Sweet Sleep

I'm scheduled to go to bed about now. I love sleep! I try really hard to get to bed at a regular time, wake up at a regular time, and sleep about 8 hours in between. BUT... right now, I share my bed with my baby. This is bittersweet -- mostly sweet because the inevitable interruptions are easier to handle, but bitter because I wonder sometimes if there are more interruptions since she knows I'm easy-access....

Dr. Sears is who first introduced me to bedsharing, co-sleeping, or whatever other term means having my baby sleep in my same bed. I don't even own a crib because back when I did, it just held random items and never a baby.

I really, really, really adore having my babies sleep with me, and I thank my husband regularly that he condones this rather unusual practice. I think he likes it too - having a precious little warm body, breathing right along with us...

Anyways, besides the cozy-comfy-preciousness of it, there is the ease as well as the happiness of not playing the cry-it-out game. I have a book called "The No-Cry Sleep Solution" by Elizabeth Pantley that I would recommend for co-sleepers as well as crib-sleepers because the author recognizes that some of us just don't want to make sleep-time cry-time.

Babies cry. They cry for all sorts of reasons. I figure my job is to try to figure out why they're crying, and then do what I can to resolve the problem or at least offer a little comfort. They might still cry, even when I'm doin' my darndest to make it stop. Sometimes, I notice that I'm singing to them not for their sake, but for my own sake! (It only just now occurred to me that possibly my singing makes them cry worse). Amidst the various and sundry cry-fests, I don't want to purposely add another cry-time at bedtime!

So, as instructed by Elizabeth Pantley in the forementioned book, baby and I follow a solid routine at bedtime. I have it posted in our bedroom to help myself remember the steps *in order* -- since babies are so tuned in to structure. We've been doing the same routine since she was born, so all of the elements are now sleep-signals to her, and they help her wind-down and get sleepier and sleepier so she can drift... off... to... sleeeee... honk,shoooo...

Here they are!

Change diaper
close door & turn off light
turn on white-noise
wrap in blankie; offer lovey-doll
dance together while singing
shhhh in her ear while I put her down
keep shushing as I leave the room