Cosleeping/breastsleeping

For the first week of Logan's life we had no idea what to do about the sleeping situation. We were trying to figure out how to get this tiny new born baby who had been apart of me for 9 months and 2 weeks (he was obviously very attached) to sleep alone in his crib for the first time. And he hated it!
Logan was cluster feeding at the time so I was waking quite alot and there was no point in Niall not sleeping as he wasn't needed for feeding. So I like a big fool slept sitting up on the sofa or lying on the sofa while Logan was in his bassinet for spurts of 30 min to an hour at a time. Now I had a bruised tail bone along with the normal post birth pains so as you can imagine sleeping on a sofa was causing alot of discomfort. Then one night in the second week I decided enough was enough! Niall was kicked out into the guest room and myself and Logan cuddled up in my bed together and we havnt looked back since!

Sleep deprivation.....what's that??? I sleep (mabey not as deeply as I used as I'm very aware of the tiny person beside me) amazingly for someone with a new born! We are now in a 'routine' (I hate that word) where Logan will sleep in his crib beside the bed for sometimes up to 5 hours!!!! Then when he wakes Niall is kicked out onto a mattress on the floor (sleeping in separate rooms started getting to us) and Logan is popped into the bed beside me with boob on demand for the rest of the night! Usually within a minute he is back asleep and only starts wanting to feed at about 7am. 
We also nap together during the day as he won't sleep for long in the daytime without me beside him. Which means I'm forced to nap in the day time so I catch up on any lost sleep! 
Now I know alot of people will tell you not to sleep with baby in the bed! It's a very personal choice! We are very careful to keep blankets and pillows to a minimum and make sure Logan isn't covered to much and he doesn't get to warm!

I see this time as the 4th trimester. Logan is learning about life outside the womb as an individual. But he is so used to being with me and close to me that I feel it's unfair to make him sleep alone! He is only 8 weeks old and who knows what will happen I don't plan on cosleeping forever but while I'm breastfeeding it just seems like the logical choice. It happened so naturally, I never doubted my choice for a second. Logan is such a happy and content child and I feel it has somthing to do with cosleeping!

Breast is best but formula is pretty damn good!!

So from day one I was breastfeeding, from the moment I found out I was pregnant that was the plan. I breast fed Corey all those years ago and Logan was going to be the same.

Logan latched on and fed straight away no problem but after a day I noticed my nipples were getting more and more painful and chapped and so of course I turned to google. But everything I looked up told me the same thing 'breastfeeding shouldn't hurt', 'if it hurts your doing it wrong' so of course I started doubting myself and Logan. I started worrying that if he wasn't latching right he wasn't getting milk and as he had a touch of Jaundice the thoughts of him not getting really milk freaked me out. I tried different positions and awkward angles to change his latch and after a few very long frustrating days I realized his latch was fine and we were doing it right it was google that was wrong!!
Breastfeeding shouldn't hurt..........after about a week or two! But for that first first week you may grimace every time you baby latches on and you may be in pain every time you feed. Remember your nipples are made of very delicate skin and they are not used to being sucked and pulled on for 12 hours out of the day (unless your into that kind of thing).They may get chapped or even bleed and if that doesn't hurt you your bloody wonder woman!! But please hold on and bare through it as it is totally worth it, the bonding experience is like nothing else in life.

So a few weeks passed and I spent most of it sitting under a very fussy very hungry baby. And on one very stressful evening Niall wasn't feeling well and I had enough so I reached for the bottle.....the formula bottle that is. Just from the look on Logan's face when he got his first taste I knew he was hooked. He settled down I was able to put him down into his rocker and gather myself together. He slept like a dream that night because his tummy was full and stayed full for longer and I was given a chance to refill for his next feed. So from then on he had a bedtime bottle. Then after a week a daytime and bedtime bottle and now we are up to 4 bottles a day and the rest breast milk. I have to say Logan is a different baby. He will sit in his rocker for up to an hour at a time and he is so much more content throughout the day, all he does is smile, where as in the first few weeks he cried and cried and fussed all day long. He sleeps for anything up to 5 hours when he goes to bed so I get a good stretch of sleep which benefits me.
Now while I know breast is best and I would always breast feed a baby and I will continue to breastfeed Logan for another month or so, formula is always there and if you have and extremely hungry baby or are feeling overly stressed out there is no shame in reaching for the bottle!! Your sanity will thank you!