A while back I posted about Nova sleeping in her own crib, still in our room. I’m proud to report that those first few days went very well. The first night she woke up quite a few times, a little confused about where she was and what was going on, but now she’s sleeping almost 10 hours a night!
The next step is, of course, to move her into her own bedroom. Once again, the problem is me. I’m such a big baby. (More so than my ACTUAL baby.) I love the idea of keeping her close and being able to cuddle her at my leisure but if I think about it realistically, here are the facts.
- I don’t actually cuddle her in the middle of the night. I let her sleep, like any sane parent would.
- She doesn’t wake up in the middle of the night, and hasn’t since she was about 8 weeks old. I have an unfounded fear that she will “need me” but truthfully…she doesn’t.
- It is inconvenient for Cale and I to have her in our room. Let’s face it. Cribs aren’t exactly teeny tiny. It takes up a lot of space, we have to maneuver around it, and I haven’t been able to really use my bedside table in 3 months.
- We wake each other up all night long…still. I’m sure our tossing and turning is keeping her from getting the best sleep she could, and I know that every time she grunts or gurgles I fight the urge to snatch her up, potentially waking her permanently and having to undergo the bed time process all over again.
The only real con is that right now I’m still nursing her to sleep, so it is VERY convenient for me to nurse her, and then just sort of roll her into her crib undisturbed. However, this problem is solved EASILY by simply nursing her in her bedroom sitting up, rather than laying down. She falls asleep either way. SO…now I simply face the problem of coming to terms with the idea that she doesn’t need me as much as I might think, she’s an independent little lady, we might potentially ALL sleep better, and we won’t have to deal with any attachment issues on her end since she seems to be alright no matter what we do at this point.
I’m guessing that within a month or so we will likely be moving her into her own bedroom. And I will likely cry myself to sleep at least once during this process.
From sleeping inside me...
...to bed sharing.
Sleeping in her playpen...
And finally in her crib.
