A Letter to New, Co-sleeping Parents

[SuperstarMama]

Loved this letter!!! I had a similar experiece when by little one was sick in the middle of the night. My husband and I were so thankful to have her right next to us!! Makes you think!!

Love your letter! Makes me feel good about our co-sleeping arrangements...our baby spends some time in her crib, but much of the night with us and our 4 year old still climbs in with us too -- only one child at a time as I am too worried about the 4 year old rolling on the 2 month old....you should peek in our window at 2 am and see the musical beds here....dh putting ds back in his bed, me getting the baby over our room to nurse.... still much more sleep than the other way though and I think so good and reassuring for the kids.

I love your point about how they outgrow it...dh is fond of telling others when they question that we let our kids climb into our bed "well I don't think he'll do it anymore when he is 15, so we will just enjoy it while it last..."

speaking of bed...off I go! ladies!

[Teacher Mom]

Kym, I had not ever seen this post. It is so true. So beautifully written.

[olivegod2]

Thank you for this letter! It is a great reminder of how wonderful it is to have our dd there with us!

[ladybug]

loved this!!!!!

Thank you so much for your letter...it is so affirming of AP (when there is so much negativity surrounding it here) and encouraging! Thank you!

[SuperDudesMama]

What a beautiful letter!

It's so sad, when I was expecting all the Doctors did was continue to warn me against co-sleeping. I had it in my head I would not, because SIDS, but after our first couple nights of nursing through the night, we ended up falling asleep together, and this was a beautiful beginning. Dh pretends to be against it because our 15mo ds sometimes kicks him in the face. But really we all love snuggling, it's a beautiful, sweet gift! It's my favorite part of Saturday mornings, waking up together!

[pastelsummer]

ahhhh :melt

I love this, it is exactly how I feel,

We've been sleeping with our kids now since my oldest was born, and we recently upgraded to a king bed to make it more comfortable! One of our best purchases.

What a beautiful post, Kym! Your words sweetly echo my own thoughts regarding co-sleeping. Our youngest child just turned four and is the only one who still manages to find her way into our bed almost every night and I still love it. I know too that these co-sleeping years are so very fast and fleeting and am trying to soak up every bit of the love and nurturing that I can while they still "ask" for it and want it!

[NewLeaf]

I must be the only person whose exerience in cosleeping is very far from the dreamy world depicted here.

Right now it's a nightmare, and my only consolation is that it probably wouldn't be any better even if I did put him to sleep somewhere else all alone.

That is scary but very good information to know. My husband and I decided we are going to co-sleep but we have a waterbed. So we have to use a cosleeper bassinet next to the bed. Waterbeds I read are dangerous for babies. However we do plan on getting rid of our waterbed. I absolutely cannot stand it anyway. Especially being pregnant and trying to get out of it. I have to roll out. But then most other pregnant women say it doesn't matter if it is a waterbed you still got to roll out. lol

Anyway my husband and I are really worried about SIDs. My husband is so worried he went and bought that new device that attaches to their diaper and sounds an alarm when they stop breathing. We tested it on ourselves already. No alarm when placed on us but if placed on a table, it sounds off. Just another peace of mind tool I guess. But I think God is the ultimate peace of mind. A lot of prayer.

I believe that co-sleeping saved my son when he was about 14 mos. old. The pilot light went out on our heater in the middle of record breaking cold. We all slept right through it until the early morning hours. I woke up freezing and my son was curled up between us. He was literally blue. It took a while to rouse him from his sleep. I have always wondered if he would have made it without our body heat to keep him warm. Thank God for His protection.

Laurel

That is fantastic! We've just started our journey. Not long ago were we saying "No way!" to co-sleeping. Out of necessity we did it and now we are both enjoying it. I am still a little afraid of rolling over on DD, though. I've heard it is impossible... Great letter, very emotional. I told DH about it!