Nighty Night, Sleep Tight

Go to sleep little bear...
I've been SUPER lucky that Baby Bear goes to sleep REALLY easily. We bedshare and I think that has pretty much [almost] everything to do with it.

He has [almost] always slept well, I did not. For the first four days home from the hospital I think I got 8 hours of sleep total. He would fall asleep on my chest on the couch and I would let him sleep, but I couldn't sleep because we were on the couch. He wouldn't sleep more than 10-20 minutes in the bassinet, but he would sleep for hours on my chest. At night we'd try to get him to sleep in the bassinet and we'd take turns walking him around the house. My mom would help with this too.

I also had the angelcare monitor all hooked up in the bassinet and that was kind of stressful to deal with as well.

The fourth day I finally hit the wall and I pretty much cried all day long. I was in pain, I was tired, and I didn't know what to do. PB had BB and I needed a sitz bath. While I was sitting in the sitz bath (a MAGICAL invention, I never wanted to get up, but that water doesn't stay warm forever) PB found the section in my Womanly Art of Breastfeeding book on co-sleeping. He made me read it and I agreed to try it that night.

I admit, I was terrified at first, but I eventually fell asleep and I slept for four entire hours. It was amazing, and I haven't looked back since. We returned the monitor later that week.

Today, It takes 45 minutes tops (and that is on a horrible night, which we have few of) to get BB to sleep. Tonight was silly. He nursed for a few seconds, then rolled over to PB, then rolled back to me and nursed, then rolled back to PB. He did this several times. Then he rolled onto him tummy and turned his head a whole bunch of times to get comfy. Then rolled around some more. I got up and put on a shirt so I could get on the computer, and when I turned around he had gotten himself completely sideways on the bed. Little Rascal.

I love bedsharing. I love being able to reach my baby without getting out of bed. I can touch his face to make sure his nose is not covered (which admit, I do frequently, but it is so EASY to do when he is within reach), and I can nurse him so easily. Now I get 8-10 hours of sleep at night. He gets restless a few times a night and I just give him a boob and he settles right back down. I barely wake up myself. It is awesome.

The best part about bedsharing isn't the sleeping, it is the waking up. BB and I wake up about the same time and there is nothing better than waking up to a baby with a huge smile on his face. Best. Thing. Ever.