For anyone whose had a baby in the last - m - 5-8 years knows all about "Attachment Parenting." It's basically holding your baby as much as humanly possible while they're light enough to hold. Cosleeping, breastfeeding etc etc etc......
Everyone does certain amounts of attachment parenting - but others take it to quite an extreme. That's fine with me as I think it's everyone's personal choice.
The choice was however, not for me. YES I held my baby all the time, YES I breastfed and practiced positive discipline. I drew the line at co-sleeping however - for many reasons. 1) I was too afraid of 3 people in one queen sized bed. 2) Um, I would like to have one private area of my home where I am an island unto myself. Of course Madeline and I snuggled there and we all spent many a Saturday morning playing as a family on our big bed. But nighttime? That's mine! Yes I (happily?) nursed 2-3 times a night, but by the end of a day at hoom with my daughter, I was "touched out." And treasured the few minutes when I could have total peace and quiet alone or with my husband. Nighttime was the time he and I got together and keeping that as our own kept our marriage strong and my sanity in tact.
However, as Madeline's gotten bigger, Steve and I both enjoy the few moments where she'll actually stop and cuddle with us. They are few and far between so they're a treasure. Sometimes as night when we'd check on her we'd say "Oh let's put her in bed with us!" and then we'd go on with our night. But the other night I told him that we really were going to do it.
It was around 11 so we were both ready to turn in. Steve slipped into her room and brought her into ours. We all snuggled up into bed, and as I inhaled her I thought, "Why haven't we done this for a long time?" She was quiet and still. We were all huddled in for our night when we heard "PAN! PAN!" as she pointed to the fan going. Then she proceeded to go through every word in her vocabulary.
KEN! BETTY! MAMA! GRAMPA! CHEESE! OCTAPUS!
She Shhhhhed her and she rolled over and koala-ed onto Steve. I was a little jealous but felt myself start to get sleepy. Then her noggin smashed into mine. "Mama" her little hot breath on my face. I gave her 491 kisses and told her I loved her. I wrapped my arms around her and thought we had discovered the best little secret in the world.
"PAN!PAN!" "YIGHT! YIGHT!!!!!"
After about 5 more minutes of non-stop talk, scratching of nails, and getting whapped in the head with her various limbs, I decided Cosleeping was STILL not an option for us. Steve deposited her back in her crib and we, once again, enjoyed a nice night's sleep all by ourselves.
3 comments:
Yeah, co-sleeping isn't for us, either. I see the way Isabelle flops all over the bed and kicks and turns and moves from head to foot and side to side all through her sleep. In our bed, it wouldn't be the crib rails stopping her, it would be my stomach or my head or my arm. Thank you very much, but I like my sleep and my space and the alone time with my husband (just like you!) Not to mention, Isabelle goes to bed at night and for naps like a dream because she's been in her crib from a couple of months on!
Hope you're having a good day!
Geesh, I can't even have the dog on my bed let alone the kid! Gabby and I used to take early morning naps when she was first born after her first feed of the day (well, after the sun came up). I loved those moments, but can't even imagine her in our bed now. I think it is hard enough to sleep with my husband some nights in a queen-sized bed. Throw a toddler in and I think I would never sleep! Your story was way too funny and had me rolling over here. Pan! Pan! Yight! Yight! So cute!
That post made me smile. We are not co-sleepers.I would never sleep b/c Ella is such a loud sleeper. We will let her in our bed early in the AM when she gets up but now we are trying to get rid of that habit too.
Snuggle time is so nice and it's fun to have it every now and then so we'll appreciate it!
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