They say it happens to every parent sooner or later, but that doesn’t make us feel any better.
Flashback to when we brought Exie home from the hospital. We had set up a Pack ‘n’ Play next to our bed for her, and we hadn’t decided if we were going to leave it there, move her to her own room, or co-sleep. After two nights of moving her in and out of the the Pack ‘n’ Play all night for feeding or consolation cuddles, we decided that co-sleeping felt better to us. So we’ve been doing that ever since.
As a side note, it is amazing how much room she takes up. When Exie was born we had a queen size bed. We have toyed, over the years, with getting a bigger bed, but never got around to it. With spacehog in the picture, however, the time had come. Both Susan and I were sleeping so close to the edge of the bed that we almost fell out once in a while. I would tuck my arm under my body so it wouldn’t flop out and droop down over the side of the bed uncomfortably. Needless to say this isn’t conducive to getting a good night’s sleep. Recently we were joking with our friend Sam (who co-slept with her son for many years) and she exclaimed, “I know. It’s crazy. Sometimes Eddie and Eric and I sleep in the H-pattern.” Meaning that Eric is between them, but perpendicular instead of parallel, taking up the maximum amount of space possible. Well… let’s just say that Exie has obviously been taking pointers from Eric.
Anyway… fast forward to three nights ago. The Christensens and the LeeLos were over and the kids had been put to bed for the night. We had our trusty baby monitor on a nearby counter as we chatted around the kitchen table. All was quiet. Then there was a resonant thud (heard both through the monitor and the ceiling above), and the wailing began. Yup, Exie had fallen out of the bed. The new, huge, California king sized bed (i.e., it’s a fairly long way to the edge). Fortunately, our mattress is on the floor and there are pillows around it (just in case she did make the long trek to the edge), so she kinda’ slid onto a pillow and then clunked a short distance onto the floor. But still. It’s times like these that the phrase “Bad parent!” keeps going through one’s head, even though that is not very helpful.
Then, just to prove that it wasn’t a fluke, she did it again the next night. I still can’t figure out how she managed to make it through several safety obstacles and all the way to the edge while sleeping, but she did. So now we not only feel bad, but stupid and irresponsible. Maybe if she falls off the bed ten more times we’ll realize that we should make a change.
she doesn’t *look* emotionally scarred…
Needless to say, we knew we had to do something. So as much as we love having her in the bed between us, we decided that she would sleep in her own room, by herself, for the first time last night. Is this the right choice? There are many great arguments for co-sleeping (and of course, there are just as many arguments against it). Will she feel lonely and abandoned? Who knows? It was especially hard for Susan to leave her in there alone, and I admit that it was a lot harder for me than I thought it would be.
In the end, she went to sleep fairly easily (after chugging an sizable after-dinner snack). She did wake up a fair amount, but we (mostly Susan) managed to get her back to sleep without any more feedings than normal (three, which is still a lot, unfortunately). So… we have our bed back (and a big one at that), but it feels kinda’ empty without little bug in it, too.
thud (twice)
They say it happens to every parent sooner or later, but that doesn’t make us feel any better.
Flashback to when we brought Exie home from the hospital. We had set up a Pack ‘n’ Play next to our bed for her, and we hadn’t decided if we were going to leave it there, move her to her own room, or co-sleep. After two nights of moving her in and out of the the Pack ‘n’ Play all night for feeding or consolation cuddles, we decided that co-sleeping felt better to us. So we’ve been doing that ever since.
As a side note, it is amazing how much room she takes up. When Exie was born we had a queen size bed. We have toyed, over the years, with getting a bigger bed, but never got around to it. With spacehog in the picture, however, the time had come. Both Susan and I were sleeping so close to the edge of the bed that we almost fell out once in a while. I would tuck my arm under my body so it wouldn’t flop out and droop down over the side of the bed uncomfortably. Needless to say this isn’t conducive to getting a good night’s sleep. Recently we were joking with our friend Sam (who co-slept with her son for many years) and she exclaimed, “I know. It’s crazy. Sometimes Eddie and Eric and I sleep in the H-pattern.” Meaning that Eric is between them, but perpendicular instead of parallel, taking up the maximum amount of space possible. Well… let’s just say that Exie has obviously been taking pointers from Eric.
Anyway… fast forward to three nights ago. The Christensens and the LeeLos were over and the kids had been put to bed for the night. We had our trusty baby monitor on a nearby counter as we chatted around the kitchen table. All was quiet. Then there was a resonant thud (heard both through the monitor and the ceiling above), and the wailing began. Yup, Exie had fallen out of the bed. The new, huge, California king sized bed (i.e., it’s a fairly long way to the edge). Fortunately, our mattress is on the floor and there are pillows around it (just in case she did make the long trek to the edge), so she kinda’ slid onto a pillow and then clunked a short distance onto the floor. But still. It’s times like these that the phrase “Bad parent!” keeps going through one’s head, even though that is not very helpful.
Then, just to prove that it wasn’t a fluke, she did it again the next night. I still can’t figure out how she managed to make it through several safety obstacles and all the way to the edge while sleeping, but she did. So now we not only feel bad, but stupid and irresponsible. Maybe if she falls off the bed ten more times we’ll realize that we should make a change.
she doesn’t *look* emotionally scarred…
Needless to say, we knew we had to do something. So as much as we love having her in the bed between us, we decided that she would sleep in her own room, by herself, for the first time last night. Is this the right choice? There are many great arguments for co-sleeping (and of course, there are just as many arguments against it). Will she feel lonely and abandoned? Who knows? It was especially hard for Susan to leave her in there alone, and I admit that it was a lot harder for me than I thought it would be.
In the end, she went to sleep fairly easily (after chugging an sizable after-dinner snack). She did wake up a fair amount, but we (mostly Susan) managed to get her back to sleep without any more feedings than normal (three, which is still a lot, unfortunately). So… we have our bed back (and a big one at that), but it feels kinda’ empty without little bug in it, too.