Benefits of Co-Sleeping and Breast Feeding

[FarmGirl]

Fantastic segment on Catalyst last night.

ABC iview

[willow5]

Thanks for posting I was sorry I missed it the other night.

Interesting correlation between a baby not sleeping and PND. Is it the sleep deprivation, or the fact that mothers have such huge expectations placed on them to have a baby sleeping through? Or maybe a bit of both? Perhaps mums wouldn't feel so pressured and be able to cope better with lack of sleep, if they weren't feeling inadequate and stressed about their baby not sleeping through.
I don't know the stats, if there are any, of PND in other countries/cultures, but I'd be very interested to see some from cultures where 'sleeping through' isn't socially expected.
Everything Dr McKenna said makes sense to me. I think a lot of the time common sense is overlooked.

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

Willow, I did research on this when DS was little.

When a mother laughs, it produces "sleep through" hormones into her milk. This sleepy milk is released around dusk. So laughter makes a baby sleep better. (I prescribed myself half an hour of Monty Python a day after that - there was a slight improvement. But if I got 2 minutes of laughter a day that was good.) However, when a mother has depression, she doesn't laugh. Therefore she doesn't make sleepy milk. Therefore the baby doesn't sleep. It's a vicious cycle.

Given that few adults, even those without PND, don't laugh for a half-hour a day minimum, sleeping through shouldn't really be an expectation in younger babies.

[willow5]

Hey Flying Butter that is very cool info! My 19month old still wakes between 5+times every night so that's going to be my next try at getting it to less than 5. Laughter would also help with the PND I would imagine. Pitty there's no one sure fire way to make all those mums with PND laugh each day

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

Nonsense. Monty Python. Works every time.

DS was up once last night (yay! once only!) so there is probably more to it than just laughter releasing sleepy hormones, but there was a link there.

[willow5]

Nonsense. Monty Python. Works every time.

Monty Python for all then it is!
Yay! for one wake up Hope he keeps it up, so keep on laughing!!

[Dragonbub]

Wow, if only they found the healing properties in a glass of vino! LOL, laughter and wine, now THAT would be cool.

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

There is something called vinotherapy that I discovered on holiday this February. Not quite sure what it is, but I've taken it to mean it's OK to drink wine. (I think it's adding stuff to a bath - but adding a glass of wine to me in a bath sounds fine.)

[willow5]

Count me in girls!! Wine and laughter, I'll start tonight. Lets see...I think 50 First Dates will take care of the laughter, and FIL gave me some nice Shiraz last week so I'm set. I don't suppose chocolate will help too? I'm sure it will it has happy properties

[Barb Glare]

Hi,
Flying butter, you had me worried there. Breastfeeding produces sleepy hormones for both mother and baby and you don't have to laugh to do it - it just happens.
This is an interesting link - have a look
Expert says breastfeeding is good for mums with PND
I have just been listening to an ABC Radio podcast and an expert in PND is recommending that mothers continue to breastfeed to help them with their mental ...
newtest.naturalparenting.com.au/showthread.php?t=39817

[fionas]

I haven't read the link Barb but I hope the advice will not be black and white that mums with PND should breastfeed. Those who have a rough journey BFing often feel enough of a failure (which can be a precursor to depression) that the last thing they need is someone telling them to BF if they've already tried their heart out and 'failed'. I heartily agree that BFing would be beneficial in the vast majority of cases to increase bonding and all the good stuff.