I always said I would never co-sleep - like NEVER. But then Tynsleigh was born and I spent countless hours each night rocking her back to sleep.
Then I found out I was pregnant with Morgan and I knew I had to find a better way to get through the nights. I began to look into co-sleeping as a potential option and asking the advice of friends who had done it with their little ones. I was nervous about letting a baby sleep right next to me but I didn’t mind the idea of a “pillow” or co-sleeper attachment to keep the baby safe. After a crazy amount of research, I purchased a dockatot to use once I had Morgan. For us, it was the best option because we have limited space in our bedroom. The first month went great - it made breastfeeding SO EASY! I loved that I could roll over and pick her up when she woke in the middle of the night, and I never had to leave my bed.
And then she lost that newborn sleepiness. One sleepless night I was close to tears from exhaustion and pulled her next to me in bed to nurse, hoping to catch a few minutes of sleep before she wanted to switch sides. She woke me three hours later to let me know she was hungry again and that’s when I knew that co-sleeping was the only thing that was going to allow me to keep my sanity. My husband was kicked out of the bed and Morgan and I have been sleeping together ever since. At the time, my time frame of allowing her to stay was 4 months because shortly after that babies start rolling and trying to move around, and I wasn’t sure how I would be able to keep her safe.
Four months came and went and she was not ready to sleep anywhere but curled up next to me. So she stayed. Truth be told, I love the cuddles and special time I have with my girl. The time when they’re young goes by so fast and I realize she won’t want to sleep next to me forever.
When she hit 6 months I knew I needed to start getting her down for naps by herself so that I would have an easier time when I tackled nighttime sleep around a year - did y’all catch how much my original timeline was changed?? Babies lol. She sleeps in the car seat and Solly wrap really well but my goal was to have her go down for naps in the dockatot or pack’n’play. I started April 5th and it took 4 long, exhausting days before she would nap by herself for a solid hour in the dockatot. Typically, I let her nurse herself to sleep and then rocked her for a few minutes more. I would then place her in the dock for her nap. I realize there are people who say you shouldn’t do this because your child will develop an attachment but neither of my girls were able to self soothe themselves to sleep at this age and this has worked well for us. The first few days I would place Morgan down and her eyes would pop open. She would look up at me with a huge smile and start to coo. I would ignore the smile (so hard to do!!), pick her up and start the process over again until she stayed asleep or she was just too bright eyed to go to sleep. Those first FOUR days were HARD but I stuck with it and tried my best to remember two things: 1) sleep is difficult for them to learn and it takes time and 2) to not get upset with her because she didn’t “get it” as quickly as I wanted her to.
Here I am reflecting on day 6 about how I really thought it would take longer to get to the point where she would stay down by herself. This is day 2 of a two hour morning nap and shorter afternoon naps (about an hour each). Maybe she was finally ready for this...or maybe I’m counting my chickens before they hatch here! Babies sure don’t keep, y’all, but I’m so proud of her little accomplishment.
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