Here's to Never Sleeping Alone
We kicked my son out of bed about 3 months ago. We'd always aimed for him to go to bed in his room and inevitably by 4am the pitter patter of little feet found their way into our bedroom and between us in bed. That is until his legs and arms took over and knocked one into a fat lip the next morning (thankfully my husband bore that scar). Then the poor kid was banished to the floor. On a mat with his favorite sleeping bag of all time--Spiderman.
Same routine every night. Go to bed in his room--and now every third night he'll make it until the sun creeps up before swishing onto our bedroom floor next to the dog bed. Hey, it's what we do to survive. And when he was near 1 years old, well, I wouldn't have slept a wink if I would have insisted on his own room/crib sleeping. Sleep training wasn't our thing--and still isn't with The Peanut.
In fact, this time around, we're even more lenient. And I am even less inclined to listen to any unsolicited sleep training advice because frankly, I don't care. We do what works for us, and this works.
Early on we tried so hard not to do this--hell my husband petitioned against me doing the whole co-sleeping thing. He wanted the marriage bed (and likely a little romance) to remain what it was. But as everyone knows, you have a baby and that doesn't matter so much. Well... at least for the first 6 weeks (or so). Moreover, after 3 months of nursing every hour and half (for 40 minutes a shot), he wanted a wife and best friend back. Hell, I wanted her back. I was nothing short of a walking zombie that took care of the kid and worked most days simultaneously.
And so began co-sleeping and our routine, of start of evening in crib/kid room and then move to mom and dad's big king size bed that now felt like it was a full. Which, to my surprise (and the hubby's), came as a pleasant bonding moment for my husband. He snuggled. He cooed. And he held my son in the night when he awoke. Things he wasn't doing so much when he was in the crib screaming. Because when one of us climbed the stairs for the 100th time that night--it was for one thing. To bring the kid to me, the milk bar, to nurse. Not to mention the frustration that crept in because no one was sleeping in the house.
Now with the Peanut, we accepted the nature of nursing and don't bother most nights with the sleep in your crib routine. Why bother? I'm tired, the husband's tired, the baby is tired.... oh, you get the idea (and don't you think romance is out--after 5 years of practice, we've become creative. Yes. Just go with your imagination. It's likely been done here. Cough. cough).
This time, I know my husband's on board--not only for the cooing, middle of the night bonding, and all things that come with 6 month old patting his arm at 3am for a bit of attention--he's also just made the "bed" on the floor for The Kiddo. Complete with an extra quilt for softness and another atop for warmth. And two extra pillows. It's a full house in our room almost every night (in fact when The Kiddo sleeps in his Big Kid Room, I always wake up and notice). But it is also a wonderful thing. I count each deep snoring breath from all three of the others (oh and the dog and 2 cats) as a sign of our love. Or at least know that we are all sleeping.
Same routine every night. Go to bed in his room--and now every third night he'll make it until the sun creeps up before swishing onto our bedroom floor next to the dog bed. Hey, it's what we do to survive. And when he was near 1 years old, well, I wouldn't have slept a wink if I would have insisted on his own room/crib sleeping. Sleep training wasn't our thing--and still isn't with The Peanut.
In fact, this time around, we're even more lenient. And I am even less inclined to listen to any unsolicited sleep training advice because frankly, I don't care. We do what works for us, and this works.
Early on we tried so hard not to do this--hell my husband petitioned against me doing the whole co-sleeping thing. He wanted the marriage bed (and likely a little romance) to remain what it was. But as everyone knows, you have a baby and that doesn't matter so much. Well... at least for the first 6 weeks (or so). Moreover, after 3 months of nursing every hour and half (for 40 minutes a shot), he wanted a wife and best friend back. Hell, I wanted her back. I was nothing short of a walking zombie that took care of the kid and worked most days simultaneously.
And so began co-sleeping and our routine, of start of evening in crib/kid room and then move to mom and dad's big king size bed that now felt like it was a full. Which, to my surprise (and the hubby's), came as a pleasant bonding moment for my husband. He snuggled. He cooed. And he held my son in the night when he awoke. Things he wasn't doing so much when he was in the crib screaming. Because when one of us climbed the stairs for the 100th time that night--it was for one thing. To bring the kid to me, the milk bar, to nurse. Not to mention the frustration that crept in because no one was sleeping in the house.
Now with the Peanut, we accepted the nature of nursing and don't bother most nights with the sleep in your crib routine. Why bother? I'm tired, the husband's tired, the baby is tired.... oh, you get the idea (and don't you think romance is out--after 5 years of practice, we've become creative. Yes. Just go with your imagination. It's likely been done here. Cough. cough).
This time, I know my husband's on board--not only for the cooing, middle of the night bonding, and all things that come with 6 month old patting his arm at 3am for a bit of attention--he's also just made the "bed" on the floor for The Kiddo. Complete with an extra quilt for softness and another atop for warmth. And two extra pillows. It's a full house in our room almost every night (in fact when The Kiddo sleeps in his Big Kid Room, I always wake up and notice). But it is also a wonderful thing. I count each deep snoring breath from all three of the others (oh and the dog and 2 cats) as a sign of our love. Or at least know that we are all sleeping.
Labels: parenting, The Kiddo, The Peanut
