cosleeping

We started out not cosleeping at all - Baby was generally sleeping through most of the night, and when he did wake up I would stand by his cot until he fell asleep again. I guess in those early months I was determined to make sure Baby had 'good' sleeping habits, and was able to sleep on his own without any assistance from anyone. Then somewhere along the way, Baby got severely ill, and when he woke in the middle of the night my instincts kicked in and I decided I wanted him close so I comforted him then put him in my bed to sleep. We did go back to him sleeping on his own again once he was well, but then he got ill again, and we had a few more cosleeping nights, then once he recovered from that it was the middle of winter and that seemed like the right time for him to to jump onto a rolling cold cycle, so the line between whether he was well or sick became rather blurred. I also noticed how easy it was for us to both get more sleep when I put him in my bed - I didn't have to stand by his cot (as he wouldn't let me sit down...!) for up to an hour waiting for him to fall asleep, and he seemed to find it easier to fall asleep again in my bed.

So these days when it is Baby's bed time, I put him to sleep in his cot (I was firm about that - one night he attempted to get me to allow him to go to sleep straight away in my bed, but I shot that idea down - sorry Baby) then when he wakes again and I'm in bed (or supposed to be in bed) I just carry him over to my bed and we go back to sleep. Since then I also discovered that Baby sleeps in (note: definition of sleep in for a parent - waking up any time after 6:30am) when he's in my bed. Before we coslept he would rarely sleep past 6am.

Before Baby I didn't really have any opinions on cosleeping, and now? I'm just doing what I feel is best for us. I used to worry (only a little bit) about how to end the cosleeping arrangement we currently have, but I don't anymore. I really doubt I'll have a 10 year old still wanting to sleep with me. I know that when he is ready, he will want to spend the night in his own bed. Until then I'll treasure those little feet massaging my entire body as he attempts to fall asleep, and waking up every morning to his beautiful face, sometimes sleeping, sometimes wide awake.

lullabies

Pretty soon after Baby was born I made a habit of singing a song for him before going to sleep for the night. At first it was definitely more for me rather than him - I think he probably would have been perfectly happy to go to sleep without a song, but I get the feeling now it's as much for him as it is for me. Nearly every night is the same - I tell Baby it's nearly time for bed and he frantically runs around coming up with more stalling tactics to extract more playing time out of me. Then when it's time I pick him up and he cries and fights in protest, but as I hold him and sing to him, I feel his body give in and melt into mine, his head and eyes heavy with sleepiness. I suspect 'somewhere over the rainbow' is his favourite. I always ask him what I should sing, and I wish I knew which song he wants to hear... One day he will be able to tell me.