When Madilyn was 3 weeks old and I had been able to squeeze in a total of about .8 hours of sleep in those 3 weeks, we invested in an Arm’s Reach Co-Sleeper.
Source: Arm's Reach Concepts
Prior to that, the only way that she would sleep was on my chest so we couch-surfed for those first 3 weeks. It was uncomfortable for me and dangerous for her. I didn’t sleep. At all. I was too afraid of smothering her between my rolls and the cushions.
Upon receipt of the Co-Sleeper, we learned the proper way to swaddle (Thank you, Dr. Karp!) and utilized the Co-Sleeper that night. Our first night of using it, she slept 4 hours in a row. I thought I’d won the lottery!
Sleep was much less evasive at that point and we utilized the Co-Sleeper until Madilyn was 5.5 months old. She began crawling at 5 months old and would crawl into bed with me (Kyle had moved to Georgia for a job and we were still in Florida). Unfortunately, when she got in bed with me all she wanted to do was nurse. She wouldn’t sleep unless my breast was in her mouth and I wouldn’t sleep when my breast was in her mouth. At that point, I moved her to her crib, in her room and all was right with the world.
In (or out) comes Grady. Kyle and I invested in a Select Comfort Sleep Number bed last summer and we upgraded from a Queen to an Olympic Queen which added 6″ to our sleep surface. It doesn’t sound like a lot of extra space but you’d be amazed at how much extra space that 6″ adds.
When we got home from the hospital with Grady, we just put him in bed with us. We had the Co-Sleeper attached to the bed but we didn’t use it. There was just something right about having Grady there with us. He slept like an angel from the first night and I’ve been blessed to only have (maybe) 2 “bad” nights with him. Our “bad” nights are more like a regular newborn’s “good” nights so I really can’t complain.
Having Grady in bed with us has not been scary or dangerous (in my opinion) because we have the co-sleeper attached to my side of the bed and we use a tightly-rolled up sheet between Kyle & me so that Kyle doesn’t roll over in his sleep. Grady faces me, on his side, and I cuddle him while we slumber. Should he roll over, he would roll into the co-sleeper and likely wouldn’t even wake up.
Grady - 10 weeks
Seeing as Grady is almost 3 months old, I decided to try to use the Co-Sleeper last night. Grady and I had no trouble falling asleep, but at 1:05 I woke up with a start to check on him (this was a first for me since we came home from the hospital). Kyle was still awake and told me that he didn’t like Grady in the Co-Sleeper and that he couldn’t sleep until Grady was in bed with us. He said that it just didn’t feel right. So I gladly put Grady back in bed with us and we snuggled the night away.
I don’t know how much longer we’ll Bed-Share with Grady. It all depends on him and whatever his sleeping habits may become. When and if they begin to inhibit my precious sleep, we will find an alternative sleep situation. But for now, this works for us. He loves it, we love it, and we’re all very well rested and happy.
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