The Accidental Co-Sleeping

Look at him, he looks so sweet & peaceful. Maybe because he is taking up 3/4 of our king size bed by sleeping sideways on OUR bed? Yup, he did it again. As he does every single night he wondered into our room at 4:30 this morning in zombie mode & crawled in between D & I only to kick, slap & twist & turn his way into the beautiful little mess you see above. When did we become co-sleeping parents? Well, the answer is not quite as simple as Id like. As a new born he slept in a cute little bassinet about a foot away from our bed as this was far more convenient for me to just roll over and bring him to bed for his night time nursing & then put him right back. At about 3 months he began to sleep thru the night without any night feedings. Once he slept thru the night we moved him much to my dismay into his own room to sleep all alone in his very own crib. waaaahh! 

When he was 8 months old we decided to move from Dallas to OD as bi-weekly trips to and fro were becoming all too familiar. (seriously, the ladies at the airports loved seeing me wonder into the airport with my cute smiling little guy in tow.) I digress, When we moved back the timing was all screwed up so we ended up crashing at my mommas for about 2 1/2 weeks while our house was being readied for us. During this 2 week period little man slept where else?.... Yup with us! Oh how we loved waking up to the sweet little face & the cute little coos that came with him. He is after all our only child. DUH! Once we moved into the new house we realized his room was all the way across the house. Noooo! How am I supposed to make sure he's breathing & ok thru the night?!? So we developed a lengthy bedtime routine of bath, back pats & lullabies until he was asleep & then we promptly snuck out across the house into our room. The routine has evolved from lullabies to books but its still the same. 

About 1 year and a half ago we moved to a new house where his room is *Gasp! even farther from ours than at the old house. A bit after his 3rd birthday we realized he didn't fit in his toddler bed very well. Maybe THATS why he's coming into our room every night? Hes uncomfortable, we thought. So being the naive parents that we are we ventured with our little guy & let him pick any bed he wanted for his "Big Boy" room. He settle on a gigantic monstrosity with a club house underneath & a slide. Thinking that any kid would love this bed we promptly ordered it but they didn't have it in stock so we would have to wait 7-14 business days for it to arrive. Then and only then did we realize that we weren't going to come home with a bed & D had already taken his toddler bed apart & neatly packed it in storage. So where was my sweet beautiful only child to sleep? Yup! With momma & daddy. This was when we realized he is a crazy sleeper that one, tossing,  turning, kicking his way all around our bed. Oh that bed couldn't get here soon enough. The day it did I left early from work to pick it up & D spent the afternoon putting it together so our little guy could sleep in it that night. When it was finished L Loved it. He played in the clubhouse & slid down the slide a hundred times before it was time for bed.

When bed time came we tried to go back to our routine of bath, back pats & story time. Only to have the rude awakening that no matter how cool his room and bed was he was not going to sleep in it with out a fight. He cried & cried that night until both D & I were so exhausted that we gave in & put him in bed & told him that he was just sleeping with us ONE  more night & then he had to go into his room after that. He promptly nodded his head & went right to sleep. One more night wasn't gonna hurt right? WRONG! After that we developed the horrible habit of laying in his room with him until he went to sleep, most nights we fall asleep before he does then we wonder like zombies into our room at midnight or later to sleep. Its exhausting but problem solved right?.... NOPE! We now have a little zombie that wonders into our room at about 3:30 or 4:00 every morning to wedge himself in between D & I and falls fast asleep again. This after we stay in his room reading & patting & singing twinkle twinkle till we ourselves fall asleep.

Last nights episode was one for the books. He had a tantrum like a champ after we told him he could not sleep with us. I'm talking floor kicking, throwing himself to the ground & crying as if we had just told him his puppy was run over for about an hour, but we didn't give in. He cried himself to sleep in his room only to AGAIN wonder into our room at 4:30 this morning.

Its so frustrating but I have to remind myself that we are his safe place, we are where he feels like his scooby doo monsters & ninja bad guys wont ever get him. Oh patience in parenthood. That is a lesson I am trying to master everyday. Until then I guess we deal with a little zombie that likes to cuddle at 4:00 in the morning. It makes me sad & happy at the same time to realize that it wont be like this for long, blessedly he's getting bigger & bigger everyday. Anyways, This Ladies & gents is how we accidentally created a co-sleeper.