Side lying night nursing is not working

[Niphredil]

:nak2 still :sigh

Our usual routine is I nurse N down & she sleeps in her swing. When she wakes up to eat I haul her in bed with me and we both dose off. At some point we switch sides and then once again as we're waking up.

But the more I do it the more it huuuurts me. If I don't fall back to sleep immediately I find myself awake the whole time she's eating cause I just can't get comfortable. I can't lay fully on my side because my boob crushes her face... so I lay like half leaned back, my hip and shoulder supporting me. After about 15 minutes my muscles are just shaking and I cut her off cause I just can't do it anymore. Well her belly is full but she's not asleep, so I have to get up & rock her to sleep, then get myself to back to sleep. The process takes about an hour and a half, or longer, depending how big of a fight DH & I get in because we're both exhausted & picking at each other. :O Sometimes it happens twice a night.

I've tried wedging pillows under my back, but they are too flat, not wedge shaped enough. I've tried laying more on my stomach (I'm a tummy sleeper) feeding her with the top boob but once again her face gets smashed.

She's finally growing & getting big enough that she could sleep in our bed full time. She can roll over both ways with ease & scoot away from blankets. But if I can't sleep I don't want to bring her into our bed, I'd be miserable. I want a peaceful co-sleeping bed, not this stress filled one. :(

I really need some ideas how we can all sleep comfortably. I'll take any suggestions.

[knitlove]

I don't have any suggestions, sorry. :hug

[Rabbit]

You can put babe on a pillow, and feed her with the top breast. You can buy better pillows for your back, including wedge shaped ones.

[JJsMom]

I was going to suggest more pillows too for behind your back, that helps me quite a bit.
I know this might not help, but it does get better. You'll find a more comfortable position and she'll get bigger and be able to move herself where she needs to be. I only say this bc for me, if I feel like it will always be like this, I get way more stressed, but if I know there is end in sight, it feels a bit more manageable, yk?
:hugheart

[klpmommy]

The only pillows that work for my back are the overstuffed king sized ones. The little ones that are "normal" that I sleep with under my head- they don't work for my back. You might also try rolling up a thick blanket for your back and sleeping sideways on the bed so that the rolled up blanket is against the wall or headboard to offer you more support. (If you have a king that will work pretty well w/o your feet hanging off).

:hug

[Amber]

:hug2 I have a hard time sleeping while nursing in bed...both my boys have awful latchs when we try to nurse laying down. It is one of the big reasons why I don't co-sleep :shifty

Can you lean back on your dh instead of pillows? Or maybe have your bed pushed up against the wall and wedge some pillows between you and the wall so you can lean back against that. It would make it harder to get in and out of bed, but it might be worth it if you could sleep/nurse easier.

[Quiteria]

I wad up a comforter behind my back...of course this is easer in our situation perhaps b/c dh and I are used to both sleeping under our own blankets. (We learned early in marriage that neither of us share well while asleep. :O When we do share blankets, we...um..aren't asleep... :O :no) Anyhow, that seems to work better for me than pillows because I can wad it up more if it's too flat or less if I need to lean back more, and it's big enough lengthwise and so forth.

For my oldest, I hadn't figured out side-lying at all becasue she was really hard to latch. With her, I would latch with me sitting up and her in a cradled or cross-cradled position. Then I would ease down onto the bed so that she was actually sitting on the bed, leaning on me, nursing on the top breast. Not sure if that helps you or if you can picture it, but it allowed me to lay on my side, curled around her slightly once I figured out how to adjust her feet/legs to be out of the way.

[Garnet]

my boobs are big and kinda um.....squishy so I get your problem. What I do is put Bean so his feet are close to my belly and his face is angled a bit further away. Then my boob kinda "lays" on the bed and he nurses. ( sounds sad, my body part can just lay there)

[zak]

:hug2 I'm sorry you aren't getting restful sleep. I know how cranky I get when I don't get sound sleep (even if I'm awake every 2 hours - if I can't get comfy for those 2 hours... I'm miserable).

Would side-carring (sp) a crib/cosleeper/playpen help at all? More pillows sounds like a good idea too.

I hope we can brainstorm a solution for you! :heart :hug

[apmommy]

.

[Niphredil]

I'm wondering if I push our mattress up against the wall. I would better be able to wedge pillows/blankets in. Bad thing is it's an outside wall so it's gonna be pretty chill come winter... I'll have to see what we rig up. We have a spare comforter so I guess M & I could use separate ones... I'd miss him though. :(


Can you lean back on your dh instead of pillows?


I tried, but eww, he's sweaty! :giggle


my boobs are big and kinda um.....squishy so I get your problem. What I do is put Bean so his feet are close to my belly and his face is angled a bit further away. Then my boob kinda "lays" on the bed and he nurses. ( sounds sad, my body part can just lay there)


Mine too. I think the just laying there is nice... the problem is no matter how I angle her she still gets smushed. I guess it has something to do with the fact that my boobs are bigger than her head. :shifty

Thanks for helping me work through this ladies. :heart I love snuggling with my sweetie in bed, I just wish it was more comfy!

[Soliloquy]

you could try one of these http://store.babycenter.com/product/maternity/maternity+pillows/snoogle+deluxe.do?asc=false they are sooo comfy and you can contort them into all kinds of shapes. I used one while PG w/ Simon and it really helped. I couldn't use it when he was a baby at night because I had to get up anyway to avoid waking Gracie.

When G was a baby I had a "tv pillow" it's like a chair pillow. I would sit up but lean back and doze when Gracie was a baby.

there's also these that may help http://www.peacefulpea.com/nursing_nest.html I"ve not used one but they look great!

all of these things cost $$ sadly, but if they help you get your sleep they're worth it, IMO!