That was never the original plan, though. Before Dominic was born, we got a great crib handed down to us from his cousin, Nate. I bought a crib set, sheets, mattress covers, etc. etc. The plan was that when he was first born, we'd put him in the pack and play bassinett in our room and then move him to his room a little bit later. Well, he was sleeping in our room and then Andy decided we should move the pack and play into our little loft off of our bedroom. Immediately I was panic-stricken. Move him a whole 10 feet farther away from me?!?!?! WHAT!? I protested, but I didn't get my way. So then he was sleeping out in the loft. Andy would ask me from time about moving him to his room, but I kept balking. That extra 20 feet and couple of walls was just too far for me. Then I found myself on occasion falling asleep while holding/feeding Dominic at night. Andy would come home from teaching to find us both passed out in our bed. He would wake me up and teasingly say, "I thought you didn't want him to sleep with us." And I would earnestly reply that I didn't.
And then one night, again while Andy was teaching late, I put Dominic to bed and then went to bed myself. The next thing I know, Andy is standing over me, looking a little miffed and confused. And I also happened to be holding Dominic. Huh? Andy told me he came in and I had the covers pulled up all the way over the baby. WHAT? I had absolutely zero recollection of getting up and getting Dominic, but obviously I did. At that point, we basically gave up all together with the pack and play (and consequently, the crib) for the time being and little Dominic just slept with us.
Of course, then you start contemplating when you should transition them out. I think we made a few feeble attempts to put him in his crib, usually when he was already asleep, but he always woke up almost right away and was not having it. Then there was the time I gave crying it out a try. I promise I'm not exaggerating - he cried for two hours, and I just couldn't take it anymore. So we abandoned the crib all together. When he was about 18 months, we got a toddler bed and actually liked it! Talk about relief. I guess he felt really confined in the crib or something. Who knows? But even then, we weren't exactly strict about him only sleeping there. He does sleep in his own bed now, though, although once in a while in the early morning hours he'll crawl into our bed.
With Clark, I bought a regular bassinet thinking I didn't want to go through all the sleeping with us and then having to move him out later again. And shocker! That didn't work, either. I think he slept in that thing for about a week before I gave up on that all together. We ended up getting this reclining baby seat and he actually slept in that quite a bit, and then also slept in our bed. After he grew out of the seat, it was full time in our bed. And in case you're wondering, right now we are in the process of moving him into the toddler bed. He still falls asleep in our bed, but then we move him into his. He inevitably wakes up a couple times at night, but he'll pretty much go right back to sleep once you go in to check on him. So far so good on that front. Obviously we have to push this process a little faster since baby #3 will be here in just three more months. But let me tell you, the first night he slept in his bed, I felt uneasy. lol
So what's my plan this time? I decided to just get real with myself. I definitely am uncomfortable with a little brand-new baby in the big bed with covers and pillows and two big people in there. That definitely makes me nervous. So I bought a co-sleeper that goes in the bed to protect him from all that stuff. Here's a picture:
So I'm hoping that this will appease my primal mommy instincts. He'll be right there, but I won't be panicked about him getting smothered. It's very interesting what you learn about yourself when you have kids....
And by the way, I'm certainly not opposed to cribs or babies sleeping away from their parents. There's just some weird thing inside me screaming, "Can't do it!"
No comments:
Post a Comment