Co-Sleeping...

The night my daughter was born, the nurses told me to swaddle her tightly, and get some sleep. The tiny arms would "break out" of the swaddle, her little body would convulse...and she would cry. No, let me rephrase that...scream. The only way to console her was to pick her up. By the second night...we realized that baby, nor Mommy was getting any z's. Hence, the next night I ended up sleeping in a semi-reclined position, with her clinging to my chest. Even though she wasn't crying, I still wasn't able to sleep.

Our first night out of the hospital, I thought I would be thankful. I tried to put her in the crib...and no sooner had I done so...the screaming began. She would fall asleep for mere seconds...enough for us to get into the hallway..and...well, let's just say...after the third night of this... She became a co-sleeper.

I beat myself up about co-sleeping. I was SO against it...but the scales tipped in the favor of sanity. Oh, by the way...everyone beat me up about it. We had parents criticizing us, family giving us "words of wisdom"...I even had another Mommy from our parenting group say, "And if you have another child I bet they'll come home and go right into their crib."

This is me...but who do the hell people think they are? Nothing against "those against co-sleeping". I value differences of opinion...but if I value your opinion...please at least consider this...

EVERY child is different. Just like there are different types of parents. Perhaps your child wasn't a bad sleeper. Maybe they drifted off into the darkness with images of snips and snails and puppy dog tails, or...What's the part for the girls??? Anyways, if you had the same screaming child for a week, I know you'd modify your technique. You just would. Or, maybe you're right...You would have coped with standing on your feet for days on end...but as my emotions swallowed me whole, and I sank into a sleepless trance, I couldn't hack it...so sue me.

Sure, I agree that you shouldn't put a child in between two adults without protection. We used a co-sleeping bed so that we wouldn't roll on her....And, I'm the type of Mother that sleeps lightly. If I hadn't have been...I wouldn't have done it. Or maybe would have found an alternative.

And today...two years later?

Today my daughter sleeps soundly...in a toddler bed. And although she co-slept with us until she was about 13 months, the transition to a toddler bed was a piece of cake. In fact, many of the children who were crib sleepers are now finding it hard to transition.

As I look back...I know that I'm a damn good Mother. Point blank. And, for you Mothers out there with people choking your "Mother's Intuition"...One comment:

My in-laws were amongst those that joked about us co-sleeping with Madison. When Madison was sleeping in her own bed, she stayed over at my in-laws. The second night that Madison was with my MIL...she ended up in bed with her. Hence...IF YOU AREN'T IN THAT POSITION...WITH THAT PARTICULAR CHILD...DON'T CRITICIZE.

It's still a good chuckle amongst the family...