6.07.2013

it turns out...

papa has been away for a few days, with a couple more to come.  we've gotten used to his schedule of being gone for 24 hour shifts ten or so times a month, and don't typically change things up on those days, but I've been putting her down in our bed these past few nights.  I am under no illusion that I'm doing this for her.  nope, it's for me.  she'll sleep in her room, usually wake once and call for me, or come into our room and climb into bed with us.  but it turns out that I sleep better, that we both do, when we're together.  close enough to hear her breath, maybe have our toes touching.  far enough to have some room to stretch out myself.

it's a funny thing, sleep.  especially, I think, as the parent of an infant or toddler.  you work to figure it out, to get things to where you want them to be, to where someone out there thinks they 'should' be.....  you struggle, you get cranky and sleep-deprived, they get cranky and sleep-deprived.  sleep, or the lack of it, runs your days for a while.  and most certainly your nights.  you tell yourself if it doesn't get better within x,y, or z amount of time something drastic is going to have to happen.  changes will be made,  dammit.  and then x, y, or z approaches and you're like 'eh, we're getting by, it'll be alright'.  and so it goes.  you're leaning over a co-sleeper in strange yoga-like positions nursing your baby and trying sooo hard to sneak away without waking her, or you're taking her for a walk at 2am because that's what gets her to sleep, or you're bouncing on a yoga ball listening to bob marley while shushing and patting and everything in between....  maybe a little later you're sharing a twin mattress on the floor with her night after night, since it's easier to just stay there than go back and forth a zillion and eight times and who has the energy for that anyway?  you think to yourself that your child is the only one to ever, ever have such poor sleep habits, but then you talk to other mamas and realize that most little ones are like this.  most little ones want to be held and shushed and reassured and soothed.  and that that's okay.  it's more than okay, really.  it's who we are.

and then there you are, 3+ years in and finally feeling like things have hit a turning point and you're getting normal-person amounts of sleep again.  and what do you do?  you realize maybe nothing was ever broken to begin with.  just challenging, so challenging, to navigate gracefully at times.  or at least that's what you tell yourself as you bring your girl in bed with you since you both sleep better that way.  after all.  after all of that.  and you think that's just fine.






8 comments:

  1. Even though I complain about sharing a bed with B who sleeps like a turning propeller, I secretly love snuggling with her in bed and I mostly love it when she calls for me in the middle of the night, wanting to join us. It won't always be like this. This family bed. So I try to enjoy it while it last.

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    1. I really do enjoy it, too. I think it's the getting her to sleep part that most exhausts me. the sweet, snuggly, warm, sleeping body next to mine is not something I can or want to complain about~ it's a gift, really.

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  2. Oh yes, you have to live through all that to come to that knowledge though don't you? No-one can teach you. I started to tell a friend who has just had a second child who doesn't sleep "well" the other day(her first was textbook sleeping beauty), but her eyes were glazed so I shut the hell up.

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    1. oh it's so, so true. and all the well-intentioned 'hang in there mama, it gets easier!' kind of words early on just kind fall on foggy (and yes, glazed over) eyes and ears.

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  3. This is SO true and sweet.

    Our little night owl is 9! and still in the family bed most nights.

    We think and hope a turning point is around the corner, but secretly we still love the family bed so much. Just seems natural and right for us, but I know others think that it is not.

    Trust your heart, not your head on this one. I cared a LOT more about sleep than sleep training.

    zzzzzzzz

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    1. it really does feel right being all snuggled up together. something about being able to hear my two loves breathing and sleeping soundly is just so soothing to me. even so, when he and I are both home I usually put her to bed in her room for the sake of grownup intimacy and all that good stuff, and then she comes in or calls for me at some point in the night.

      definitely not a fan of the whole idea of 'sleep training'. I get where it comes from, from trying to fit these new little beings into an already-established set of patterns and rhythms.... and there can be so much desperation and feelings of being overwhelmed when there's a wee one suddenly in your world and you aren't getting sleep and there are so few opportunities to feel restored yourself..... but I believe with all my heart that it is way more important to mold your patterns and rhythms to fit the new little being. we are, in general, a very mixed up society when it comes to child-rearing. heart over head, indeed! that's the way to heal just about everything, isn't it?

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  4. I agree with Mamaholt - trust your heart and do what feels right :)

    A mama cannot have too many snuggle and cuddles with her little one/s.

    Have a lovely week!

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    1. always a very good idea to follow the heart, yes. and I agree wholeheartedly about the snuggles and cuddles!

      you too, Renee!

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thanks for taking the time to read and comment~