Friday, April 24, 2009

Co-Sleeping

Okay this is something that we are struggling with and I am looking for advice and experience for all of you moms! SO please share ...

Jace does well sleeping in his crib once he is actually asleep. When he wakes up to eat at about 2 a.m. he is ready to play. We try to put him back in his crib but he ends up crying. Both Joe and I are SO tired at this point. I generally will pick him up to try to cuddle him back to sleep but end up falling asleep myself and so the three of us end up having a little sleepover in Mom and Dad's bed. Let me just clarify that he has no problems sleeping in his crib, and I don't think that he is attached to our bed -- but he likes to cuddle and will cuddle with us until he falls asleep. In the mean time ... I am already out! So it is more my problem than his. He is 6 weeks on Monday (WEIRD) and I don't want this to continue until he is sleeping through the night. That could be a LONG time away! We plan on moving him to his "big boy" crib in his own room soon. Will this help or make it worse? He takes naps in his "big boy" crib now.

SO my question for all of you with experience is: IS this normal? Did it happen to you? Did your baby grow out of it? How can I help the situation?

4 comments:

Lynsey said...

I didn't let Ethan co-sleep unless he was sick...and even then it was rare. I found that swaddling him and putting him on a positioner helped. It made him feel cosy and secure. I would suggest starting now. Naps in his big crib is a good idea...keep it up. Also, start putting him down into a crib before he is completely asleep, that way he learns to fall asleep on his own.

Joanie said...

OK, so here is Aunt Joanie's thoughts on the matter. When my babies were little (and I was very sleep deprived) I would keep the bassinet close to the bed, when baby cried I would pick him up, mama-cat style, by the back of his sleeper and joink him into bed, nurse him, and of course, go back to sleep. Later if I woke up I would put little-bits back in bed. My experience is that babies can't have enough cuddling (and frankly, neither could I). At some point down the road, when baby is older, the time in bed becomes less and less. My kids continued to climb in bed with me when they were cold or had bad dreams and after a while I took them back to their bed.

But you know what? I wouldn't trade any of those cuddling moments for all the world! They are so precious! And trust me, by the time they are 20 they won't want to crawl in bed with you anymore (ROFL)
Love you lots,
YLA

Mom and Dad said...

I think your favorite aunt Joanie is right, and she sure tells her story well, complete with creative vocabulary! I used to nurse our babies in bed -- too cold to get up, and whichever of us woke up first put the baby back in his own little nest. Nice thing is, he shouldn't feel the chill of his bed because of the nice sleepers they have for little'uns now (or you can wrap him up before he starts eating.
Love ya, love ya!
You are doing SO well.
Enjoy the cuddling, all 3 of you!
---- somebody's Grannie Annie

Karen said...

Yeah...we TOTALLY co-sleep. Kooper is still in our bed...I get a lot more sleep that way. Hmmm...maybe that is why the Beebe babies are so chubby. They eat ALL night long. =) Good luck!!!