I don't know how Anise ended up sleeping in our room. Actually I do know. I know exactly where the turning point was and when we hit the point of no return. I also know why. Anise started out in our room after we came home from the hospital. Our bed was our regular high bed with a wonderful "co-sleeper" attached to it. Anise was sleeping, but we weren't! She was making funny noises so when she was 3 weeks old we decided to move her into her bedroom where she slept better and we slept better. I felt guilty (of course) because I had read that babies' cortisol levels are lower when they are in their parents bedroom. I also worried about her a lot, when it was too quiet or if she slept for too long I would peek in. Then, when she was almost 6 mos old she started waking up a little more often. We were getting tired. I would nurse her back to sleep because I thought it was just a little phase, and nursing her put her right back to sleep. Then it got hot. There was a fan in our bedroom and not in hers, so one night I said "let's just keep her here" plus we were tired of getting out of bed so often. At this point she was napping only in our bed. Then before we knew it, she was on her own mattress on the floor, next to our mattress which is now on the floor too. Now we are co-sleeping and it has been 5 months. I love it.
I love waking up next to her, holding her in the middle of the night. I love hearing her breathe, I love feeling her hand reach out and touch me. She has a magic touch that she inherited from my husband (when he touches me a little tingle remains after he has taken his hand off). I also worry less. I haven't dreamed that I have forgotten about her in a long time.
I just wish she would go to sleep at 8:00pm.
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Trust your life as it unfolds. Recalling my mother now, I think one of the last bits of advice she offered me was about establishing a bedtime. That means Georgia was between 1 and 1 1/2 years old when it rolled around. She told me 8 p.m. was a good time for it. For you right now, it may still be a few months before 8.
ReplyDeleteLeo sleeps his own room now. when he's sleeping that is. :)
ReplyDeleteBut when he was a baby he sleep with us and I loved it. Every minute of it.
I know just what you mean about the magic touch.
Oh and this just came to mind (retrograde is lifting). I doubt that Anise is walking yet. But as her mobility increases she will walk straight into a new kind of tired, the physical fatigue that can usher in a new relationship with sleep.
ReplyDeleteI have the utmost faith that things will work themselves out, because that is all I have to go on, I can't "do" anything anymore...Looking forward to walking then.
ReplyDeleteToo bad about mercury, I was using that to explain everything...
Thanks for your comments, I love hearing from you girls.
You can count on retrograde until Nov. 1, but with the fires going out, you can tell it's losing power . . . I'll leave this message here so it won't freak out the neighbors. I wouldn't be surprised if that's my mom in your dreams. After all, you can see in the above comments that she's been talking to me about you! And she and I are one and the same.
ReplyDeleteYours,
Maezen
Wow, your mom, eh? She looked like you... The advice sounds great, it is exactly what I want to hear. It felt like you though in the dream, and it seemed really real. I love this.
ReplyDeletem
we are a co-sleeping family, i wanted it from the start, i so relate to how you express your happiness about feeling them next to you all night. my little girl, 2 and my boy 5 are still in our bed, but Julian is now transitioning to his big boy bed with no tears or fear...if there is some then he just comes to sleep with me. it happens, and it happens fast when you look back on it. camille will do it too when we are all ready, for now i will inhale the smell of her sweet head and hold her tight in the middle of the night.
ReplyDeleteit will all be over all too soon.
happy SO happy to hear from other co-sleeping mamas/families.