Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Co-Sleeping



When Elizabeth was 7 months old, I made the decision to bring her into the bed with my husband and I. Up until then, she had been sleeping in a cradle, bassinet thing, next to my side of the bed.  
This was a lot like Beans!

Most of the stuff I've read in books and on the internet say NOT to bring your child into the bed with you.

I do understand, it's not the safest spot for a small baby. Part of the reason I hadn't brought her into the bed with us to begin with. At 7 months old though, she was getting quite wiggly and growing out of her sleeping spot fast. I now had to decide between putting her into her crib, in an entirely different room. This would be hard because that meant for night times feedings, since I exclusively breastfed, I would of had to get up at 3AM and feed her, then put her back to sleep, etc. Rinse and repeat all night long. OR have her sleep next me, where all I would have to do is pop my girls out, feed her and go back to sleep. I knew if I wanted ANY sleep, she was going to be next to me sleeping too.

I honestly haven't had anyone really express how they feel about co-sleeping. In my opinion, if you're a responsible parent, sleeping with your babe should be fine! Humans have been doing it for years-- as long as you're not drugged up or drunk, you should be okay. Again, this is just my opinion. If you're not comfortable with doing it, then don't! But my girl is now 19 months and I still fully enjoy having someone to snuggle with during the wee morning hours! Specially since my husband isn't a "snuggler". If you're thinking " Wow, her baby isn't going to learn to sleep on her own, blah blah blah!" Please, don't! My Elizabeth goes to sleep in her crib, by herself, every night at 7:30PM. She wakes up early in the morning and I go grab her. I enjoy sleeping with her. It will most likely be different once we have another baby but I'm not worried about that right now and I will deal with it when the time comes.

Lots of love to all the baby mama's out there!

Tiffeny