Three in the Bed and the little one said… “butter sandwich”

In our household we have chosen to co sleep, meaning Little Man sleeps in bed with his daddy and I. This is a controversial sleeping arrangement and I know that many of you are tisk-tisking me as you read this.

I would like to say we chose to co sleep because of the positive long term effects on baby’s self esteem and feelings of safety, or because of the natural bonding it creates between parent and child. But the fact is in our house this did not come down to a researched decision on what was the best sleeping arrangement for babies. Co sleeping came about for us because Little Man was not a ‘good’ sleeper. He woke often demanding to eat. Though I had read that I should just ignore his cries (after about 4mo), I just couldn’t. I began to put him in bed with us out of convenience. This way when he woke I did not have to get out of bed and (after a little practice) I did not even have to sit up to nurse him. He still woke often, but both of us were able to have our sleep less disturbed.

I also found that once I went back to work, co sleeping let me make up for lost time cuddling my baby. Feeling him close to me also let me sleep better because it gaves me a sense of peace. I can see him, feel him, hear him and know that he is safe.

At this point Little Man no longer breastfeeds and usually sleeps through the night. (Except on the occasion he wakes demanding a ‘butter sandwich’ that’s peanut butter to you and me. Yes, this happens and no I do not get him a sandwich. I give him a passie, but that’s a whole other post.) But he still snuggles into bed with us. There are times when I think he may be ready to move to a toddler bed or wonder what we will do if we have another baby and Little Man’s still sleeping with us, but luckily we have a large king bed so there’s plenty of room. For now this arrangement works. One day he won’t be there snuggled between us and I’ll miss his little hand on my shoulder and his little fingers in my hair, and yes even his cries for butter sandwiches.
Naomi