Turns out, I owe Mayim Bialik (also known as Blossom to many of us) an apology. Over the past couple of months she's been in many magazines discussing her parenting strategies. I was a little judgy when it came to several of her ideas, and thought she was a little 'out-there.' But, I now have to admit that she might be on to something, at least when it comes to co-sleeping.
Last week I read about co-sleeping in The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, the book that is published by La Leche League International to help nursing mothers. They suggested that co-sleeping would benefit both baby and parents, because the baby would sleep more soundly being so close to the mother. Also, the baby doesn't have to cry in order to wake up the mother for feeding. After several nights of no sleep, we decided to give it a try. Since we started co-sleeping, Ellie sleeps from about midnight until 4 or 5 am. I usually have to wake her to feed her after about 4 hours. She then wakes me up, making really subtle sounds around 7:30. She doesn't have to cry to wake me, which keeps her calm and eases a lot of the frustration she was having. All three of us are sleeping better, and she's eating better and going straight back to sleep at night.
We purchased the Snuggle Nest, which is a small, firm bed for Ellie that goes between our pillows. This way, she can sleep with us, but we don't have to worry about smooshing her. I had initially wanted to avoid letting her sleep with us, because I want her to be able to sleep on her own when she's older. So, we'll still have to find a way to transition her to her own bed in a few months, but for now, this is working. And, Blossom was right, co-sleeping is good for babies (and tired parents!).
I am glad you found what works for you! I want a Snuggle Nest if we have another baby. Isaac slept with me when he was a little baby and when he stopped nursing in the night we moved him to his own bed. I don't remember it being horrible......but that doesn't say much. Ha ha.
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