot attached to our bed to make the sleeping space wider. This made night time breastfeeding very easy as she had constant access to my breasts (I wear a tea shirt with breastpads stuck inside with double sided tape and no bra). I always breastfed her to sleep and then at every wakening (every 1 - 3 hours) would feed her back to sleep again. Because it was so easy to do, I wouldn't feel tired in the morning. At about one year, I moved her into a toddler bed in her own bedroom (very low mattress and no sides). Again she was breastfed to sleep. When she woke in the night, I'd go to her again and breastfeed her or if I was in our parental bed, I'd bring her in to us for the night. This is the situation now at 17 months. She still feeds a lot from about 5am onwards. My 4 year old followed the same practise and now she will often sleep the whole night through in her own bed. Sometimes she comes into our bed in the middle of the night for cuddles and stays there until the morning. My husband and I are quite happy with this - they are only little children for such a short time and we don't want to force full night sleeping by using a crying technique. We feel that babies and young children need the reassurance of an adult even at night and we are very happy to give them this as needed.