Before Little Owl was born I read a lot about co-sleeping. I was attracted to the idea, but unsure about the reality. My own father in particular was extremely concerned about overlaying. Understandable, considering that most of the press that co-sleeping gets is negative--reports of overlaying, suffocation, etc. So I read a lot. I wanted to make sure it was truly safe. From what I read, I became convinced it was fine for us, and was really excited about the idea of having a family bed. (Note: I am not trying to convince anyone. Please do your own research on this topic.)
Well... life never turns out how you intended.
A little while into life with baby, I realized that her, Brian and I all need our own space for sleeping. Co-sleeping was helpful for those newborn days when I was nursing her ever couple hours (actually, during that stage we didn't even have a "family bed", because Brian was sleeping on the couch...). Beyond that stage, it wasn't fitting us. I was too worried at night about Brian covering her face with his pillow or an arm, that I couldn't sleep. So I would cuddle her close to me, but then I couldn't sleep because I was worried about myself.
In sleep-deprived desperation one night, I tried putting her in her own space (a small cradle on my side of the bed) to sleep. She slept eight hours solid. Needless to say, we kept things that way. When she grew out of her little cradle we had to figure out what to do.
This is what we landed on. Little Owl's "bed" is against the corner. A love seat.
Here is an alternate view.
So, in the eyes of all you die-hard family-bed-ers... is this co-sleeping?
It works. It works for us.
Have you had any interesting "co-sleeping" (or not) set ups?
Linked to: NaturalLivingMondays,
I would say it is! I think they say you're "co-sleeping" as long as you're in the same room. "bed-sharing" is the term for actually sharing a bed.
ReplyDeletei'm a single mom, and if we didn't co-sleep i would have gone insane. I made it one night home from the hospital with her in a co-sleeper in my bed, and it was just too much. I have the bed against the wall and cuddle around her. I have not decided how much longer I want to do it, but right now its a fit. I read a lot of Dr. Sears' books, and felt that was what spoke to me. When she's a few months older and we need a better bedtime routine, I will probably move her to her co-sleeper, but for now, especially with nursing, its a lot easier.
ReplyDeleteYes! I think "Co-sleeping" by definition is when the baby is in the same room with you. We used lots of makeshift things like this with Ronan too. :)
ReplyDeleteBoth of my babies slept in the room with us until they were around 6 months old. My son was a big night-time nurser, so he slept in the bed with me a lot more. I'm a super light sleeper, so I never worried about any sort of accidents. Both babies also had swollen sinuses after labor and couldn't sleep on their backs, so they slept on me for the first few weeks. Funny, cause now they are 2 and 3, yet they still love to sleep on top of my like they did when they were tiny. This of course only lasts a few mins before I begin to feel like I'm suffocating!
ReplyDeleteThat is absolutely co-sleeping! If you banish her to a cold room without company, it's a different story... You're doing it right,Momma.
ReplyDeleteI would be more concerned with doing what works for you and what keeps baby feeling happy and comforted. Than the "technical definition" After 4 kids, we've done everything. I had one child who had to be rocked for 45 minutes, one who didn't want to be held once they were tired, just laid down, and another who I have to still crawl into bed with most nights and he's almost 4. We don't have any babies, but we leave our bed "open" to the kids. My 9 year old crawled in early this morning b/c she had a bad dream.
ReplyDeleteDoes it matter what it's called? If you're doing what works best for your family because it's what works best for your family, that's the important thing. :)
ReplyDeleteOur littles usually go to sleep in a bassinet next to our bed when they first go down, but then come into bed with us when they wake to nurse the first time. (And my tiny ones CANNOT sleep through the night without nursing or they very quickly start dropping weight. They usually try it for a week or two and then figure out they're hungry. ;) ) My one who didn't share a bed with us (because we were in a waterbed at the time) never slept well. But that's what WORKS for us. Ours have all done well with this arrangement and then transitioned pretty smoothly and easily to their own beds. And hubby and I are totally comfortable with this and sleep just fine. If we weren't getting any sleep with this method, we'd definitely try something different!