Something I hats about being a parent is that when I complain about a problem I’m having with my daughter, people will basically shrug their shoulders and say its my fault any way. Well… that may be true, but a little sympathy goes a long way. Just because I did things differently from you doesn’t make it wrong, nor does it mean I have to just accept negative “side effects” of my desicions.
We are co-sleepers. It is not for every one. I have done plenty of research on the subject and I am well aware of the dangers – as well as the benefits. With that aside – even though it has been good for us, there are things that can be difficult to deal with.
Typically Ginny goes to bed in her crib to start. Usually she was nursed to sleep by me, or rocked to sleep by B-man. She is our first baby, and in the very beginning B-man gave me permission to baby her. I fully enjoy holding her, nursing her, and rocking her to sleep. You only have one baby…once. Next time I will have two, so I won’t be able to sit around and just hold the baby. I took full advantage of this “only child” time. Back to the point. Once she wakes up B-man would change her diaper then bring her to bed for me to nurse.
About two months ago we accidentally fell into a bad sleeping schedule – staying up too late, then sleeping in until noon. It became easier to just take baby G to bed with me. Some times she thinks the bed means play time. And who can ignore baby giggles!?! Certainly not I. After a few minutes she settles down and falls asleep nursing. But a big change is in the works.
She lays down, start nursing, but in the early stages of sleep she lets go and rolls away. She is on the verge of walking – the last “step” before we move her to her own big kid bed. Well… a floor mattress. As we move into the house, her room will be completely baby friendly. I will probably still lay down with her, and nurse her to sleep, bit on her own bed. She will still be welcome in our bed though. Some people may think it’s ridiculous to have a kid sleeping in your bed,unbutton there r several things that make it doable, and enjoyable. Firstly – B-man is incredibly helpful, from diaper changes, pillow arrangement, requests for water and finding my Tums – he does it willingly and kindly. And secondly – we have a king size bed. It always seemed strange pre-baby to have al much space between us, but now ot provides.plenty of room for baby between us. The third thing is our crib – which I have set up as a toddler bed, bit the mattress is the same height as my bed. So no matter which side I nurse her on – she cant fall off with B-man on one side and the three sided crib on the other.
I have fully enjoyed this time with my baby. I get to snuggle her, I feel better having her close by, and I get to sleep more. Is co-sleepong something you have done or considered? I never thought I would do it – but after weeks of sleep deprivation we started and haven’t looked back. It might be easier to have a solid sleep schedule with her in another room – but my family is happy, well rested and thriving so I cant complain!
