GUEST POST: Tales from the Crib

Tales from the Crib is part of an occasional series of guest posts by Elizabeth Clark. Clark is a first-time mother living in Stranraer, Scotland with her husband, Steve, and daughter. Rosemary is nine months old. Clark is also a graduate of Central Michigan University and the University of Edinburgh--and she's Anna's sister.

By Elizabeth Clark
Guest Writer

I never thought I would sleep with Rosemary. When she came home we had the cot all prepared in the extra bedroom upstairs. Sheets were laundered, blankets ready, and clothes were nicely hanging up waiting to be worn. However, that first day home we moved her cot into our bedroom—I didn’t want to be too far away from her during the night. It also worked out well, as I was breastfeeding and shuffling half asleep across the bedroom every two hours was easier than having to worry about opening doors to get her. Honestly, I’m not sure if I could have managed to open doors I was so tired.

So she slept in our bedroom, which worked out fine. She didn’t make the leap into our bed until after returning to the UK from visiting my family in Michigan. She was about four months old at the time, still tiny and cute. As the months have passed she’s grown in size and learned to crawl. Suddenly, sleeping as one big happy family under the duvet a la Little House on the Prarie is no longer sweet and comfortable. Rosemary can kick, squirm, grab your face and somehow manage to take over 80% of the bed. Learning how to sleep with half your body suspended above the ground aside, it’s time she moves back to her cot and out of our bedroom.

I am not sure how things will work out, but I know it’s time. Steve didn’t sleep two nights ago, and last night she woke me up approximately seven times by her incessant movement. I think one of the problems is that we are keeping her up too, she seems a bit more sleepy in the morning and not her normal self.

So maybe this is the best option for everyone in our family. But I'm already sad about having to move her. It’s just another step on her path to toddlerhood, but it just seems to be going so quickly for me. Being a parent is so wonderful, but I never thought it would make me feel so bittersweet about her growing up.

Comments

[Ben Rimes]

Yeah, that co-sleeping thing is tough call. We've never done it because of the fear of having to ween the little one from it. That and whenever our little one slept with us in the mornings (she sometimes crawls into bed with us in the morning), she kicked and squirmed too without realizing it.

Kudos to recognizing it's time to make the move :)