We never set out to be co-sleepers. Honestly the whole idea of it made me nervous. I thought for sure I'd roll over on her. That I wouldn't get any sleep because I'd be worried about her. So for the first two and a half months of Mara's life she slept in her swing next to my side of the bed. When she woke in the middle of the night we'd nurse sitting up in our bed and then I'd place her back in her swing when she fell back asleep. (Yes the swing can create its own sleep issues but when you have a baby with gas you'll do anything)
Then we went up north for Christmas. No one had a swing so our sleep routine changed a bit. At each new place she had a hard time getting used to her new sleeping environment. So we pulled her in bed with us. As soon as she got used to the new place we moved her back to the pack n play. No problem. Great we thought. She isn't attached to the swing; maybe we can move her to her crib. Or so we thought.
When we got back home we thought she would take her typical two days of adjustment so we didn't think much of pulling her into our bed. Sure we tried putting her in her rock n play (we don't have a pack n play) but she wasn't interested.
Well two days passed, then a week and she was still in our bed. At this point she would scream if we put her in her rock n play, no matter how "asleep" she was. To top it off she was teething and had a little cold. So we became co-sleepers.
At first I really didn't mind it. Sure I wasn't sleeping the greatest but was overall getting more sleep than I did when we were trying to put her in her own space. There was also something sweet about waking up to her cuddled into my side.
Then she started to get TOO comfortable in our bed. She had her hands in my arm pit constantly and being a bit ticklish was waking me up at night with the slightest movement. She is also a flailer at night. Her arms. Her legs. Basically she was queen of the bed with Josh and I clinging to our respective sides.
She also got really used to nursing constantly at night and would wake up every 45 minutes or so to nurse. At four months nutritionally she doesn't need to nurse that much to keep her full. Basically she had her favorite thing next to her all night. Why not indulge? Yes nursing at night is good for babies and NO I am not ready to night wean her. That said, every 45 minutes was making for one grumpy mommy.
Finally on Saturday morning, with Mara flailing between the two of us, we decided that today would be the day. We would try to get her in her crib.
At first I really didn't mind it. Sure I wasn't sleeping the greatest but was overall getting more sleep than I did when we were trying to put her in her own space. There was also something sweet about waking up to her cuddled into my side.
Then she started to get TOO comfortable in our bed. She had her hands in my arm pit constantly and being a bit ticklish was waking me up at night with the slightest movement. She is also a flailer at night. Her arms. Her legs. Basically she was queen of the bed with Josh and I clinging to our respective sides.
She also got really used to nursing constantly at night and would wake up every 45 minutes or so to nurse. At four months nutritionally she doesn't need to nurse that much to keep her full. Basically she had her favorite thing next to her all night. Why not indulge? Yes nursing at night is good for babies and NO I am not ready to night wean her. That said, every 45 minutes was making for one grumpy mommy.
Finally on Saturday morning, with Mara flailing between the two of us, we decided that today would be the day. We would try to get her in her crib.
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