Fast from...Information?

After people tell you how cute your baby is...the next, inevitable question is:  "How does he sleep at night?"  I have learned that this question is the standard by which all new moms are measured.  If your baby IS sleeping "through the night," then you are congratulated and told what a "good child" you have.  If your baby isn't, then you are given "the look of pity," and then people proceed to tell you how to "correct" the problem.  

1.  You should make him scream for several days and then he will sleep through the night.  

2.  You should give him formula because your breast milk is watery at the end of the day.  

3.  You should let him stay up really late and exhaust him so that he sleeps longer.  

4.  You should establish an early bedtime so that he sleeps longer.  And, then, they proceed to tell you what they are doing with their child or what they did with their children to get them to sleep through the night.  

I have been an "A" student my whole life, but if I am measured by how well my child sleeps at night, then I receive an "F" as a mom.  Yes, I am one of the few moms in the universe whose 5 1/2 month old is not "sleeping through the night."  I've read all the books...I know the philosophies by heart...I've gotten "the look of pity" so many times from so many moms...but we are doing just fine.  Emmanuel is a happy and content baby.  No, he's not sleeping through the night, but he's rolling and almost sitting by himself and he's cutting his first tooth.  He's looking at me with those big, brown eyes and smiling and drooling when I go to get him in the morning. He's talking constantly (he is a Foster...). He's doing great, and we are so thankful to be on this journey with him. 

No, I'm not sleeping through the night (and haven't since, like before college), but I still do laundry and cook and clean and have perfected the art of walking, typing, and pushing a grocery cart while nursing.   

So, this week, I am going to take a fast from any information about babies...especially babies and sleep!  No internet articles...no picking up Babywise or the No Cry Sleep Solution or Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Baby.  No asking my "mom friends" how their baby is sleeping...I'm taking a fast from all that people say is "the right way" to do sleep. 

And now, I am going to catch some zzz's before my beloved son wakes up.

I'll post picture of Emmanuel's little tooth later!