Tuesday, October 19, 2010

What cosleeping is like for me.

When I was pregnant with Luke I never thought in my wildest dreams would I ever have my child sleep with me and my husband.  I thought things like 'what a bad habit' or 'they'll never grow out of it'.  And then I thought my husband and I would never get alone time or our bed back.

When we brought Luke home, we had him in a crib in the other bedroom.  My husband would go get him each time he needed to nurse.  Luke was always a fairly good sleeper so it wasn't often.  He was far from a colicky baby.  But each night I would worry about him being all alone and I was loosing sleep myself.  So we decided it would be easier to move the crib into our room next to our bed as a co-sleeper.  It was great.  I could check on him and I could see him breathe and move around.  Each morning around 4 or 5am Luke would wake to nurse.  I would pull him in bed with me, and being exhausted, he just slept with us because we were too lazy to get up and put him back in and risk waking him up.  Then as time went on, we just let him sleep after the 2am nursing, then one night I think we just fell asleep nursing at bed time.  And by that time he was older, about 4 months, and really strong so we weren't worried about blankets or the cat getting at him.  

That was it, he slept with us.  Then the crib ended up being a piece of furniture in the way and the cat ended up sleeping in it.  Finally we got tired of it taking up space and by then we knew we were a co-sleeping family. 

Now, I can't imagine it any other way.   Luke is now 16 months and I couldn't imagine sleeping with out him.  Neither could my husband.  In the other room, he'd be so far away.  If he wanted to nurse, it'd be such a long walk in there.  Not to mention all the benefits there are to co-sleeping, why would we want it any other way? 

I love the extra cuddles.  I love being there when he wakes up.  He's so cute when he wakes up, sometimes he's dreaming and he says 'bus' (or something else) right as he's waking up.  One time the day after we saw my friend Usa, he said 'Usa' right as he was waking up.  Then he rolls over and has a big smile on his face because he knows his Mama is right next to him.  And he's even more excited when he sees that it's the weekend and Dad is right next to him too.  Those are the moments I never want to miss.  They are the sweetest things.

Our next baby won't even be in a room by themselves.  They'll be cuddled right next to us.  I wouldn't want it any other way.

4 comments:

Megan said...

How's the cosleeping going since getting pregnant? Cause we were cosleeping before and w/ the nausea and exhaustion I just couldn't take it anymore (I'm about 9 weeks). My daughter (also 16 months) was kicking me and waking up 3-5 times a night. We've now put her in her room right next to ours on a mattress on the floor and we'll lie with her until she falls asleep. I don't like it, but I was at a loss as to what else to do. I suppose we'll just play by ear from here. Glad it's still going well for you!

Lisa C said...

I am so happy for you. I wish Phillip felt the same way about co-sleep as I do. I really miss Michael when he's asleep in the other room. I want to put him to sleep myself at night now, so I can put him in our bed. He cries when he wakes up alone. It's nice to have a little extra space, but it's not worth it to me.

Cassie said...

Megan,
Actually the cosleeping is about the same as before I was pregnant. Luke usually wakes 2-3 times on a good night to nurse, except lately he's ha a cold and teething so it's been a little more. But my husband has been really great by letting me go to bed early and he'll bring in Luke later to nurse. And I've been napping when Luke naps. So the tiredness isn't too bad- but I cant wait to get out of the first trimester. I know it's probably really jar having your daughter away from you but you have to do what's best for your family. :). I've been reading your blog, I think I got the wrong link one time so I got confused. But I'm really enjoying reading :)

Lisa,
Sorry about the toddler bed... He'll be ok and you know he wouldn't be doing well I it wasn't working for him! Plus who knows how hectic the cosleeping is gonna get once I have the new baby haha. Craziness.

Megan said...

So we spent 3 months working on molars with our daughter and once they were through I really was frustrated with the continuing to wake up. I figured she had just gotten into a bad habit. And then Friday I looked into her mouth again and she has four more teeth coming in! I feel like an insensitive jerk! Well now that I know that, I've just brought her back to bed with me and we are all sleeping much better! Now she's just getting up once or so! Praise the Lord! So back to the cosleeping and I feel much better about it.

Someday when I don't feel like throwing up all the time, I'll post again to my blog. Hopefully that's soon. I end up writing posts in my head when I'm lying awake at night feeling nauseous, but never have the energy to type them out later. I'm glad the first trimester doesn't last forever! Hope you're still doing well!