kids parenting

Co-Sleeping

I’ve had multiple people, including my pediatrician tell me I need to get my son out of my bed. Well, let me tell you that is way easier said than done. We’ve tried multiple attempts at letting him cry it out and it has not worked for neither him nor me in the least bit.

It began when hubby was still deployed to Afghanistan. I didn’t have the energy to settle Bubba back down and get him in his crib, so he started sleeping with me in my bed. A lot of people would say “I’m afraid I would roll over and smother him,” but I can assure you that wouldn’t be and wasn’t the case for me. I was dead still and when I actually fell asleep, I took full advantage of it.

Well, 7 months into his life and he is still sleeping between my husband and myself. I know letting him cry it out is the only way to get him out of my bed and into his own, but it doesn’t feel right or natural and what if I don’t mind him sleeping with us? According to research by Dr. Sears, over half the worlds population sleeps with their child… so why is it so frowned upon by the U.S. culture?

After talking with a friend yesterday, she encouraged me to look at all the benefits of co-sleeping, and so, the research began. I’ve included a link to the first article I read and I encourage you to read it. Of course there are going to be pros and cons to co-sleeping and pros and cons to letting a child cry it out. But for me, I find more positives to co-sleeping than I do negatives. When he is ready, he will go into his own bed.

A friend of mine made a good point. “One day he will want nothing to do with you, so why not soak up this extra time now?” That is exactly right. He will be too busy for me, too big to hold, too cool to hug, so why not appreciate this need to be his security blanket now?

Will I do this with our children in the future? Who knows. But for now, for this baby, at this point in time it works for us. It makes us both happy and content and I don’t see anything wrong with that.

In an article from parenting.com, they surveyed mothers on crib-sleepers vs. co-sleepers. 51% of mothers admitted to always being tired, so really there wasn’t a sound answer on which type of sleeping provided better results. I agree with this because to be honest, listening to his monitor causes me more anxiety and less sleep anyways. I’m doing what is best for me and him and at this time, it’s co-sleeping.

For the new moms out there or for those moms-to-be, you may have a stance on crib vs. co-sleeping, but I can assure you it depends on the child. Do what works best for you. There is always going to be a critic, but in my opinion, what matters most is what works best for you and your baby.

http://www.drmomma.org/2011/02/seven-benefits-of-cosleeping.html
http://www.parenting.com/article/crib-sleeping-vs-co-sleeping?page=0,0

 

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