Out on a Limb

I am just sayin...I believe babies can sleep with their mommas, and be totally safe and thrive and be healthy. I know all the cons...and lets say all things equal...safe flat bed, no crazy heavy blankets, mom not on meds or ETOH, all that aside...cuz I know...I still want to let people know that its ok to sleep with your baby.

As a nurse, my patients will ask me if its ok to sleep with their baby, and obligatorily I have to say what the recommendations are, but my heart feels differently. I have slept with all of mine with various degrees of rails on the bed edges, and co-sleepers and have relished every minute of 24 hour contact. My last baby girl, now 2 yrs, had that really fancy co-sleeper...and I loved it. It held my glasses safely while we slept and it housed diapers for me and kept my baby safe from falling off the bed, but she never..yup never (i know!) slept in it. sigh.

So there...I said it. I made it public. I support co-sleeping with your baby with all the safety nets in place:) (I try to be so PC).

A Baby-moon

I tell my couples in childbirth class to make time for a baby-moon. They giggle and think I am silly, until I explain it all. Then it makes sense.

The new family is so delicate those first fuzzy weeks. Momma is tired, and leaking, and filled with hormones. Her little empty baby-nest is soft and tender... its all so fragile at first. Dad is also adjusting to the 24 hour watch, the new baby schedule and the vulnerability of the home. If there are older children, they too are rearranging to a "new normal".

So I softly admonish couples to take the first week, two weeks if possible, and be on a baby-moon. Focus everything around the newness and excitement of their new life and family. Turn off the cell phone, house phone, etc. Lie in bed and stare at the baby, rest very often, eat quality food, drink lots and lots of water. Shower and then have momma get her pj's back on, as in the first week it sends a signal to anyone around that she is indeed recovering. Scale down the daily cleaning routines to just the necessary. Limit visitors. Revel in the softness and haze of the first week or two.

And I promise them that life will get a new-normal, and that their relationship is foremost and the care of their wee one. It all passes so quickly. Soon the delicate days of newborn will morph into active baby days. And thats a whole other story.

Hugs!