How do you advise > breastfeeding moms to handle those middle-of-the-night newborn feeding > sessions? Start right from the beginning, don't let the baby get in the habit of sleeping in bed with you. My son slept in his "big" crib, not a bassinet, and in his OWN room from the very first night. I had an L4-L5 disc herniation *and* rotator cuff bursitis > postpartum, so nursing required me to get into position on a sofa, > rocker, or bed, with many supportive pillows around me. I too have L4-L5, and L5-S1 herniations, hurts like a bugger and my right leg likes to go numb when I sit down in a chair too long. I sat in a rocking chair in his room many hours those first few months. I almost > ALWAYS fell asleep within two or three minutes of latch-on, which my > OB and LC both felt was due to (a) exhaustion and (b) hormones > associated with letdown, and during the first few days when I tried > nursing in a chair, I dropped my son twice - and was woken by his > cries. Then I tried the sofa - but he fell off the sofa once. So I > moved to bed, where when he fell off my lap, he was on a firm mattress > with no bedding on it, in between me and my husband. I figured that > was safer than falling to the floor, but perhaps I was mistaken. I found that I got better quality sleep (yes, only in small increment) when I slept without worrying about him being in bed with me all the time, than I did when I tried to sleep longer by putting him in bed with me. My husband was also very "supportive" of not co- sleeping, meaning "honey, put him in bed, I can't sleep with him making all that noise" :) So I never got away with it much, although I would try sometimes after the 5 am feeding just until I had to get up about an hour later. In > discussion with other new moms who had fewer problems than I had (so > perhaps could actually have nursed on the floor if they wanted to - I > don't think I could have managed the pain), I found that they almost > universally experienced similar problems with middle-of-the-night > feedings and exhaustion and falling asleep and dropping the baby! I learned quickly to get him on a night schedule of sorts, I started to go to bed extremely early to make up for some lost sleep, and I limited the night feeds to 30 min and then put him back in bed, and off to bed I went. I stayed semi-awake through the feeds out of sheer fear of dropping him, but that was enough. So > where/how can we safely nurse without accidentally ending up in a > cosleeeping situation? For what it's worth, I feel my son to this day is a very independent and successful sleeper because of these habits. I nursed him for 8 months. He stopped the night feeds at about 2-3 months. He was usually put down to sleep for naps and bedtime, AWAKE, because I did not link nursing with sleeping in bed. He likes his bed and usually does not put up much of a fuss to go to sleep. I think that if I nursed him for naps or co-slept we would be having some sleep issues about now like the majority of the parents I see who always ask at the 9 month visit on how to get the kids to fall asleep and stay asleep on their own. Not to mention that I never wanted to worry about accidental suffocating, I could have never lived with myself if that had happed to him, just because I was 'too tired" to put him back in his own bed. Yes, I was exhausted, I was working full time too, but I just never wanted to take the risk. Dianna Tolen, M.D. Kids First Pediatric Care Canfield, Ohio