Co-Sleeping Conversion
by Jennifer McKean, PartyMomma.com

I had never heard of co-sleeping when my newborn began sleeping with my husband and me. We spent a small fortune on a crib and bedding while I was pregnant and never stopped to think that it would not get used. Babies slept in cribs - it was that simple.

Jeremy was born three weeks early and he was so tiny. I couldn't believe how delicate he was. Maybe it's because I'm a first-time parent, but I couldn't put him down. When I did leave him alone to sleep, I was sure he would stop breathing. So, I had to continually check on him and make sure I saw his little chest rising and falling. Sometimes, when his chest didn't seem to be moving, I'd put my hand near his mouth to feel his warm breaths.

In the hospital, the nurses encouraged me to keep Jeremy in my bed to facilitate nursing. We slept together there for two nights. When Ron and I brought him home from the hospital, we knew he couldn't sleep in his nursery so far from us. It didn't feel right to leave this tiny person all alone to sleep. So, Ron took the crib apart, brought into our bedroom, and put it together again.

We put Jeremy in his crib, and looked down at him. He looked so tiny in the crib; we thought it might swallow him up. We got him back out of the crib.

Next, we tried putting him in his bassinet, on the floor, by the bed. He seemed to do ok in there, but I had to keep looking over the edge of the bed to check on him. (I needed to verify the breathing, you know.) It was really difficult for me to conduct my test without getting out of bed. So, I put Jeremy in bed, between us.

Now, I could feel him breathing. After carefully arranging the bed, making sure Jeremy wasn't going to be suffocated by blankets or pillows, we all got a good night's rest.

Night after night, we went through the same ritual: crib, bassinet, then bed. We spent a lot of time trying to do things the "right" way by getting him to sleep in his crib. Everyone was telling us not to let him sleep in our bed, that we would create a monster who would still be sleeping with us at sixteen. However, Jeremy would get so upset in his crib, how could we not bring him to bed with us?

When Jeremy was ten weeks old, we moved to a new home. Once again, we set up his nursery. Ron put together the crib, for the third time. By now, he could do it without directions.

The crib was decorated with a mobile, a mirror, and a musical aquarium. Cute animals frolicked on the bumpers. We decided to re-introduce Jeremy to the concept of sleeping in his crib that night. After all, we had told our friends and family that we would have him sleeping in it after we moved.

Jeremy cried (screamed!) each time we put him in the crib. We tried all kinds of methods to get him used to it: putting him in his crib for naps during the day, picking him up every time he cried and putting him back down when he was calm, staying with him while he tried to fall asleep. I got out every book I could find to figure out how to coax him to sleep. The last idea we tried was letting him cry it out. He threw up from crying so hard. By then, everybody's nerves were shot. We took him upstairs to bed. As soon as his head hit the mattress, he was out like a light.

We continued to try and get Jeremy to sleep in his crib over the next couple of weeks. Again, we moved the crib from the nursery to our bedroom. Eventually, we admitted to each other that we found it a lot less stressful - and not at all bothersome - to bring our son to bed with us.

Now, we enjoy co-sleeping with our baby. Bedtime is no longer a chore and nursing is a piece of cake. We are hoping to get Jeremy into a bed of his own sometime before he turns sixteen. In the meantime, we are trying to sell a crib!

Jennifer McKean is a wife, mom, freelance writer, party consultant, and aspiring web designer. She invites you to visit her website at http://www.PartyMomma.com for all you party supply needs. In addition to Jeremy, she is mom to an overly friendly golden retriever and a very suspicious terrier mix. They sleep with her, too.

Copyright 2004 by Jennifer McKean. Reproduction without permission prohibited.