Tuesday, February 28, 2012

- so it happened -

Last night I let something happen that I swore I would hold off doing for as long as I could...I let Ellie fall asleep in our bed with me. Let me start off by saying as loud as I can...I do not think co-sleeping is bad in any way! As a matter of fact, although when I was pregnant I never planned on it, when Ellie was born she ended up sleeping not only in our bed, but on top of me, for the first three months of her life. That was the only way she would sleep with her colic and her reflux, and everything else that made her cry so much. And I definitely knew that there would eventually be a day as a toddler when she would start crawling into bed with us. All kids do right? But I was holding off as long as I could...because when Ellie develops a sleeping crutch, she holds onto it for dear life and it is so hard for us to get her to break it. I did not want "sleeping with us" to become her new sleeping crutch, because let's just face it...I have a queen size bed, a toddler who is a super light sleeper, and a hubby who moves around and fidgets a lot at night. All of those things combined do not make for a restful night's sleep for momma!

But last night as she was sitting on our bed, she asked me to cover her up so she could snuggle with me. Ummmm, how could I resist? I let her lay down and I covered her, and we snuggled, and we both fell fast asleep. An hour later, I woke up with the most peaceful sleeping toddler in my arms, and the thought of "oh no, what have I done?" racing through my mind!

Matt came into our room and said he had peeked in on us earlier and it was the sweetest thing ever...us sleeping together. And to be totally honest, I know why you co-sleeping momma's do it! Her little body pressed up to mine...her heavy breathing...it was so comforting. She has never ever been one to fall asleep in our arms once she hit four months old or so, and I was definitely jealous of all those other mom's that have been able to hold their sleeping child. But still... holy cow, what did I do?? My little one is now going to ask demand to sleep in our bed all the time, and she will lose.her.mind when I put my foot down and make her fall asleep in her crib.

I figured once we put her in a toddler bed, we couldn't stop the middle of the night visits that would lead to her crawling into our bed. But I thought for sure I could buy us more time. But as Matt reminded me, I made my own bed (ha ha) by letting her lay down with me, and now there might be trouble!

Wish me luck tonight as I put her down in her own crib and try to explain to her that little girls sleep in their own beds and mommies and daddies sleep in their own beds...sigh.

p.s- In case you are wondering, I did transfer her into her crib. The last thing I wanted was for her to wake up and discover that she was still in our bed. I begged Matt to do it, but he didn't want to be the bad guy, so I picked her up as gently as I could, accidentally made her hit herself in the head with her own floppy arm (mommy fail!) and somehow managed to get her into her crib without too much hassle.

p.p.s- There would be a sweet picture of me and my baby sleeping together for me to post, but my hubby failed to grab the camera when he peeked in on us. I did politely remind him that his job as the husband of a blogger, is to document moments like these so I can blog about it later! Always gotta be thinking of the blog right? lol!


12 comments:

Carlie said...

haha your last line made me laugh. Too bad he didn't get a picture, but maybe next time? Though I know you are hoping for not another time so maybe you should sneak into her crib and get a picture of that! jk ;) Good luck with the sleeping arrangement tonight! I'll be curious to hear/read how it turns out!

Miranda said...

haha i would totally say that to my husband "have the camera ready!" my son has been sleeping in bed with us the past few nights because he has been sick and won't sleep anywhere else. it's the first night of him back in his crib and he has gotten up twice but i'm trying not to give in. i love my sleep space! even though it is really nice to snuggle with your baby.

Genevieve said...

Oh my gosh I loved this post so much, I totally feel like we think the same way about so many things!! :) I get so nervous to change anything with Parker's sleeping habits because it causes major problems! But yes, having them snuggled up with us is the best thing in the world. That is why even though I was sad the other day that he was teething, I was happy he was sleeping on us. Now that they are so big it is rare!! xo

Unknown said...

Babies love to sleep with their parents! Whenever Brielle sleeps with us (not very often) she has a smile on her face the entire night. It is so adorable and (almost) makes me want to sleep with her every night, but we have a queen size bed as well, but with all the wiggling and crying out after a dream that goes on, I think I would go nuts!

Unknown said...

your baby girl, is ADORABLE!! What a blessing.hope you can check out my blog for some +vibes and inspiration!XO

Melanie said...

Awwww... I can just see the picture in my head of you sweet girls falling asleep together! Lol... I had to chuckle at the daddy needing to snap a pic thing. Greg & I have had that exact same convo!

Oh my dear, you know I Know all about this situation. I am still trying to get Jaxy to sleep in his bed. I wake up every night to him snuggled up next to me. The BEST snuggles EVER. It is the hardest habbit to break. Ugggg... I will not write a post in your comment box! Lol) I will just end with saying.... I think for you you made the right decision, once you let your little angel in your bed, they NEVER want to leave! Though I have to admit... BEST snuggles EVER! Love you babe!

Erin said...

I would not have been able to tell that sweet girl no either! And yes, Daddy fail for not taking a photo! Don't they know these things?! :) Good luck tonight mama!

Andrea {kerubo mama} said...

I get it!! Those snuggles are AMAZING, but the habit is one that is so hard to break.
This past weekend, Cruz actually fell asleep IN MY ARMS...he hasn't done that since he was a wee little thing. It was so much fun, and then i was so disappointed when I didn't have a picture to document it! hahaha. We do think alike ;)
I've missed you and your blog! (I didn't touch my computer throughout our entire trip, didn't go online at all. But i'm back and can't wait to catch up! :) xoxo

cam - bibs and baubles said...

Our son is in his toddler bed and you're right - he makes his way into our room a few nights a week at times but how can you say no? If it's still pretty early then he goes back to his room. When it's four AM - no one is up for that fight!

as for the pic, one day husbands of bloggers will learn their role! LOL!

courtney - larking. said...

It's so funny to me how having your little one in bed with you is both extremely annoying and overwhelmingly touching and sweet. Ahhh, babies. :) Too funny about the lack of photo! My husband would probably have stumbled into something and broken the lens in the dark!

Courtney B said...

Ok... I have always thought NO WAY will my kids be sleeping in my bed. NEVER! But I can see how easy it is!
When I babysat those 5 boys, Eric was only able to come be with us Saturday night and left at 5 Monday morning. Sunday night I was having a restless night because I knew we had to wake up early for Eric to be able to get to work by 6:30 and I didn't want to sleep through the alarm. Plus, I just didn't want Eric to leave! I woke up at one point to hear the bedroom door of the 4 yr close. And then I woke up again at 2am to the 4 year old climbing into bed with us. I figured that he must be feeling whatever restlessness I was feeling.. So I scooted closer to Eric and let him under the covers. JUST LIKE THAT! It was too easy to just let him in and close my eyes! Luckily it was a king (maybe cali king?) so we all had more than enough room. And it was actually comforting after Eric left to go back to bed and know I wasn't alone in that room. Haha... uh oh! The rest of the week he had no problems staying in his own bed. But like I said... I can see how easy it is!

p.s. HAHA! So funny, all husbands of bloggers need to learn the rules about the camera!

Amber said...

We are working on this issue now and its such a hard issue to break. It started when thats the only way Morgan would sleep and yes its very hard!

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