Do you co-sleep with your children? We do, but we didn't plan on it. Really, we never gave it thought once Amar'e was born, it just happened that way. She had a crib, but only slept in it twice for a short amount of time. It was just easier to have her close and not have to get out of bed to get her when she needed me at night. But now co-sleeping has changed for many reasons. Yes, we still do it, but it is much harder with two little kids and myself in one bed. Nevermind the weekends when it's both Anderw and I, plus Amar'e and Anderson. Now, Anderson has grown out of his bassinet (5 lbs ago) but up until last night he was still in it because we didn't have a crib for him. I didn't plan on getting a crib. To be honest, I didn't really have a plan as to where he was going to sleep when he was through with his bassinet. Upon seeing our new and awesome pediatrician, her suggestion was to get him in a crib soon. Not that she is against co-sleeping, but because it's a problem that he has to be attached and nursing to sleep and to stay asleep. Most nights I was getting 3 hours of sleep if I was lucky. After so long, I was becoming use to running on 3 hours of sleep, but now it's getting to a point where I just can't take it anymore. I need to sleep and so does everyone else. I knew I didn't want an average run of the mill kind of crib. If it was going to be something we used daily I wanted it to be unique and interesting. I wanted it have character. I started to cruise craiglist for second hand cribs and came across a local consignment store offering an oval shaped crib. I fell in love! It was a bit more expensive than I was willing to spend, but when I found out it could turn into a toddler, junior bed and then a set of chairs, I thought it was worth it. I ran down and scooped it right up….so the first half of the process is complete and we have a lovely crib for Mr. Anderson. Now to start the process of getting him to sleep in it. Of course it will be at the foot or side of my bed so he won't be far away, like I said, I don't mind co-sleeping, but he has to be able to sleep without nursing all night, and to do that he needs to be in his own space.
Night one started out amazing. I put him in his crib while he was still awake and left him to get himself to sleep (Yah right, like that going to happen). To my amazement it worked! WHAT! I turned the light low, sang him a little song ("Let It Go" from Frozen), laid him down with his little Goosewaddle blanket and walked out. Five minutes later I checked on him and he was sleeping. I couldn't believe my eyes. It worked….it really worked! Was this for real? He stayed in his new crib until 2:30 am. After he woke up it was right back to his old behavior of needing to be attached to sleep. Now this needing to be attached to sleep is unsustainable for everyone. He isn't getting sleep and neither am I! I roll out of bed feeling like someone kicked my ass and that I didn't even shut my eyes most days! So my plan is keep on keeping on. Something has to give.
My strategy is to go with what feel natural and never to let him cry or fuss for more than three to five minutes at a time. At the point of a full on crying session, I go in and pick him up to reassure him that I am still here. I sing a little song and lay him back down and try it all over again. I wish he took a pacifier. That would at least enable him to stay asleep with me. It would probably be easier for him if he was able nap in his space during the day and sleep there at night, but since Andrew is still working a crazy schedule, we don't have access to his crib while Andrew is sleeping. So until something changes, we have to make the best of it.
