I couldn't resist snapping this shot of my crew snuggled in our bed. Erika is nearly 12 and doesn't often sleep with us any longer. Tonight, however, for whatever reason, she chose to snuggle in. She is always welcome, and I credit this dear child for starting me on my path towards natural parenting/attachment parenting. When she was born, I was 23, my pregnancy was a bit of a surprise in our brand new marriage(I found out I was pregnant 2 weeks after returning from our honeymoon - those pre-wedding jitters weren't nerves after all!), and really hadn't given much thought nor had I done much research on the subject of co-sleeping.
Prior to her birth, we decked out her room, and I had a crib and all the gear including baby monitors and the like. Her first night with us it suddenly seemed completely absurd that I would put her down in the next room to sleep. And so it began, she slept with us, as has Annika over the years. As they grow older, and the number of nights that they seek out our bed dwindles, it is bitter sweet.
I recall sleeping with my parents as a child, in fact, my mom likes to tell that they didn't think I would ever give up the nightly migration to their bed. I too, was always welcome, and I will always be grateful to my parents for that. I suppose that is why in our family it came so, naturally.
1 comment:
I never co-slept with my parents as a general rule. But I always jumped into their bed if I awoke after a bad dream. The last time I did that was when I was 14 yrs old and I'd had a particularly nasty nightmare. My poor Father was a little uncomfortable with my age, so he ended up sleeping in my bed and I stayed with my Mum in theirs *lol*. I missed that security as I got older. I didn't intend to co-sleep with my son, it just happened that way and I'm so thankful that I did :)
Post a Comment