Where does your baby sleep?

Before Coco was born, we knew we wanted to try co-sleeping, but I was absolutely enamored with the gorgeous Stokke Sleepi. The Sleepi is the most attractive crib in the world and it grows from a bassinet to junior bed with your baby until they're 3 or 4 years old. It also costs an arm and a leg, so I'm glad we decided on co-sleeping! Still, even though we didn't want a crib, I did think that we might want somewhere for Coco to be so she would be safer than in bed where we might roll over on her. 

I looked into something called the Baby Bay. It's a little bed that slides up against your bed and, just like it sounds, makes a little 'bay' on the side of the bed for the baby. It wasn't as beautiful as the Sleepi, but it sounded so perfect. Well, it wasn't! At Klinik Im Park where Coco was born, they had Baby Bays for all of the newborns. After two nights of not sleeping a wink, I finally pulled Coco into bed with me at 5 am one morning, snuggled her close and we both slept soundly until 9 am. That sealed the deal! She has slept in bed with us ever since. (FYI: For safety's sake, I sleep in the middle as research shows that mothers are tuned into their infants and won't roll on them, but that dads might. Yikes! ;)
That's our family bed. I'm not exaggerating when I say that I love co-sleeping even more than I expected to. Surprisingly, at night, Coco and I have a completely different relationship than we do during the day. Sleepy Coco is sweet and gentle and cuddly whereas awake Coco is bright and giggling and squealing. I feel like I would miss out on the sleepy side of her personality if she were to sleep somewhere else and I would really hate that. People caution us that we'll never get her out of our bed, but I'm not worried about that. My favorite part of my day is the quiet time right before I go to sleep. J is already asleep and I nurse Coco in the quiet, dark room where my little family and I are all cozy and safe in bed together. It's  heavenly. I know that most parent's goal is to get their infant sleeping through the night, but I figure she needs to eat as a breastfed baby and so in that way co-sleeping is practical, too. When Coco needs to nurse, I'm right there and it doesn't disrupt J's sleep because I feel her rooting around to find the milk before she ever has to cry. That means less stress for everyone. 

Most of all, it's the sweetness that I love and could never give up. Coco likes to be close, so in her sleep she reaches out with her darling little hand to touch me and make sure I'm still there. Then, with her hand resting lovingly on my shoulder or arm, she lets out a happy little sigh and sleeps like that until she wakes. 

I simply wouldn't have it any other way.

Comments

  1. It's like little Lady:)

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  2. Hi Lindsey McLean , nice thought about baby sleep.You are from USA and living in Zurich with her husband.I like your blog.

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  3. :) Sounds so idyllic. I was just so worried all the time... Worried that the blankets would go to high, worried that he'd wriggle around and then his face would smoosh into the pillow, worried that I'd forget and smoosh him... I had a really horrible nightmare about it when he was about eight weeks, and from then on he slept in a bassinet right next to me instead. I'm sure you know of at least part of the problems I've had with breastfeeding, and Ruben would never latch on when we were both lying down either. I had an epiphany the other night, though, when I came to feed him in the middle of the night when all the world was quiet. I sat there in his room (!) in the chair rocking him gently and feeding him with a bottle while he sleeps, looking at his face by the light of the street lamp, occasionally looking out at our view of the lake, feeling his free hand was aimlessly wandering about my face and neck, and I realised that those are the moments I dreamt of. Oh how I'm envious of so much of this post! But I'm thankful of so much that I have now too. Thanks for reminding me of that.

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    1. Oh....your setup sounds just perfect. I love the description of the nighttime feed in his room. Those truly are the moments we treasure the most as mothers. They're tender and beautiful and make being up in the middle of the night completely worth it. Maybe even desirable! ;) As for our arrangement, it *was* so idyllic until she hit about 11 months, so about 4 months after I wrote this. Then it was just madness and nobody could get a good night's sleep. It took us two months to finally be ready to find an alternative, but we've got it now and it's awesome. Post all about that coming soon! :) I've just come down with a little exhaustion/stress overload/cold, but now I'm feeling a bit better! And I'm definitely in the writing mood. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. It makes my day! xo

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    2. Looking forward to hearing about what alternative you've managed to find. Rest up!

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  4. Everyone like comfortable sleep but proper sleep is most needed for newborn & growing baby. Proper sleep growth the mental development for baby.

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