I think I may have recently made a really big parenting mistake. It doesn’t seem like there is any turning back now. I'm pretty sure I’ve created a monster. A monster… in my bed.
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(this was taken months ago... he must have been planning it all along)
It’s amazing how quickly it happens, too. Google says it takes 21 days to form a habit. I usually trust Google, but this time I beg to differ. It seems it only takes Haeden a about week to form a habit, or less if it’s a bad one. In an effort to put a positive spin on this, I’m just going to go ahead and say it’s because he’s an over-achiever. I’d like to say he gets that from me, but no.
Haeden has never really been a “co-sleeper”. He slept in the bassinet for the first three months and then easily transitioned to the crib. In January he went from the crib to a twin bed without incidence. I thought for sure there would be a lot of sleepless nights with that change but he took it all in stride. We have had hiccups along the way, of course, but nothing out of the ordinary. I really thought we were in the clear.
I was wrong. What else is new? See, last week Haeden started waking up in the middle of the night and coming into our room. I always hear him when he does this because it is impossible for him to enter any room without making a ridiculous amount of noise. Usually, even though we keep our bedroom door open, he hits it as he barges in and it, in turn, slams into the closet door behind it. This is a really pleasant way to be woken up at 2am. Then he stands next to the bed with his face right up next to mine, clutching his stuffed bear up by his face, and says, “Mooommmmyyy?” in the sweetest, yet most pitiful way possible. I am powerless (and lazy), so I pick him up and put him in bed between us.
Twenty minutes later, when I can no longer take the rib kicks, uppercuts or the sleeping on six inches of mattress space without even a pillow to rest my head on, I scoop him up and put him back in his own bed. This worked great the first couple of nights. Later in the week he'd only go back to bed for a few minutes. I'd juuuust be drifting back to sleep when BAM, there he is again. "Mommmmmy? Up!"
The fireworks going off all weekend didn't help either. For some reason they frightened him and therefore he slept in our bed for the entire night on July 4th. I'm sure it was very peaceful and comfy and lovely... for him. I'm still walking around with a stiff neck and shoulders. I tried to put him back to bed twice last night. I even laid down with him in his bed for a while. Yeah, it didn't work.
We'll see how this continues to play out. Hopefully it's just a short phase. And if not? Well, I guess we're getting a king-sized bed. And batman sheets. Whooo!
Haeden has never really been a “co-sleeper”. He slept in the bassinet for the first three months and then easily transitioned to the crib. In January he went from the crib to a twin bed without incidence. I thought for sure there would be a lot of sleepless nights with that change but he took it all in stride. We have had hiccups along the way, of course, but nothing out of the ordinary. I really thought we were in the clear.
I was wrong. What else is new? See, last week Haeden started waking up in the middle of the night and coming into our room. I always hear him when he does this because it is impossible for him to enter any room without making a ridiculous amount of noise. Usually, even though we keep our bedroom door open, he hits it as he barges in and it, in turn, slams into the closet door behind it. This is a really pleasant way to be woken up at 2am. Then he stands next to the bed with his face right up next to mine, clutching his stuffed bear up by his face, and says, “Mooommmmyyy?” in the sweetest, yet most pitiful way possible. I am powerless (and lazy), so I pick him up and put him in bed between us.
Twenty minutes later, when I can no longer take the rib kicks, uppercuts or the sleeping on six inches of mattress space without even a pillow to rest my head on, I scoop him up and put him back in his own bed. This worked great the first couple of nights. Later in the week he'd only go back to bed for a few minutes. I'd juuuust be drifting back to sleep when BAM, there he is again. "Mommmmmy? Up!"
The fireworks going off all weekend didn't help either. For some reason they frightened him and therefore he slept in our bed for the entire night on July 4th. I'm sure it was very peaceful and comfy and lovely... for him. I'm still walking around with a stiff neck and shoulders. I tried to put him back to bed twice last night. I even laid down with him in his bed for a while. Yeah, it didn't work.
We'll see how this continues to play out. Hopefully it's just a short phase. And if not? Well, I guess we're getting a king-sized bed. And batman sheets. Whooo!
1 Talk To Me:
Wow. I have done the exact same thing. Only I rarely let Kiera get in the bed with us because like you I have zero sleeping space/pillow and therefore I don't sleep. But, that is only after the first 4 attempts to put her back in bed fail. And I usually cave when she is sick. There are nights I am up every hour putting her back in bed. You just have to be consistent and he will finally understand that he can't sleep with you. It took us (and by us I mean me) a week before she was staying in her bed again.
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