Co-Sleeping wasn't something we ever planned on doing, It just kind of happened and it worked for us at a time we were getting very little sleep. Ailsa had been sleeping in a rocking crib for quite a few months quite happily until she was around 6 months and she had a really bad cold. She wanted to be constantly nursed through the night as she was so snotty she struggled to sleep and being cuddled helped to soothe her. A week after her cold she had another virus and again wanted to be near us constantly from just being so poorly and I didn't want to deprive her of the comfort she was getting. Fast forward a year and at 18 months she is still in with us.
We had already made the conscious decision to keep her in our room longer than the average 6 months as we have a 3 floor house and our room on the top floor and Ailsa's on the middle. Though we never imagined she would still be in bed with us at 18 months. We have tried a few time this year to get Ailsa to sleep in her own room and though she will for naps and occasionally in the evening she just wants to be in with us and in honesty I think James and I both quite like it. We know that she is safe, we both get a full nights sleep even though James does get kicked in the face occasionally, we also know that it won't last forever which I think when your in the midst of it is something you forget and it feels like it will never end.
We are looking to night wean Ailsa in the next couple of months and try and encourage her to stop breastfeeding through the night in the start of a transition to her own bed as we would eventually like to get our bed back to ourselves and eventually wean Ailsa completely from breastfeeding though I haven't got a certain time frame for that. Co-sleeping has just worked so well for us and I think getting enough sleep is important for me to be able to function through the next day. I am such a moody mare without enough sleep which James will quite happily tell you. I always said our children will never be in our bed but here we are doing something we never thought we would.
I think, as with anything, you have to do what is right for you and your family. If you are keen to have baby sleep in their own bed that is something you would work on. For us we needed to sleep and with bed sharing we get that sleep and Ailsa sleeps quite happily through the night. I am not sure how great she would be if she had been in her own bed, she might be sleeping through but then again she might not be. It's just like with breastfeeding it's not something I ever thought would go on this long but it has and it will continue till we are ready to change things and Ailsa is ready and that is all we can do.Labels: Ailsa, attachment parenting, bed sharing, co-sleeping
