For 22 beautiful months our daughter has slept in the same room with us. At first it was in a cradle on my side of the bed. Then it was in a bassinet on my husband's side of the bed. When she was 5 months old, we moved her into her crib which was also in our room. Our bedroom is the entire second floor, so there was plenty of room to create a little nook for her.
Upon moving, we were not sure what our sleeping arrangements would be. At first we planned on bringing her crib with us & converting it to a toddler bed. Unfortunately we could not find a cargo carrier big enough to attach to our SUV so that we could fit the frame in it. Our compromise was to find one big enough to at least bring her mattress. Our thought was that we would buy her a toddler frame once we arrived & figured out where "her space" would be.
Since we had only seen our condo in pictures, it was kind of difficult to imagine where our personal belongings were going to go. The condo was furnished, but obviously only for 1 or 2 adults (children nor dogs had ever lived there before). We knew there was a den area, so we assumed that this might become her room.
Our daughter & I arrived 1 week prior to my husband and most of our personal belongings. So for that first week we slept together in the big bed. I was nervous that this was not going to turn out so well because she never liked to sleep in our bed at home. But it was actually just fine. Luckily the bed is pretty low to the ground so she quickly mastered getting up & down from it.
Once "dada" arrived with her mattress we had the dilemma of where to put it. Luckily it's just a crib mattress so it's pretty small & lightweight. We thought about putting it in the den, but for several logistical reasons it just wasn't going to work. So it went on the floor on my side of the bed. And it's been there ever since!
For the first week or so I'd wake up throughout the night to find her on the floor. One night she actually rolled under the bed. We've come up with a little system of setting up her soft down comforter on the floor next to her bed and arranging some pillows so that she can't roll under the bed. So far this seems to be working OK. We still find her on the floor some nights, but she's content and safe so we usually leave her there. Often times she wakes up briefly and rolls or crawls herself back to another spot. For now I don't think we'll even bother buying a frame for it.
So the other thing about sleeping that is often discussed quite often in the parent/baby world is HOW your baby falls asleep. And again, this is not a "how to", simply a reflection on what WE do:
For almost the first year of her life, our daughter was nursed to sleep. When she grew out of that phase we would walk & rock her to sleep. Then we went to laying her down in her crib & sitting beside it on a chair until she fell asleep. Since she was a few months old we tried to stay with a little bit of a routine- lights down low at night time, soothing music playing, & general "quiet time". She seemed to grow out of or into her next phase when SHE was ready. And this worked for us. We are definitely not the kind of parents that want to force OUR agenda on our baby- and the few times that we tried this, it only lead to much frustration on all parts.
When we arrived at our condo the first week was pretty busy so she didn't have much trouble falling asleep each night. When her mattress arrived, it took several weeks to fall into a groove & figure out what exact nighttime routine would work best. I think I tried too hard a few nights and that certainly didn't work. Finally, I held back a little to watch her cues. As of this week I think we've settled into a nice routine: After watching her favorite Elmo DVD with the lights dimmed, we give her a bath & change her into her pajamas. Then she gathers up a few of her favorite toys (right now that's her Clifford dog and always her bunny) & we go into the bedroom. We put a gate up in the bedroom doorway to keep her inside and safe (& to keep the dogs out). Then she grabs her pillow pets off her bed& places them 1 by 1 on our bed, naming them and saying "night night" to each one. It's really sweet. I'll stay in the room with her for a little while and she usually wants me to lay on the bed with her and her "friends". Then I kiss her goodnight & leave the room. And when she's ready, she falls asleep. :-)
Oh, the other thing I should mention is that she goes to bed around 11 pm! Gasp. Yup, that's right. :-) This is because we live on HER biological clock. And guess what: we get up around 10 am (she sleeps straight through the night)! Yay. And I feel no need to "correct" this. I have the most beautiful sounding alarm clock EVER. "Hi Mama!"
I love reading parenting tips & advice. I tuck a lot of advice into my cap & also throw a lot of it out the window. It's easy to know which pieces of information work or fit for us and which would just never be a part of our parenting. The thing I have learned (& has been proven to me time and again while parenting) is that if you parent out of love and your personal truths, you can't go wrong. And if you parent out of fear, misinformation, or someone else's truths you'll always be fighting an uphill battle.
Our daughter is the light of our life. There's nothing we wouldn't do for her & we cherish our role as her parents. We recognize that God has entrusted us with the greatest gift possible and we want to make Him proud.
"Every good and perfect gift is from above..."
(James 1:17)
Sharing a room works for us. And we are beyond happy and grateful to be living in our beautiful 1 bedroom condo in (how aptly named!) The Pearl. "night, night baby girl!"
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