When I was pregnant, I swore I woud never let my baby sleep in my bed. First of all, because I was afraid to roll over on him in my sleep. And secondly, that's where all the *magic* happens. I wasn't about to let a quarter pint human ruin my love life.
Funny how a handful of four hour nights of sleep can be so persuasive. Jacob used to sleep just fine in his bassinet by himself. But something happened a couple weeks back, either he started suffering from a sudden onslaught of colic or he swore an oath to make me as miserable as possible. Now he will only sleep on his own for 30-50 minute intervals before he erupts into bouts of screaming. Is this payback for those onions and green peppers I keep eating?
The only way I can get a half decent night's sleep is by letting him curl up next to me in bed. For the foreseeable future, I'm stuck sleeping in the same position all night long: on my side with one arm under his head and wrapped around his body. At first I swore that I would only do it one night in order to catch up on some desperately needed sleep. But it's become a habit. When you're starved for some shut eye at 3:30 am, nothing else seems to matter.
As much as it annoys me that my sleeping comforts are being encroached upon by the little monster, I have to say that falling asleep to the smell of freshly bathed baby while feeling his little breaths against my chest is so precious. And nothing beats waking up with a cooing baby in your face. Until he lands a batch of invigorated baby kicks to your abdomen or soaks through his diaper and pants and onto your bed sheets.
I have a feeling that four years from now I will be scrunched up in a race care bed in Jacob's room.
7 comments:
Before becoming pregnant I swore I'd never let my baby, if I had one, sleep in my bed. Now that I'm pregnant, and after reading a number of blogs by new moms, I've already come to accept the fact that our daughter will be sleeping with us from time to time. We even registered for one of those sleep positioners to keep her "protected" from us when we finally break down and put her in the bed with us.
LOL. Yep, I never thought I would do it either. But it makes all the difference in the amount of sleep you get. Go girl. :)
I know you didn't ask for advice, but just a word of caution to you and fsd -- for some babies, once they get used to sleeping with you, they will give you a very hard time sleeping by themselves, so I would avoid it if you can. I know this happened to my friend (her baby cannot sleep w/out her).
I think this is the reason they say that the first few months are all about survival! Not every decision you make can follow a particular child-raising philosophy because you need to sleep and eat too!
Whew, I couldn't sleep with my kid. The times we have to do it when we travel is torture. She's a nightmare. She's all over the place, she snores, she grunts, she smacks me in the face. It's awful!
I felt exactly the same way. Eden slept with us nearly every night (at least the second half of the night) for the first two and a half months. Then we transitioned her to her crib. However, I still occasionally nap with her. And when she's not feeling well, or not sleeping well, we still let her sleep between us. I agree, there's nothing better than waking up to a sweet baby. Except maybe a sweet baby snuggling with Daddy!
I will say, though, that now that we're all used to her sleeping in her own bed, I sleep much worse when she's in bed with us. She starts grunting at 5 am, and kicking a bit at 6, but doesn't get up until 7. I'm always just barely snoozing once she starts all of that - I have super mom-ears when she's with us. But I still do it. And I still LOVE it.
BWAHAHAHA!
Welcome to the club, honey. My laziness trumped my "you WILL sleep in your crib" desire LOOONG ago!
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