Snooze!
Ryan is very particular about sleeping, and his preferences vary based on his location.
At school when he naps he likes to be face-down, head to the side, butt waaaay up in the air, with his blanket on.
At home Ryan will only fall asleep if he's nestled in the crook of my left arm with his head on my shoulder and his legs propped up and draped over my leg. Absolutely NO covers allowed. Once he's asleep I can put him down in his crib but he must have a pillow (his dolphin stuffed animal doubles as his pillow) and I can cover him with a blanket.
And, because my life is a crazy-train, Ryan wakes up in the middle of the night every night and makes the move to our bed. I know I should toughen up and let him cry it out, but his crib is in our room and I simply don't have the fortitude at 3AM to deal with a child screaming and crying for an hour.
Colin is no better - and in some ways is worse! He can only fall asleep if he's snuggled against my right side, with my hair laid out as a pillow for him. (If I don't spread it out properly he notifies me: Mommy! I need more hair. I need all your hair!) Once he's asleep he's good so long as we leave him in our bed. If he wakes in the middle of the night in his room (as he did the other night when Iris our sitter was over) he will sit up in bed and sob. When I went in to check on him he informed me, "Mommy. I was alone. I was alllll alone!" You'd think the kid woke up and realized he'd been abandoned in the middle of the Gobi Desert!
Instead, I typically just let him sleep in our bed from the start because it makes life easier. I say that, however Colin has this bad habit. He likes to use the pillows as his blanket, and prefers to sleep horizontally across the bed. And if he isn't doing that he ends up sleeping in a ball on my hair with his entire body wrapped around my head.
Yes, I know we should move the crib.
Yes, I know Colin is old enough to sleep in his own bed in his own room.
Yes, I know we should set better boundaries.
Yes, I know they say kids shouldn't be in the bed with us.
Yes, I know that blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah.
SO WHAT!?!
My kids are only going to be tiny for a short while. They're precious to me, they still enjoy snuggling, and I have so little time with them I want to enjoy every single gosh-darned second that I can before they grow up and realize they don't want/need to cuddle up with their mother any more. If that means that I sleep a little less, or that I wake up with a kink in my neck from time to time... so be it!
The other morning I carefully extracted myself from between the boys, and looked down at my sleeping angels. They were head to head, both blissfully asleep. When I saw that it reinforced my opinion.... I just don't care. They're adorable, they're mine, and if our bed is a little crowded at least it is a King, and Sydney sleeps in her own bed... it could be worse if we had her in the mix! The day will come, soon enough, when it is just Hari and I in our room again, and I'll be able to sleep through the night uninterrupted.
Then again, by the time that happens they'll probably be teenagers and I'll be up nights worrying about other things!
At school when he naps he likes to be face-down, head to the side, butt waaaay up in the air, with his blanket on.
At home Ryan will only fall asleep if he's nestled in the crook of my left arm with his head on my shoulder and his legs propped up and draped over my leg. Absolutely NO covers allowed. Once he's asleep I can put him down in his crib but he must have a pillow (his dolphin stuffed animal doubles as his pillow) and I can cover him with a blanket.
And, because my life is a crazy-train, Ryan wakes up in the middle of the night every night and makes the move to our bed. I know I should toughen up and let him cry it out, but his crib is in our room and I simply don't have the fortitude at 3AM to deal with a child screaming and crying for an hour.
Colin is no better - and in some ways is worse! He can only fall asleep if he's snuggled against my right side, with my hair laid out as a pillow for him. (If I don't spread it out properly he notifies me: Mommy! I need more hair. I need all your hair!) Once he's asleep he's good so long as we leave him in our bed. If he wakes in the middle of the night in his room (as he did the other night when Iris our sitter was over) he will sit up in bed and sob. When I went in to check on him he informed me, "Mommy. I was alone. I was alllll alone!" You'd think the kid woke up and realized he'd been abandoned in the middle of the Gobi Desert!
Yes, I know we should move the crib.
Yes, I know Colin is old enough to sleep in his own bed in his own room.
Yes, I know we should set better boundaries.
Yes, I know they say kids shouldn't be in the bed with us.
Yes, I know that blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah.
SO WHAT!?!
My kids are only going to be tiny for a short while. They're precious to me, they still enjoy snuggling, and I have so little time with them I want to enjoy every single gosh-darned second that I can before they grow up and realize they don't want/need to cuddle up with their mother any more. If that means that I sleep a little less, or that I wake up with a kink in my neck from time to time... so be it!
The other morning I carefully extracted myself from between the boys, and looked down at my sleeping angels. They were head to head, both blissfully asleep. When I saw that it reinforced my opinion.... I just don't care. They're adorable, they're mine, and if our bed is a little crowded at least it is a King, and Sydney sleeps in her own bed... it could be worse if we had her in the mix! The day will come, soon enough, when it is just Hari and I in our room again, and I'll be able to sleep through the night uninterrupted.
Then again, by the time that happens they'll probably be teenagers and I'll be up nights worrying about other things!
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