Tuesday, May 24, 2011

how co-sleeping kept me from going insane.

As i've written before, Andrew was a horrible newborn.
He didn't sleep the "20-22" hours according to books that newborn sleep.
He was a very alert baby mostly all day.
And then he would sleep at 6 and wake up at 11 and be up till 1 or 2.
It was miserable. Then I was breastfeeding.
I was such a heavy sleeper, i HATE getting up hate it. So getting up to feed him and sitting on my chair and using my boppy, ugh it just took a harder toll on me. Plus the baby wanted nothing to do with his crib or pack n play. He would sleep in his car seat or his swing. It was miserable.
I really had no issue, or I really didn't have a plan to not or to co-sleep. It just happened to us.
He was so tiny and my boob was so big that i was scared to sufficate him if i fed him in bed at night.
So for the first month or so I would get up and feed him and bring him to bed with us.
BUTTT once he got strong and more alert co-sleeping/feeding in bed made life 1000000% easier.
Sure its annoying to be woken up at 3 am to feed, but to turn over just plop your boob and keep 'sleeping' just felt so much better than getting up.
I know there are horror stories about co-sleeping, but for us? I felt SAFER with him next to me.
I became a light sleeper and I would get up naturally just to make sure he was breathing. I felt his body warmth and I just would not be freaking out to make sure he was breathing/moving.
It gave ME more peace of mind.
I read many of articles one that proved my point about co-sleeping and being more aware of your baby in general.
But like a lot of parenting issues its all about how it works for YOUR family. If your a heavy sleeper no matter what ( hard to be once you have a newborn i think) or your husband sleeps like a log, and more importantly if you don't feel safe about co-sleeping, then don't do it. For me it just provided that rest that I desperately needed in order for me to survive the following morning. Co-sleeping let me feel somewhat rested without fully "waking up", even if i was awake i would be resting and laying down.
Of course later co-sleeping got very annoying once the baby started being mobile, and for us he even hated sleeping with us. He still hates it and will not fall asleep in our bed. Which is good for us :).

1 comment:

  1. Oh boy, I'm a heavy sleeper and love sleeping in too.. I know this is all going to change for me soon hhahah!

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