A logistical question for self-serve breast-feeders
I have read on BB that many BFers will allow their bubs to self-serve over night... I have been thinking that I would like to do that - it seems a natural progression from what we currently do - she is currently in her bassinette next to my bed and when she wakes, she comes in with us and she feeds laying next to me. She then usually stays in with me whilst DP gets up for work.
She is starting to outgrow the bassinette and I am finding myself wanting to move the cot into our room so our overnight feeds continue to be fuss-free.
So my question is - how does/did your bub self-serve?
Are they attached by you and left to it?
Do you sleep topless?
Do you leak (I am still leaking @ 4.5months BFing... people have said it should have settled down by now but alas I still leak... lots)
Do you have waterproof thingy on your bed?
What other things do I need to consider?
I was leaking past 6 mnths ... not as bad as the early days but I remember getting to 6 mnths and thinking this has to settle down sometime
Before DS I never slept in a bra, after DS I can't sleep without a bra. In those leaky days I would put a towel (folded) under DS head and under my back. When DS was little I would put my arm over his head and he would sleep at nipple height. I would attach and go back to sleep. It is the same process now really and cause I am so use to it I don't wake for very long and I am back to sleep.
Mothers and babies are designed to sleep together and research (Helen Ball, James McKenna etc) demonstrates that mothers get the most sleep when they sleep with their baby. These researchers have studied many mother/father/baby groupings and find that babies feed more frequently during the night, and that the mothers report getting more sleep/feeling less tired than mothers who don't sleep with their baby. Mothers keep their babies safe in bed by adopting an instinctive position in bed (now - don't think tooo much about it - it's instictive!) But basically the baby is sleeping facing the mother, often with mother's arm underneath the baby and her legs are curled up below the baby which stops him slipping down the bed.
Leaking is often a safety valve mechanism - we leak when we are too full. Because babies usually feed more during the night, your breasts are kept well drained and are less likely to leak. But I can tell you from personal experience you can sleep through anything if you are tired enough - spew leaking breastmilk - anything. We had a fabric mattress protector on our bed - and a towel on hand to place over anything that came out. Sleep topless or in an open pyjama top - part of the deal is you want to be disturbed as little as possible. No bras necessary. Your baby will learn to self attach.
Like anything new, it can take a little time to get used to a new body in the bed, but stick with it. Sleeping with your baby is one of the sweetest gifts we are given as mothers. (and they grow up and move out very quickly)
I sleep topless and with a mattress protector... when we were on holiday I put a folded towel under us and that worked okay too though it got a bit rumpled. He usually squeaks and I wake up enough to help him attach and then go back to sleep and he comes off when he's done. It's so easy and I love our morning chats when I wake up to the burbling smiling face
A logistical question for self-serve breast-feeders
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bad as the early days but I remember getting to 6 mnths and thinking this has to settle down sometime 
!!
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