Ethan totally co-sleeps more than Ollie did when he was his age. With Ollie we more determined that our bed would be “our” space, and that Ollie wouldn’t spend a lot of time in the bed. We did a pretty good job with this. The process we most often used to get him to sleep was rocking him to sleep or pacing around the room. If there was any co-sleeping going on it would be in Ollie’s crib. At least with me, I don’t think Diana was every that into climbing into Ollie’s crib.
We did nap with Ollie in our bed, but for the most part, he stayed out of our bed, especially for long periods of time. When Ollie moved out of his crib into a bed, he didn’t even realize that he could crawl out of his bed, go to our room, and climb into our bed. We literally had him practice climbing out of bed and come into our room. We totally regretted that a couple weeks later when he did that every single night for a couple weeks.
There are mornings when he climbs into cuddle, but this doesn’t happen very often anymore. It used to happen every morning. And there are times when I wake up in the middle of the night and realize he’s sleeping in my arms, seeking comfort from a nightmare.
I don’t regret at all, how we managed Ollie as a baby, toddler, and now as a five-year-old when it comes to sharing our bed. He knows that if he needs this space with us, it’s there. We were able to maintain this space for us in a way that worked for him. I feel that Ollie has always had plenty of physical affection, which is a priority for us.
Ethan pretty much slept all night in our bed last night, and for a good chunk of the night before, and the night before that. Maybe it’s because I’m five years older, but I don’t have it in me to pace around the room, or rock to get him back to sleep. These processes work pretty well because the transfer from the rocking chair to the crib is a lot smoother than from the bed to the crib. Why bring him into bed instead of the rocking chair, or walk around the room pacing? Because it’s more comfortable for me, I can sleep better, and it works to get Ethan back to bed.
The only problem is I end up with Ethan perpendicular to me between me and Diana. If it’s a good night, I have Ethan’s face close to mine, if I get the short end, I have these little feet, mind you very cute little feet, kicking me in the face. While this may work for Ethan, his movements and the knowledge that he is in bed makes me not sleep as well. I’m not so much worried that I will roll over on top of him, I’m more concerned that he will roll out of bed. He’s right at that age when he crawls right off of things, with no sense of danger.
It seems like he’s a more natural co-sleeper than Ollie. I’m not sure if this is true, but it seems like this is the case. Do I sometimes wish he wasn’t in our bed? Of course, especially when I downgrade from his feet in my face to his butt in my face.
Last week around 3am, I was laying in bed, with Ethan held in my left arm. Sleeping on the left side of the bed, my arm kept catching him as he tried to roll of the bed, and then would eventually settle back down. I looked at the clock, and tried to do the math of how much time I had to sleep, and then I told myself to relax, and enjoy the moment. Yes, Ethan in my arms meant that I would be tired…most of the day, but I also knew that there would only be a finite amount of times this would happen, so I turned to him, held him closely, and felt his soft breath on my cheek, and smiled.
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