mothercraft nurses -- any comments?

[nox]

a mothercraftnurse has been recommend to me to help with sleep/feed etc issues for my (nearly) 6 week old. Lately he has been up every hour -- not always to feed, but up none the less. Also during the day he will not go to sleep anymore if I lay him down, only if I am wearing him. This is fine but exhausting. He feeds easily every 2/3 hours ...

I don't really know what mothercraft nurses do and where they sit on the scale of attachment parenting ... and thoughts/advice?

[MelS]

Nox, sorry to hear your little DS is keeping you up alot, it does get very exhausting. My best friend in Brisbane has hired a private MCHN for sleep issues in her 15 mth old and she met with her before she hired her. You might need to do the same to make sure you are comfortable with her personality and also her theories/beliefs.

You are doing a wonderful job and good luck with it, let us know how you go?

[nox]

Hey Mel,

Thanks for that info. Was she happy with the results? I feel terrible to even be thinking about it really, as I know that he is young and may grow out etc etc. It is just that I feel insane sometimes!
I also am going to see Pinky McKay's seminar so if that helps, I'll leave the mothercraft nurse, but otherwise...

[MelS]

She starts at end of October as sleep school in Brisbane has a HUGE waiting list. And after 15 mths of no sleep, she has had enough lol!

Don't feel terrible! It is a good idea to try to fix things as early as you can, sometimes they just need a little help (and so do mums). The seminar sounds like a good start and hopefully you can learn some good tips. Don't worry, we have all felt insane at some point.

[Visitor9]

We had one come to our house look at DD room sit down with DH and I over a cup of coffee and discussed all our issues, she then checked up on us 24 hr post and then a few days later. We never really needed her at that point but it was nice to do it in our home and our bedding..best money spent so far
Bec

[Tobily]

I don't know if you're going to want to hear this or not but generally MCHN's aren't too pro-attachment parenting

We've had some pretty major sleep issues with DS since he was 4 months old - around 8 months it got pretty horrendous and I also got a private MCHN in (I think probably the same one as MelS's friend - she's quite well known up here). She was a lovely lady but her whole approach just wasn't something I couldn't work with. She basically told me I was the reason DS was waking up all the time (because I was breastfeeding him during the night which she said he didn't need), and that I needed to leave him in his room to scream. All night if that's what it took. She swore I would only need to do this a few days and he would learn to settle and that would be that.

Well I don't know if that's true because I couldn't do it.

Eventually we did work things out so that now Toby's sleep is manageable and fairly predictable but I took a good six months.

ETA feeding every 2-3 hours is very normal for a breastfed bub of only six weeks - it's exhausting, but normal

I often wonder why there are so many pro controlled crying people out there that do home visits but there's no one promoting gentle methods that do it?

[MelS]

Flea, thanks for the feedback, I will be interested to see what my GF thinks as she is not for controlled crying either! It prob is the same one. When I find out the name I will send you a PM.

[nox]

Thanks Flea. I am really afraid of that...
I took DS to Paediatrician just before before because DH wanted to make sure nothing more serious going on. he also gave some hints, but the same as I have been trying: Swaddle, pat, etc ... She suggested I let him cry for longer than I do though ... At any rate (except for the crying) the settling techniques don't work for us. My main prob is that he won't go down at all during the day. I wear him all day from about 7am if not earlier. HE will sleep but whenI try to put him down, he arcs up. Very ahrd. Especially as his unsettling starts at 2am!

[Beach Mama]

I called one today as we have huge issues too, she basically said she wants to chat to us and see how we want to deal with it all - I could hear the "if you want to CIO or not ) but she didnt actually say that and I said I was happy to hear that she will help us in the way that we want help IYKWIM! We are seeing her this weekend so will let you know how we go.

[nox]

Yes please let me know ... can you message me and tell me who you called if you like her? I am very keen to hear about it. I am not into crying to be honest I can't just leave him be! At the same time, I am feeling very fragile now and less effective as the sleeplessness goes on and on ...!