Some people co-sleep. Some people don't. It really is a personal decision.
Some people co-sleep. Some people don't. It really is a personal decision. It's none of my business what other people choose to do and I am allergic to the idea of being told people should parent a certain way. You have to do what works for you.
Co-sleeping just happens to be one of the things that worked for us when we became parents. We co-slept with our son for the first 18 months and it was a really special time. He is always welcome in our bed but he spends 90% of nights in his own cot from start to finish these days. It happened naturally. People often say that one should never co-sleep as the child will never sleep in their own bed. That may be the case for some babies but every baby and situation is different.
Here are some of the reasons why co-sleeping was always great for us.
Co-sleeping just happens to be one of the things that worked for us when we became parents. We co-slept with our son for the first 18 months and it was a really special time. He is always welcome in our bed but he spends 90% of nights in his own cot from start to finish these days. It happened naturally. People often say that one should never co-sleep as the child will never sleep in their own bed. That may be the case for some babies but every baby and situation is different.
Here are some of the reasons why co-sleeping was always great for us.
- It made breastfeeding so much easier. Particularly in the first few months when a lot of babies cluster feed for hours in the evening. I fed him while lying on my side. I never had to properly wake up and it meant I got a lot of proper sleep during that time.
- It made me feel more relaxed. I liked having my baby close to me. My mind didn't wander. It reassured me and just felt more secure having him right beside me.
- It felt natural. Another strange reason maybe? So much of first-time parenting is terrifying. You doubt yourself constantly. This is one thing that I never second-guessed. It just felt right and that gave me confidence as a mother. It had the same affect on my partner.
- Night wakings were no big deal. Naturally babies wake up at night. Some times once or twice and other times twenty five times. When our son woke he never properly “woke up” as we were right beside him to soothe him immediately.
- Getting in to bed at 8pm and not leaving it until 8am. A full night in bed. There is a lot to be said for knowing that you can stay put and get comfy for a full night. It may not be a full night of continuous sleep, but it really feels like it in lots of ways.
- No obsession with our baby sleeping through the night. Deciding to co-sleep “full time” felt empowering. It made me feel in control in the sense that I was never panicking too much about how my child was sleeping. We knew that we would go to bed together at a certain time and that was that.
- Less worries concerning whether my child was too hot or cold. Sleeping Bags? Blanket? Cellular? Pillow or No Pillow? He was right there beside me so I could always judge whether he was too hot or cold and change things accordingly.
- It made me feel happy. Simple really. Warm, snuggly, safe. That's the good stuff right there.
Did you / do you co-sleep?
Written by Tracey, mummy blogger and staff writer with www.familyfriendlyhq.ie
Check out her own blog at love-of-living.blogspot.ie
Check out her own blog at love-of-living.blogspot.ie
