Never Say Never
Our family was never co-sleeping family. Ever. From night one home from the hospital both girls slept in their cribs in their nurseries. Judge away, it's what worked for us. Skip and I have very strong feelings about not only doing what's best for our kids, but also what is best for our marriage. And for us, part of that included no kids in our bed.
The few times we had to co-sleep {on vacation, visiting friends} usually turned into a bit of a nightmare, with no one getting much sleep.
Right after the Superbowl, my MIL was brought home and put under hospice care. Our whole lives were pretty much turned upside down. Skip was able to take some intermittent family leave, and we were both back and forth to Pennsylvania on a regular basis. Our normal family dynamic changed.
It was right around this time that Emmy started wandering into our room around 3:00 or 4:00 am. Skip and I were both too tired to convince her to go back to her room, and so we just let her climb in bed with us. The first few times she kept asking to watch TV, but she finally learned that wasn't going to happen, and just settled in with us to sleep.
It's been almost two months now, and every night sometime between 2:00 and 6:00 am, Emmy comes crawling into bed with us. She's so quiet and goes right to sleep, that Skip doesn't even wake when she comes in.
This is really not something I planned on my four year old doing. Skip and I spent a lot of time discussing it the first few weeks, about how to get her to stay in her room. But after a while we thought, meh...what's the big deal. Our family has been going through such a tough time, and so many changes. I don't think it's a coincidence that Emmy started coming in our room during that time. I think she just needs a little extra reassurance that we are all there and everything is okay.
And in these past four and a half years as a mom, if there's one thing I've learned is that no stage lasts forever. Emmy won't be still coming in our room at night when she's twelve, so what's the big deal if this is a stage she's in right now? She goes to sleep in her own bed at the beginning of the night no problem, and that's the biggest thing for me.
So we get a few extra snuggles at night and in the early morning? I'm totally good with that. This is just another sign in parenthood that you should never say never.
The few times we had to co-sleep {on vacation, visiting friends} usually turned into a bit of a nightmare, with no one getting much sleep.
Right after the Superbowl, my MIL was brought home and put under hospice care. Our whole lives were pretty much turned upside down. Skip was able to take some intermittent family leave, and we were both back and forth to Pennsylvania on a regular basis. Our normal family dynamic changed.
It was right around this time that Emmy started wandering into our room around 3:00 or 4:00 am. Skip and I were both too tired to convince her to go back to her room, and so we just let her climb in bed with us. The first few times she kept asking to watch TV, but she finally learned that wasn't going to happen, and just settled in with us to sleep.
It's been almost two months now, and every night sometime between 2:00 and 6:00 am, Emmy comes crawling into bed with us. She's so quiet and goes right to sleep, that Skip doesn't even wake when she comes in.
This is really not something I planned on my four year old doing. Skip and I spent a lot of time discussing it the first few weeks, about how to get her to stay in her room. But after a while we thought, meh...what's the big deal. Our family has been going through such a tough time, and so many changes. I don't think it's a coincidence that Emmy started coming in our room during that time. I think she just needs a little extra reassurance that we are all there and everything is okay.
And in these past four and a half years as a mom, if there's one thing I've learned is that no stage lasts forever. Emmy won't be still coming in our room at night when she's twelve, so what's the big deal if this is a stage she's in right now? She goes to sleep in her own bed at the beginning of the night no problem, and that's the biggest thing for me.
So we get a few extra snuggles at night and in the early morning? I'm totally good with that. This is just another sign in parenthood that you should never say never.
i will also take extra snuggles anyday. my daughter has also slept in her crib since day one.
ReplyDeletealso i have a fav mommy blogger who shared a sleep chart idea that worked with her daughter, i thought it was so cute and a great idea! http://mom-a-logues.blogspot.se/2013/03/this-weekend.html
I never wanted to co-sleep either. My daughter started in a bassinet in our room and then moved to her crib...never in our bed. The only time she gets to sleep with me is when she is sick and really needs to sleep. Those are rough nights because she is such a restless sleeper!
ReplyDeleteWe had periods of co-sleeping. At the time, hubs and I both loved and sometimes disliked it. I mean, who liked being kicked in the jugular, you know?
ReplyDeleteBut now, most nights, M comes in around 3:30, crawls in between us, and sometimes cuddles, sometimes doesn't. We know this period won't last forever and really? They're only little once. There will be a time where we will WANT her to be near us, and she'll just want her own space.
So, we've never regretted the times we let her stay with us. These times are fleeting.
Enjoy those extra snuggles! I know I take advantage of them too- you never know when they are going to end!
ReplyDeleteWhilst I am sure you do enjoy those extra cuddles this habit can get big enough and hard to break.. I had a rule, that if they crept into bed with me, before they awoke, I carried them back into their bedrooms and they always woke up back in their beds after going to have a cuddle in bed with me... with a four and five year old, it was quite a stagger, but eventually it all stopped.. good luck hugs from across the pond!!
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