We co-sleep. This
means that our babies sleep in the bed with us.
I know this is a controversial topic because of safety issues for baby. However,
it works for us and we will continue to co-sleep with each of our babies until
they’re at least a year old. The reasons
being, with breastfeeding it makes it easier for me to lay down and fall back
asleep while our baby feeds (I nurse laying down on my side). Baby falls asleep
while feeding because he’s still laying down and in sleepy time mode. I love
how we get to cuddle because I’m just one of those touchy feely people (not in
a creepy way lol). Finally, I was brought
up this way and found it to be a natural process because of my upbringing.
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| This is our exact co-sleeper bassinet |
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| Here's a pic of the Leachco Snoogle Pregnancy Body Pillow I have |
At first, with Isaac Jon refused to have him sleep in the
same bed with us because he was scared of rolling on top of him, however, after
a week of continuously going to get him from his crib and putting him back
after each feeding every 2 hours, he decided to give co-sleeping a try. Initially, in order to get some kind of sleep
and to feel at ease, we used a co-sleeper bassinet that was right next to our
bed. Then as Isaac got a little older (1
month old) he came into the bed with us.
We would use my body pillow to create a barricade so that Jon wouldn’t
roll on top of him (this was for my peace of mind). This is because Jon was a heavy sleeper and I
used to be as well, but when you become a parent, you immediately become a very
very light sleeper. This is especially
true with your first born, because you’re always up checking to make sure baby
is breathing, to make sure he’s not too warm/cold, to feed, to change, to
soothe. Don’t get me wrong, I was like this with Ian at first, but with my
second, I’m definitely more relaxed this time around. As each baby grew older all of us grew
accustomed to our sleeping arrangement (for Isaac it took only a week and for
Ian it was immediately) and we no longer needed to use my body pillow. Instead, we will wake up to find a foot in our
face or a head in our ribcage lol. The
important thing is that we wake up, meaning that we got some good sleep. Now, I’m a night owl who goes to bed around
1/2am, and my kids like to wake up at the butt crack of dawn, so the amount of
sleep I get is not as much as I would like, but that’s my fault and another
post.
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| Here's our sleep sheep |
After finding out that we co-sleep, some people ask, well
isn’t it difficult for your baby to sleep on his own in his room since he’s
used to sleeping in the bed with you?
Don’t you foster codependency?
Actually, this hasn’t been the case.
Each of our boys transitioned to sleeping on their own without much
struggle. I’m not going to lie and say
there wasn’t some push back at first, but after a week max, each got used to it. Isaac no longer breastfeeds, but Ian (13
months) still does. When he wakes in the
night hubby goes to get him and I’ll either feed him and we all fall back
asleep in bed or if I notice he’s having a hard time going back down hubby will
take him back up to his room, put his sleep sheep on and he will immediately
fall asleep on his own.
The other question that comes up is about us having some
couple time…exactly how does that happen when you co-sleep? Well for your info, it happens lol. I’m not going to go into details, but you
find a way lol. Hello, I’m certainly not
going to jeopardize our romantic relationship for the sake of co-sleeping. In order for it to work we both had to agree
with it (at first Jon didn’t, then he came around and is now fully on board)
and have discussions about it. We
addressed any concerns with one another and arrived at conclusions that fit
both of our needs. This is also a
sleeping style that works for our family and kids and in no way am I saying
this will work for every family.
Whatever sleep style you choose for your baby, each parent will do what
is best for them and in no way do I knock that.
At the end of the day we all want and will do what is best for our kids
and family. 
