Sleep...

For the past year I have been doing something I thought I never would. I have been co-sleeping with Gabby.  Before she was born we never even discussed having her share our bed, she had a bassinet next to our bed for when she was a newborn and she had a crib in her room when I was ready to move her into it.   Getting Gabby asleep and down has not ever been something easy.  I remember our first week home from the hospital she would be swaddled tight as can be and sound asleep, with a belly full of milk..... as soon as you laid her down and she was out of your arms she would wake up and cry.  It almost became easier for me to hold her for naps so that is what it turned into.  She loved to sleep on me and I enjoyed it too most of the time.  It is such a special bonding time and to have her so close and snuggled up to me really is one of the sweetest things you can imagine. It is time I never have to give back and can cherish it forever.I am not going to ever say, man I wish I would have dusted and mopped the floor more. Plus it allowed me to sit and rest.  

   Once the bassinet became too small, rather Gabby got to big, we moved her into the crib.  I am such a worrier that the first week or so I found myself laying on the floor of her room just to make sure she was breathing and okay.  There were a few months around 4-5 months old where Gabby slept pretty much through the night in her crib, WOW.  Then came our first trip to America. Our first night at my parents house she went to sleep in the crib upstairs, but awoke shortly after. I didn't know what to do really, there was the major time change that puts your schedule so out of whack.  That was the beginning of co-sleeping as I remember it.  

   I have tried a few times to get Gabby to sleep in her crib, but that usually ends with her crying for over an hour and then waking shortly after falling asleep to start the cycle of crying again.I There were times she would sleep in her crib for a week or so and then would refuse. It was just easier on both her and I to have her sleep with me.  I didn't have to be tortured by her sobbing and she got more sleep and was happier.  It really hasn't ever been a big deal, Clay is gone the majority of the time it seems and when he is home he doesn't mind having his baby girl sweetly sleeping next to him.  

   Well time has come where I am ready to make the transition.  Gabby is getting big and strong, which means I end up getting kicked in the head and jabbed in the stomach and I worry about her falling off the bed.  Plus if it doesn't happen now when will it?  This brings us to current, for a few months now Gabby has been taking her nap without a fuss.  We lay down in my bed, she falls asleep and I am free to do what I need around the house.  Nighttime has also seen a shift.  Gabby falls asleep, I put her in her crib and she doesn't even flinch!  Now that is a major accomplishment for us.  She has been doing fairly well at adjusting to her crib, she occasionally wakes up and I go in and tell her I am there, lay back down and she does.  We make it till 3am, then it is in bed with me but we are still a work in progress!  

   It is exciting and bittersweet at the same time. To many people it is a crazy thought to have their 15 month old child sleeping with them.  It was to me before we started.  I think it has been a truly wonderful experience, so heart warming.  There were nights she would wake up and kiss my arm softly then go right back to sleep.  Then there is that little voice saying "momma, mik peas! Peas!"  Which translates to Milk please. Even during the middle of the night she would use her sign language and say Please!