So I have realized as a parent you eat a lot of crow once your child is born. Case in point for me I swore I would never Co-sleep with my child. It was just never something I saw myself doing.
Granted when she first came home from the hospital, we tried a bassinet and between me thinking she was to small and her not really taking to it, she did sleep on my chest the first few nights before we found her rocking bed that she loved. Now I know you aren’t really supposed to fall asleep while holding the child in case of smothering and all, but I felt we did both sleep a bit better, and I slept like a statue because I was so scared of just that.
Once we found the rocking bed she slept in that every night until she outgrew it, then moved to her pack n play until I was finally ready to move her into her own room and into her crib. She slept in her own bed every night since then.
Until recently. Right before we moved, of course we were packing up the house and therefore had to pack up the crib. So we had to move Cameron back into her pack n play, which she did fine in for a little bit, but then about a week before we moved she started awaking in the middle of the night, and the only way she would go back to sleep would be if I brought her into bed with me. Now we had moved her into our room because we were packing up everything and it was hard to have her monitor focus on her so it was easier to have her there with us. I think since she realized we were there is what made her think she could get up.
Once we moved, because of our current situation, she is sleeping in the same room with us still. The first week after we moved was perfectly fine, she slept all night, maybe because of all the traveling and moving so she may have been overly tired and was trying to adjust. After the first week or so I started noticing she was getting up about the same time every night and would only go back to sleep when I brought her into bed. And I’ve been one for the cry it out method to have her put herself back to sleep, but it’s hard to do when she sees you sleeping right there and knows you’re near her.
I have tried to put her to bed later, keep the room dark and quiet, but I think we have sort of started a habit now where she thinks/knows she can get into bed with us. Now part of me loves it, I love cuddling with my girl and knowing she needs me and wants to snuggle, but the other part of me likes my space, as my husband can tell you, I’ve never been a cuddler. So I am sort of hoping, once we have a permanent residence and Cameron can have her own room again, we can kick this habit. Especially because some nights, Cameron thinks that coming into bed with us means playtime. Those nights are rough because it takes a while to calm her back down.
Do you co-sleep? If so, are you trying to stop? If not, was there ever a time your child wanted to?