Allo! First of all this picture of the baby and momma monkey gorillas makes me cry tears of jooooy! It’s so beautiful! I’ve seen this post on instagram…maybe you have too… but it’s a picture of a momma and baby monkey that says ” you wouldn’t tell this momma monkey she can’t sleep with her baby”. I think it’s so true and most people are so quick to judge co-sleeping. That being said, no pun intended to anyone who does not co- sleep with their babies. I understand it can be a touchy subject but this is simply what works for me and my 16 month old.
We have been co- sleeping since he was about a month and a half old. That first month he slept in his bassinet (about a foot away from our bed) fine and then one night he kept crying everytime I put him down and tired momma over here did not have the energy or patience to keep putting him down. Not to mention hearing his cries was so hard. That’s how our co-sleeping started and it can be hard but I try to remind myself it’s temporary. Those early months I was sleeping in a slouched seated position with him lying/ supported by a nursing pillow and more pillows under my arms/ elbows for support. Believe it or not I was able to sleep like that and did not feel as sleep deprived as when I had to get out of bed and put him back in his bassinet. I always wore a long sleeve shirt or sweater to not need a blanket up top. I only used a blanket from my knees down. Once he got bigger and I could not carry him in my arms we changed our sleeping position. We got another bassinet same height as our bed and placed it right next to my side of the bed. At this point I was going to try to put him down to sleep in his bassinet next to me but this boy still wanted to be skin to skin, which is okay. Long story short my baby and I sleep with our heads at the edge of the bed where my husbands feet are so he is never in between my husband and I, in case my husband rolls over. The bassinet works as a guard (and a bed for our cat during the day) so he does not fall off the bed and on the other side he has space since our bed is big and thank God my husband doesn’t kick in his sleep. Still no blanket use for me so he’s not accidently covered and he runs pretty hot so he’s never needed blankets either. He’s in his toddler stage so he sleeps in all crazy sorts of positions, but this has worked for us so we can all get some sleep. Is it always easy? No, but I wouldn’t have it any other way and I know I’ll miss the cuddles once he’s older. Again, I’m no sleeping expert, this is simply what has helped me this far and maybe it can help someone else just starting out. I hope it all made sense!
Goodnight