In my experience and opinion, people get frustrated by night waking because our perception of what is "normal" is a bit skewed - we are influenced to think that a baby *needs* to sleep through the night, which is nice if they do but certainly not wrong or 'bad' if they don't.
Change is scary, no doubt, and babies change a lot. As for choice well it's not always that easy, some babies and children simply wake regardless of what we do.
I think if there was more support for women in parenting and caring for their children, more information on what is normal, then we would perhaps cope more easily and not feel as if we are personally failing. Women today are under so much more pressure than in the past, and more often isolated too - I also don't think competitiveness (whether intentional or not) is helpful either.
All babies are different too, we know this don't we? So sometimes I am puzzled as to why society thinks they all need to fit into the same mould. My DD1 was a brilliant sleeper as a baby, but in retrospect it wasn't really through anything I did, my DD2 however wakes more often and needs more reassurance and nurturing at night - it was a bit of a shock to the system but we (DH & I) have come to accept it is just how she is. If we weren't coping, we would reach out - we learned the first time around that it doesn't hurt to ask for help and support if it is available.
Anyway, just my two cents worth
Love your babies unconditionally ladies... as our time with them as little ones is far too short as it is!
(Edit to add: I'm not meaning to say we don't *love* our babies, but that maybe we could lower our expectations a little yk?)
Edited by HippyMama
BF during the night Q
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yeah pretty much!