I know there are many opinions surrounding co-sleeping. I don't mean in a co-sleeper that pulls up to the side of the bed or a co-sleeper that you put in your bed. I mean baby in bed with the parents. Both my husband and I grew up sleeping in our parents' beds. Our baby is sleeping in our bed. *Cue gasping.*
Before we had Eleanor, we talked about what we thought we would do. Ben was all for her being in bed with us. I was a little hesitant for a couple of reasons: having it be a hard habit to break later and us getting good sleep. Well, from day one that we brought her home she has been in the bed. We had her propped up on the Boppy pillow for about a week with a blanket spread over the top so show couldn't fall in the middle because it seemed like she liked to sleep propped up. She started being kind of fussy and wiggly so we pulled her back down onto the mattress with us and she has been blissfully sleeping ever since. Well, as blissfully as a 6 week old can sleep.
At first, I was barely sleeping due to getting used to all of her noises. Ben adapted pretty quickly and has obviously been sleeping very soundly since he has gone back to work. If it is not a work night, Eleanor sleeps in between us but all other nights she is on my side of the bed. I am possibly working up to putting her in the pack and play in our room to see if it would get me some better sleep and get her used to sleeping somewhere else, also. For some reason, even though I get a little frustrated with the "type" of sleep I am getting I can't bring myself to get her out of the bed.
I just love her being close.
Hearing her breathing right next to me.
Snuggling her back to sleep when she is wiggling around.
Picking her right up and nursing.
I obviously know that there are many opinions against this type of sleeping due to infant deaths. For some reason, I have never been afraid of this. I was reassured by the girls at my birth center that a breastfeeding mom is so aware of her baby that there isn't really a need to be afraid. I can now definitely attest to this. I am very careful with how I sleep with her. I don't let the comforter or my pillow get near her. She is swaddled. I found this article on co-sleeping interesting. Also, Dr. Sears has opinions as well.
As I have said before, I think parents have to do what is right for them and their baby. This is what has felt right to us. However, every time this topic gets brought up to others we get looked at like we are crazy. I think the majority of people we know may bring their baby in bed sometimes but not all the time. We may get to that point, we just aren't there yet. It is my goal this week to try to put her in the pack and play in our room during a nap and me try to take a nap in there and see if I can fall asleep and stay asleep.
This whole parenting thing is just one big learning experience and that is what we are up to everyday: learning.
What are your opinions on co-sleeping if you feel like sharing? What sleeping arrangements worked for your family?
2 comments:
Ok - so we didn't do this, but I've always been SO SUPER CURIOUS about this. How do you make sure that there are no blankets, pillows, etc that could hurt her? I'm a total paranoid freak about SIDs and all that other scary stuff - I didn't let Peanut sleep with ANYTHING in her crib and still really don't except for nap time. I am ABSOLUTELY not judging because I've always been so curious about this.
We cosleep too! Or I guess I do. Our daughter refused to sleep for the first six weeks unless she was laying on someone and I was nursing so it just worked best for us. I also got the shocked questions from people, but I read dr. Sears info and other attachment parenting resources and felt this was our way. I was nervous about SIDS at first but you do realize she is there. People have been cosleeping for millennia, to me it was just a natural choice! Ps, found you through holly!
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