I never gave the whole sleeping thing with the baby a lot of thought. I didn’t want to get up in the middle of the night for feedings, and I didn’t feel comfortable with him in another room, so he slept with us. It started in the hospital. I had him on a boppy pillow in the bed with me and more than once fell asleep holding him. It seemed right at the time. And at home, we were so tired I’d frequently fall asleep holding him after he nursed. He slept better on my chest, so I just let him do it. It morphed into him sleeping in our bed.
And he’s been there every night since.
Oh, I tried to put him in the crib, but he’d continually wake up and I’d have to comfort him. He woke up every time I put him back in the crib. So I gave up and just let him sleep next to me. And it got to where I enjoyed snuggling with him. I could keep tabs on him, make sure everything was okay. And during frequent feedings it was much easier to grab him from next to me rather than getting up.
And here he is, just a bit over eight months old. I’ve been putting him in the crib more as he gets mobile, rolling around and creeping his way across the bed. Anytime I need to step out of the room, I plop him in the crib. And he’s been napping there off and on.
Yesterday was a really tough day. Lots of fussiness. He’s had a bit of gas and he has a 3rd tooth coming in. Cranky city, population: 1. I held him and tried to comfort him, then Daddy took his turn. He bounced the boy a little on his tummy and he actually fell asleep across Daddy’s lap. So John laid him in the crib, thinking he’d just be there for a little while. Instead, the kid slept through the night.
But I didn’t. I kept waking up and checking on him. Remember, this is new to me. If I want to check his breathing, he’s usually snuggled under my arm and I know he’s okay. The crib is right next to my side of the bed, so he’s close enough I can sit up and lean over to see him. Which I did several times last night.
And I put him in there again tonight, as he actually seemed to sleep better in the crib. He moves around a lot in our bed. And he stirs if one of us gets up to go to the bathroom, or turns over. So this is probably better for him. I also figured we would transition to this around the time he starts crawling. So we’re almost there and it’s a good time.
I’m relieved. We finally have our bed back. Man, that kid is a total bed hog. He loves to lie across the bed, head hitting one of us, feet hitting the other. And he can kick. He packs quite a punch when he kicks you in the back. So we’ll all get better sleep. Well, the guys will. I will eventually, but not yet.
I miss my little cuddlebug. He would roll over on his side, facing me, and grab my forearm, hugging it close to him. Or he’d get right up next to me and throw his leg over me. Yes, he’d get so close that he was practically pushing me off of the bed. And yes, I had to be careful when I rolled over. And yes, I was constantly waking up when he did, and checking on him.
We still have our mornings, which is my favorite part of the day. When he wakes up for his morning feeding, I will still bring him into bed and nurse him lying down. And then we doze for a little while, and play when he wakes up. And we snuggle. I love it. So it’s not all completely gone yet. He still enjoys our morning time together.
I know this transition would happen. I know it needed to. And he is so far taking it a lot better than I thought. That’s good. But a little piece of me is crying inside because it’s just one more thing that pulls him away from me. One more indication that he’s growing up.
He’s ready. But I’m not.
I understand this – except we transitioned earlier – and I honestly can’t remember why. But Christopher slept better, and now, finally, I do too.
I have to admit though, I sure did like having him back in bed with me at BlogHer. It was heaven snuggling with him for a few nights again.
canape’s last blog post..World Breastfeeding Week
Once my initial hyperventilating about moving M. to the crib had subsided, I LOVED it. But oh, gosh, I wish he would still come with me back to bed, nurse, and fall asleep next to me so I could take a nap! Now he just uses the bed (and us) as climbing obstacles.
Skye’s last blog post..Monday Morning Good Writing
@canape – It does already seem like he’s sleeping better. At least an hour longer. I do still like the snuggles, though.
@skye – I’m sure that day is coming for me. He already rolls around quite a bit (we put barriers around the bed on one side) when he’s in bed with me. I think my morning naps will soon be over. *sigh*
We never got into co-sleeping. And in some regards, I’m OK with that, but any sort of sudden change like that impacts us more than it impacts them, I think. The Mini started abruptly sleeping through the night after his 15 month appointment. Largely due to all the changes he was going through with immunizations, but even though he’s better and has woken up a couple of times, I’m still not over the fact that he zonks for an entire night. I miss going in there to comfort him.
statia’s last blog post..Your house is on fire
I so relate to this post. I woke up so many times in the night when Jonah moved to his own room — he’d been with us in bed or in the co-sleeper up to that point, but he was so squirmy, and neither of us was sleeping well AT ALL. My husband wasn’t bothered — he can sleep through anything.
I hated moving the baby out, and at the same time I felt like we were both growing up, and it was much harder on me. And I felt giddy when we had the bed to ourselves.
Now that he pretty much sleeps from 6:30-5 (with or without a mid-night waking), I miss him a lot. But I enjoy having dinner with my husband again, watching TV, blogging, aaaaand sleeping!
Julie @ the calm before the stork’s last blog post..sleep quotidien
Whoops, meant to add links to my crib experiences:
The first night.
A few nights later.
Julie @ the calm before the stork’s last blog post..sleep quotidien
@statia – We really didn’t plan on it. It just kinda happened. We got used to it, though, and really liked having the little guy close. It’s getting a bit easier as we hit Day 4, and I do like being able to roll over instead of scooting and adjusting. He was getting more wiggly as time went on and I don’t think either of us were sleeping well. He woke up this morning at 3.30, so we’re not all the way in the clear yet. I wound up feeding him in my bed because I was too tired to sit up and feed and then put him back. Yet he’s back in there tonight, so we’ll see.
@julie – We didn’t put him in another room because, well, we don’t have one. We live in a 1-bedroom so the crib is in our room. And yeah, my husband can sleep through anything as well, so it rarely bothered him. It is nice to have our bed back in many ways. But I cannot get my kid to go to sleep any earlier than 8 or 9. And he fights it all the way. We may be hitting an 8-month sleep regression here. Not sure yet.
@julie – oh, and I’ll be checking your posts about the crib experience for sure. Thanks.
All these transitions that take them further away from us physically…it’s hard. Enjoy those kicks in the buttocks while you can. Now that mine are 6 and 8 I have to wait for them to be under the weather to get much snuggling. (Touch wood.)
Woman in a window’s last blog post..DANCE you lazy boy!
@woman in a window – you’re right. he already pushes away from me a lot more than he did. it’s tough sometimes, but i realize it’s just the way it is. i’m trying to enjoy what i get while i can.