I posted these pictures in a post I wrote about Janna’s first week. However, I thought they were relevant for today’s post.
I am not sure whether I am qualified to write a post about sleep when most of my children haven’t slept through the night until they were school-age. Also, my children don’t sleep in a room of their own all night until then.
Crying-it-out has never been a method of sleep training I have been comfortable with. I remember when Julia was a baby, my mom told me how great of a sleeper I was. She said that around 8 weeks I started sleeping through the night in my own crib.
She said that I cried for a short time and then fell asleep. After a couple of nights I would fall asleep without crying. I tried it with Julia and after 10 minutes of crying I knew there was no way I could handle that method.
I guess my mom was blessed that I was such a good sleeper. 🙂 She says that I even took a nap in the afternoon after I got home from Kindergarten and still went to bed at 8:00 p.m.
Personally, I don’t mind that my babies and toddlers still need me at night. I am a parent 24/7, not just during the day.
When I tried co-sleeping when Julia was a few days old, I felt like I might survive having a newborn. Nursing my babies while they are snuggled up next to me in bed at night makes my life so much easier.
I realize that co-sleeping isn’t for everyone. However, for me, it feels pretty natural and goes right along with attachment parenting.
Whether you co-sleep or your baby is sleeping through the night in his or her own room, I think we can all agree that babies require quite a bit of sleep.
Janna has been my sleepiest baby and I don’t know that I have ever felt sleep-deprived during these past 4 1/2 months. Julia was a very light sleeper during her first year. I felt like I would just get her down for a nap and then she would wake up. She wasn’t fussy, but she just didn’t take very long naps. The boys have all been somewhere in the middle.
I do have to share that Joshua was a bit colicky. He was my only baby who wouldn’t always nurse to go to sleep or for comfort. I sometimes had to put a small blanket on top of his head, covering his eyes and ears, and use the stand-n-rock method (Hold baby close to your chest while standing and rock back and forth.).
Because Julia was such a light sleeper, I was determined to not have the same thing happen with future children. I realized that I had kept the house too quiet and the bedroom too dark.
Since then, I have kept my babies in the main areas of the house to take naps so that they would be used to sleeping through noise and not just in a quiet, dark room. I think this has worked out pretty well, especially with Joseph and Janna.
While I am a proponent of co-sleeping, I am also a proponent of safe sleeping. If you have a crib, playpen, or bassinette please make sure that it hasn’t been recalled and that is is safe for your baby. Safety while your baby sleeps should be priority number one.
When all else fails, I hold my babies. When they are older they won’t need me while they sleep. So, I personally don’t mind snuggling my babies while they sleep.
Now, I realize there are some that will say I am too much a part of my babies sleep patterns. This is why I have said I realize that co-sleeping isn’t for everyone.
I really do want to hear from you on this subject. What tips or tricks have helped your baby sleep “like a baby”?
- A Brand New Baby
- Cord Care
- Newborn Skin Conditions
- Tummy Time
- Clothing a Newborn
- When You Suspect a Problem
- Essential Gear
- Knowing Your Baby
- Trimming Nails & Suctioning Noses
- Baby Learning
- Jaundice
- Attachment Parenting
