Bed-time and Boobs

EXPLICIT WARNING!

Caution- If you are offended by the word Breast, do not read the rest of this update. SERIOUSLY! If the following sentence repulses you: Babies suck on boobs. STOP READING!!! I’M NOT KIDDING!! Sore boob, droopy boob, Babies bite boobs. SEE? I WARNED YOU!

I am pro-breastfeeding. After nursing 4 kids, including twins, I should be the president of the LaLeche League. I believe that breast milk is best for babies, and I chose to nurse all of my kids. I nursed my first daughter for 11 months. I also slept with her. I am not a co-sleeping nazi, I’m just lazy. As a nursing mother, I could not bring myself to get out of bed in the middle of the night. So, she slept in the bed with me, and when she woke up, I stuck a boob in her mouth and she fell back asleep. She nursed for 11 months, never had a bottle, and then switched to a sippy-cup without any problems. When she started sleeping through the night, she also started sleeping in her crib.

Rainia never really took to nursing, try as I might. She spent the first 5 days of her life in the NICU, which is a whole other blog story. Anyway, they gave her a bottle, I was pissed, Bottles are easier then boob to get milk out of, and she didn’t want to nurse. I did manage to nurse her (sometimes) and only feed her breast-milk in her bottle for 4 months. After that, she switched to formula. Rainia never slept with me. She slept through the night from the day I brought her home from the hospital. She actually rarely cried at all.

Now for the boys. My stubborn boys are a nursing horror story. They too, nursed exclusively. They rarely had a bottle, and from the beginning, I managed a system of being able to nurse them at the same time. It looked insane, but had they been on different schedules, that is what my whole life would consist of. They also slept with me. At that point, the ex and I were living separate lives, and he slept on the couch, freeing up my bed for me and the boys, so that my laziness could take effect. Unfortunately though, I actually had to sit-up in the middle of the night to nurse them.

Then, they got older, and I tried to wean them. This didn’t work. They cried and cried and threw cups on the floor, and sobbed, and it broke my heart. So I nursed them some more. Then they got older, and were walking and talking, and I tried to wean them. And they followed me around the house, and lifted my shirt up, and ASKED TO NURSE!!! They cried, and they cried and so I went on vacation and left them with my mother. I was gone for 4 nights, and 5 days, and they were 18 months old. I figured that they would forget about nursing while I was gone, and be weaned. I was wrong. When I got back, they attacked me, and cried, and threw themselves on the floor, and pulled up my shirt, and I tried to resist, and after 3 hours of endless sobbing, I gave in.

The boys nursed until they were 2 years and 1 month old. I would NOT recommend this to anybody. In fact, I STRONGLY discourage nursing your kid for 2 years and 1 month. When your kid walks over to your chair, gets in your lap, tells you its time to nurse, and pulls your shirt up, STOP NURSING!!! It sucked. Literally.

So, me and the boys had crib issues, and then we had toddler-bed issues, and then when Rick and his kids moved in, no one wanted to share a room with the boys because they cried, and we let them sleep in the living room. With the TV on. And I would NOT recommend this to anybody either. And, I know I’m a lazy parent, and I’m not trying to make excuses, but 7 kids are hard, and cancer is hard, and the last thing I wanted to do when I was exhausted at the end of the night was to fight with 2 boys, and now I’m paying for it.

They are school kids now, and need a bedtime, and don’t need to fall asleep in front of the TV, and are having a hard time because they don’t know how to sleep. So please, I know its my own fault, but pray for me, or send well-wishes, or cross your fingers, whatever you do. Last night they both slept through the night IN THEIR OWN BED!!! FOR THE FIRST TIME. And I have been working on this for TEN NIGHTS! And I got full nights sleep, and I feel great, and I want it to happen again tonight.