It is now 0720 and I have just finished my cup of espresso. Ok, cappuccino really...I had steamed/frothy milk and sugar. It was delicious and the best part is that I made it myself.
Usually on a Saturday I would still be in bed sleeping with my daughter. Yes, we co-sleep. We each have our own blanket and it is the best thing in the whole wide world. Not everyone can co-sleep, nor should everyone. It is a personal decision that needs to be made by the entire family - it isn't for all families.
Some might say that co-sleeping will continue until the child goes to college. I say, I doubt it. Eventually the child will stop co-sleeping and move into their own bedroom. Co-sleeping, I believe, promotes healthy, happy children, who are comfortable in their own skin, feel secure and safe and know that they are well-taken care of. Not everyone thinks so.
I say this because my daughter is content knowing that her mommy and daddy love her and enjoy spending quality time with her. Is this the only time we talk about things? Absolutely not! We talk all the time about her day at school and what she's thinking and what she wants to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner - well, during the weekend anyway.
Our daughter has pretty much co-slept with us since the day we brought her home from the hospital. I nursed her for the first few months of her life and having her in bed with me made it simpler. Some might say I was being lazy, not wanting to get out of bed to get her out of her crib. Perhaps, but more like being proactive. Whenever she cried to be fed, she was right there beside me and I was able to nurse her faster. She cried less, got upset less and knew her needs would be immediately taken care of.
Of course, I never changed her diaper in bed. We would get up and go to the changing table and take care of business. Then, sometimes we would head out to the living room to sit in our rocking chair and have conversations. Ok, I'd talk to her, she'd listen and then coo in response.
As she got older, we decided to move her to her own crib (at around 6 months of age). She adjusted nicely to the new routine and since I was no longer breastfeeding, there really wasn't any real need for her to continue co-sleeping.
This lasted for a couple of years. Until her father's work schedule/habits changed. He started working a different job and was no longer around as much. This deeply affected our daughter and she began co-sleeping with me again. I wasn't too bothered by it, because she's such a good sleeper, sleeping through the night and only getting up once or twice at the most to go potty, then climbing back into bed and falling back to sleep immediately.
Then we moved into transitional housing, for reasons beyond our control and since there was only one bed, the only option was for the three of us to continue co-sleeping. So, we did. I guess the habit is hard to break and when she was diagnosed with asthma just a month before her 5th birthday, I knew she would continue to co-sleep so I could keep an ear and eye on her, listening to her breathe. Thank goodness she was in bed with me the night she had her first and only major (so far and I pray to God there will be no more nights like this one) asthma attack. Had she not, who knows what would have happened, because, quite possibly, behind her closed door, I would have never know she was having trouble breathing.
She still suffers from asthma, but might outgrow it. Her brother did and I'm praying she'll do the same. I am very much for co-sleeping, but only if it's what both parents want to do and it doesn't work for everyone. We only have the one child and so it is a non-issue. I'm guessing that sooner, rather than later, our daughter will want to return to her bedroom and start sleeping in her own bed and not ours. But, I'm not pushing the issue. That is a choice she can make on her own. That's not to say that I won't broach the subject on occasion. Especially if she's getting close to her teen years. Nah, I doubt she'll be close to being a teen-ager before she decides to sleep in her own bedroom. I'm guessing it'll be a lot sooner than that!
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