Alternative titles, ‘my hippie side is showing’ or ‘I should’ve been a hippie’; sung to the tune of my favorite Toby Keith song ‘I should’ve been a cowboy’.
I learned pre-babies to never say never. But as a new mom, I’ve continued to learn that lesson.
In our birth class, the instructor mentioned that 85% of new patents will co-sleep with their baby{s}. My husband was adamant that would not be us. I said sure; we’ll see.
I was sure Lucy & Zach were going to be sleeping in their cribs from day 1. Then day 1 & 2, Lucy slept in a pack-n-play while Zach was still in the NICU. We pulled out our rock-n-plays on her second day home & never looked back. For the first 3 months, they slept there in our den while there was an adult either up 24/7 or on the couch. We transitioned Lucy into a pack-n-play around 3 mos.
By 4-5 mos, they were sleeping in their cribs. And if Z or L wouldn’t return to their crib, either J or I would end up on the couch napping for the reminder of the night.
At some point over the last few months, with them being sick & also bigger, we’ve brought a baby, usually Zach, in bed with us occasionally. Other than the scary wheezing RSV nights & nights with his 24 hour stomach bug, these co-sleeping nights aren’t planned. Both babies will go down in their cribs pretty easily; we get them 99% asleep on us by rocking, jiggling or nursing, then transfer them into their crib with a kiss on the cheek & sound machine & humidifer turned on.
They’ll both fall asleep during overnight nursing. But sometimes there’s something about their crib that means little eyes pop open. And no rocking, bouncing, jiggling, or repeated nursing works. It’s those nights that Zach gets to cuddle into me nestled snugly in our king size bed between my husband & I. Co-sleeping in our house ends up being a result of me being too exhausted to fight getting them back to sleeping in the crib.
I will typically fight for crib sleeping if it’s before 4a. But there’s something about after 4a when the pull for more sleep beats out my desire to not share my bed with a tiny bed hog.
I think my husband’s desire to not co-sleep had more to do with fear of rolling over on said baby than anything else. I think they’re big enough now that he’s no longer worried about that. On principle, I don’t overly love the idea nor starting co-sleeping being a habit. But I go back to the ‘any sleep is better than none’ mantra.
Lucy, because she so often sleeps through the night (830-630!!), doesn’t co-sleep much during the week days. It’s weekends though that she’ll get in on the snuggles. After our nursing around 6, instead of running the risk of her waking still sleeping Zach, she & I will sneak past the nursery into our room.
As Tracy wrote on LWM this week, co-sleeping is also a little extra time that as a working mom, I get to spend in close proximity to my babe{s}. Waking up to Zach’s sweet snoring & tiny tucked hands brings a smile every time.
I’ve discovered more & more as I go along this parenting road that I’m pretty laid back. That I might’ve been a hippie in a prior life – an extended-breastfeeding, baby-wearing, homemade-baby-food-making {post to come}, co-sleeping hippie. And I like that!
