Co-sleeping

Yes, I co-sleep with Sammy! I also co-slept with Christian and Maddy as well. I bought a crib for Christian when I was pregnant as all expectant mothers do, but he never ended up using it. There's a great debate on whether babies should co-sleep or not. For me, the decision came very easily. Baby Christian one morning stopped breathing for about a minute and was subsequently diagnosed with sleep apnea. He was only 2 months old, it was about 5 in the morning and he was sleeping next to me. I'm a very light sleeper and I've always slept in sync with him. I could always tell when his breathing pattern was changing and he was about to wake up to nurse. Having him in bed with me made late-night nursing easier and I got more sleep that way. However that morning I felt him become very still, too still, with no rhythmic breathing. I took a second and put my hand on his chest, when I felt nothing I woke up Dane freaking out. We carried him to another room where there was more light. Together it took what seemed like forever (was actually like a minute) to get him to wake up and start breathing again! After a few nights in the hospital with the diagnosis of sleep apnea, doctors said I had probably stopped SIDS! After that day I researched a lot about SIDS and talked with his pediatrician. I came to the decision to continue to co-sleep, rather than put him to sleep on a movement monitor every night.  I learned babies' brains "remember" to breathe when they are next to a parent and can hear/feel them breathing! I'm not saying it's for everyone! Some parents are heavy sleepers, they might roll over on them or get the baby caught up in the bedding. Me, however, I've always been cursed as a light sleeper. I think becoming a mom does that!

All this said the thing I love the most about co-sleeping is the closeness! Every night Sammy likes to reach his little hands up and rub my face, or pull on my hair until he falls asleep. This is the best feeling in the world!

The picture up top is of him in his Amby bed. He loves to take naps in it. To the left is a picture of Sam napping in the cradle Grandpa L* made. He looks so tiny rolled up into a little ball.