We went to a dinner party last night. My wonderful friend Jeff decided to have a party early enough that we could leave by 8. Even so, The Boy crashed in the car on the way home. He slept for about 45 minutes then he didn't want to go to bed until we did. That's fine. We're a co-sleeping family for the most part. On a "normal" day he falls alseep in his crib anywhere between 7:00 to 8:30. Sometimes he wakes up around 11 when he goes to sleep. Friday night he stayed in there until 2. Then he sleeps with us. Some nights, we just take him to bed with us if we're going early.
Co-sleeping is way more contraversial than it should be. I know he'll be in my bed at least another year. But he's a boy and getting more and more active by the minute. The only real snuggling he does is when he's drowsy and sleeping. We're trying to have the best of both worlds, so he's used to sleeping in his crib for naps and that's where he starts the night. But I have to work in the morning and I dont' want to be getting up as often as he does. So, co-sleeping it is. The only conflict I can forsee is when we have another baby. He won't be able to sleep in our bed initially when the baby is very tiny. But I think we can set up a place in our room for him to sleep if he hasn't transitioned out of our room by then. I saw this thing on the discovery health chanel on toddlers. A family was trying to get their two-year-old out of their bed and their idiot pediatrician said to do it cold turkey. I'd rather move into my kids room for a few weeks and transition them out that way. The poor parents on DHC, could stand the crying for about 5 minutes then, the little girl was so upset that she almost puked. And they took her out of her crib.
I'm NOT a fan of 'cry it out'. I purchased this book recently and it helped a lot. One thing it said was to trust your instincts. For the past month or 2 he's been waking up to nurse a LOT. Like 4 times a night. I figured something was up, but I didn't push it. But last weekend, he popped FOUR new teeth. Compared to what my friends with teething babies are going through, (hours of inconsolable crying on end) some extra nursing seemed like a dream. Now the teeth are out, and he wakes up 12ish to come into our bed, then at 3 then 7ish we're up for the day. I can live with that. Sometimes it's more than that, but he's such a cheerful guy. Everybody at dinner last night was amazed at how "well behaved" he was. One of the guys was the oldest of 5 kids, and he really knew how to play with babies. So, if he's crying, it usually means that something is really wrong. I want to that crying to MEAN something. If we start ignoring it to "train" him to sleep, then that communication will be broken.
On the flip side, a friend of my sister's let their baby cry for hours until she threw up on herself and they still didn't go in. But their daughter sleeps through the night, and my sister's daughter still wakes up and goes into her mom's bed. I'd rather encourage a family bed than break that trust. It's just the way I'm built.
Co-sleeping is way more contraversial than it should be. I know he'll be in my bed at least another year. But he's a boy and getting more and more active by the minute. The only real snuggling he does is when he's drowsy and sleeping. We're trying to have the best of both worlds, so he's used to sleeping in his crib for naps and that's where he starts the night. But I have to work in the morning and I dont' want to be getting up as often as he does. So, co-sleeping it is. The only conflict I can forsee is when we have another baby. He won't be able to sleep in our bed initially when the baby is very tiny. But I think we can set up a place in our room for him to sleep if he hasn't transitioned out of our room by then. I saw this thing on the discovery health chanel on toddlers. A family was trying to get their two-year-old out of their bed and their idiot pediatrician said to do it cold turkey. I'd rather move into my kids room for a few weeks and transition them out that way. The poor parents on DHC, could stand the crying for about 5 minutes then, the little girl was so upset that she almost puked. And they took her out of her crib.
I'm NOT a fan of 'cry it out'. I purchased this book recently and it helped a lot. One thing it said was to trust your instincts. For the past month or 2 he's been waking up to nurse a LOT. Like 4 times a night. I figured something was up, but I didn't push it. But last weekend, he popped FOUR new teeth. Compared to what my friends with teething babies are going through, (hours of inconsolable crying on end) some extra nursing seemed like a dream. Now the teeth are out, and he wakes up 12ish to come into our bed, then at 3 then 7ish we're up for the day. I can live with that. Sometimes it's more than that, but he's such a cheerful guy. Everybody at dinner last night was amazed at how "well behaved" he was. One of the guys was the oldest of 5 kids, and he really knew how to play with babies. So, if he's crying, it usually means that something is really wrong. I want to that crying to MEAN something. If we start ignoring it to "train" him to sleep, then that communication will be broken.
On the flip side, a friend of my sister's let their baby cry for hours until she threw up on herself and they still didn't go in. But their daughter sleeps through the night, and my sister's daughter still wakes up and goes into her mom's bed. I'd rather encourage a family bed than break that trust. It's just the way I'm built.
posted by Margaret at 11:31 AM
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