Breastfeeding is not only the best way to feed your baby, but is also free and easily accessible!

A lot of people and information products avidly promote breastfeeding but sometimes it is not all as plain sailing as they like to make out

There can be a number of problems arising from breastfeeding your baby, some easy to deal with and some not so easy.

Problems can range from not being able to get your baby to latch on, to your baby feeding constantly. Other such issues can be sore nipples, not enough milk to satisfy baby, mum not wanting to get her boobs out in front of people and the frequency of feeding.

A breast fed baby will feed more often than a formula fed baby as breast milk is digested quite quickly unlike formula which is a lot 'heavier'.

A simple problem, such as not getting enough sleep can quite easily become a major trauma to some people, especially a new mum with a demanding baby.

Some babies will sleep through the night from quite a young age - just a few months, whilst some can take years. All is not lost though.

One of the first ways to adopt when trying to establish a good nights sleep is to get into a good bedtime routine.

Starting from about dinner time, have a play with baby, read a book, have a bath.  Do something to engage baby in which could possibly get rid of extra energy.

Once baby starts yawning or getting bored of the activity now is the time to start winding down.  Get baby changed and ready for bed and give a last feed.

Many 'experts' say you shouldn't feed until they are asleep, and that you should put them down awake so as they get used to going off to sleep on their own, but do what works for now and concentrate on getting your little one to sleep at night.

So, baby is asleep, your bedtime is probably just a few hours away.

Enjoy that spare time and when it is your time to turn in give your baby one more feed. It doesn't matter if your baby is still asleep, just offer a feed, but don't change the nappy or make a fuss and wake baby. Simply put baby on the breast and let the baby feed, then put back to bed again. Some people call this a 'dream feed' and it can work really well.

If baby is starting to stir but you are not yet going to bed then give a 'dream feed' before they wake up completely.

If this simple method works, then great just carry on and hopefully you can make the evenings a bit longer.

If it doesn't work then there are plenty of other suggestions - have a look on some of the baby/parent forums as there are many people around with the same issues.