We have had no regrets with choosing to be a co-sleeping, bed sharing family unit. For a long time it felt good to be all cuddled up together, even with our chihuahua nestled under the covers by our feet. It felt right. I really do believe that it makes total sense for families to sleep in the same space. As adults don't we tend to find our way back to bed sharing with our loved ones? (girlfriends, boyfriends, best friends, dogs, cats, a good book?) It's comforting. It's natural. We want togetherness.
But that's the thing...as your family expands your bed gets, well, smaller! The more Liam grows the more our sleeping space shrinks. That adorable poop face takes up like 80% of the bed! That leaves David and I only 20% bed....which gives us 10% each!...Okay it gives me 15% and David like...maybe 5% space. Another issue is that David and I don't go to sleep at 7:30-8 p.m. like Liam does. When we do finally crawl into bed with him at 10:30-11p.m. there is a good chance we are going to wake him up. This means spending another 30 minutes just calming him back down (as I'm sure he is pissed he was woken up) and then spending the rest of the night playing freeze tag trying not to move to much or breathe too loud for fear we will wake the beast. The point is, we want our bed back.
The one trouble with co-sleeping (particularly bed sharing) is that when you've been doing it for a long period of time a regular dose of sleep training is rather hard to administer. Nearly 2 years of doing things one way makes it really hard to just say "and now for something completely different!" Believe me, we have tried everything to get Liam to comfortably sleep on his own...what we have found is that maybe we are going about this all wrong. Liam likes space. Liam likes the feel of our bed. What Liam needs is his own huge bed. So we bought him a mattress...a full mattress that will go in his room on his floor.
Will there still be a transition period? You bet! Will it be easier than all other tries? We think so. Why? Let me explain!
Liam still nurses occasionally during the night. Anywhere from 2-5 times...depending on what's happening in his stressful baby life. (sarcasm!) David and I take turns being the soothers. So say we hear Liam wake up from the safety of his own bed. One of us can get up and get into bed with him...and then when he goes back to sleep we can choose to go back to our bed, or just stay with him.
Benefits: He still gets the comforting he is used to. We still stay in bed. We still have the chance to cuddle with him. I can decide if I want to stay and nurse him if I'm feeling all "OMG my baby is getting so big! I only have moments left of this time together! *wehhhh*".
The best part is we don't have to give up being a co-sleeping family...we just get to decide when we co-sleep. It gives us all some much needed space. I am really excited about this and I look forward to sharing our experience with you all. Besides, in the co-sleeping world...we need all the support/help we can get ♥.
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