Snug As A Bug In A Rug

I like to snuggle. In fact, I sleep better when someone is in bed with me. (unless that someone is snoring) So it should come as no surprise that Bowen almost always is in bed with us by the morning. Before having Bowen I had never heard of this "family bed" thing. (or that there was a name for this shit) As a kid, if I had a bad dream and I was at my dad's house he would let me come sleep with him and my stepmom. Now if I had a bad dream and I was at my mom's house...I was shit out of luck. (she was mean! haha jk mom) Anyways, I always figured my kids would sleep with me if they got scared or had a bad dream..and I wouldn't have it any other way...I just didn't think it'd be every single night. ANYWAYS...the point is...I was talking to a friend who just had a baby and she is doing the same thing as I did. And I looove it. There is a lot of debate surrounding this whole kid-sleeping-in-your-bed thing (as there is with anything about kids) and it is nice to know I'm not the only crazy mommy out there.

Ok so here is how it happened.

When I was in the hospital after 26 loooong hours of labor and they took my baby away I had the weirdest anxiety because he wasn't with me. (the thing had been inside of me, using my body, for 40 weeks...it was weird being all alone) You know they let you room with your baby, but he was in a plastic bassinet (poor thing). So I started sleeping with him on my belly. So much more comfy. Then when I got home it just got worse. I tried putting him in his bassinet for the first couple of nights, but when he woke up for that first feeding I just fed him in bed and slept with him in my arm. (because it was 10000 times easier then moving to 5 diff locations)Then I would just feed him and then lay him on my belly while he had one hand in my shirt and one hand playing with my hair..so much easier.(seriously..he still plays with my hair...thank God he quit putting a hand in my shirt)

Then the ex came back from Iraq and I was crazy worried he would roll over on Bowen in the middle of the night. So every night he went to bed sleeping on my tummy (hand in hair), then I would put him in his pack and play. When he woke up for his midnight feeding I would get up, feed him, and sleep with him on the couch. (I think he was about 7 mths when I said eff all this, and just put him on MY side of the bed, which was against the wall, and barricaded so he couldn't fall through the crack)

When Bowen was 9 months old the ex and I seperated so Bowen and I slept together. But by this time he would suffocate me because he weighed so much, so he fell asleep laying in my arms. Then I would sneak away and leave him in my bed and snuggle with him when I was going to sleep.

THEN I decided this as ridiculous and started trying to put him to bed in his own bed. Omg...this was awful. There was a lot of yelling. (pretty sure my mom would sit in the living room and laugh during these times) After I moved out of my moms house I had figured some shit out. I started out by letting his sleep on his little couch in my room, but not holding him or anything. He still got in my bed in the middle of the night, but atleast we were making progress. Then he just started going to bed in his own bed and then climbing in my bed around 2 in the morning. It was fine and I liked having him to snuggle in the mornings.

Anyways..present day...he goes to bed in his own room after he has read 'Runny Babbit' and 3 to 7 (depending on how much of a push over Jason or I am) other books. Then sometime in the middle of the night he climbs into our bed. Then we snuggle in the mornings..depending on when he wakes up.

Bowen has his own pillow on our bed. It is right in between me and Jason. You would think he would use this pillow. But he does not. Instead he lays his big BULBOUS head on my pillow. This means that I have approximately 3 inches of pillow to lay my precious head on. And I am on the very edge of the bed. Sometimes an arm and leg even dangle off. Most of the time this causes me to lay sideways....which makes Bowen go sideways. (he has to have a hand in my hair at all times) Jason complains about this ALOT. He lays vertically, like a normal person, and then there are me and Bowen...laying all over the bed. My thought is...whatever I have to do to catch a few hours of sleep is what is going to happen. (plus it is a lot easier to kick Jason when he is snoring or his 4 alarm clocks are going off)

Anyways..I have read a lot of stuff about the family bed and then kids sleeping solo. I, of course, think that you should just do whatever works for you. No sense in stressing over the small stuff..especially when you could be sleeping!

I LOVE waking up to Bowen on the weekends. (ok most weekends) I love being able to snuggle with him when he gets cold (most of the time) and I seriously get worried and don't sleep well when he isn't in bed with me some time in the night. (all the time) Plus I love that we got to share the snuggly time all alone for that year...

And the great thing is..by the time Bowen starts sleeping all night long in his bed we will have another one to snuggle with! (well I hope...Jason isn't on the bandwagon for another one yet..but I am working on it)